A second visit to the Bavarian Forest! After a successful first stay in this area, it was almost self-evident that we would return to this area again.
Unfortunately, our previous holiday home was no longer available because it had been sold. That was an unpleasant surprise, as it was ideally located for us. But after an evening of searching, we had found something else. Also a holiday home all to ourselves and located in a small village called Vierhäuser. In terms of altitude, it was about two hundred meters lower than the previous address. I do not know whether that was the reason that the forests had a different appearance and composition, but the exuberant undergrowth that we knew from the year before was almost absent here.
Another clear difference was that the forests here were full of Ticks. A walk of two hundred and fifty meters over a somewhat overgrown forest path yielded dozens of specimens of this not entirely harmless animal. Since we did not notice it immediately, we had to remove a number of specimens that had become “stuck”. One of which was stuck clearly too long. And besides Lyme, the ticks here carry another disease, Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE). And that can cause meningitis! Inquiries revealed that the local population had even been vaccinated against this disease. Fortunately, after the incubation period had passed, it turned out that I had escaped it. It is surprising that a difference in altitude of two hundred meters has such a big impact. When I got home, I had another test done for Lyme, just to be sure, and it showed that I at least had antibodies in my blood.
And then the environment! The farmers in Germany have switched en masse to biomass as a source of income. A good initiative you would think, but not for the flora and the butterfly (insect) life! The fields are mowed three to four times a year with large equipment. The young lady, our landlady, indicated that less than fifteen years ago the fields were dancing with many butterflies. There was almost nothing left of that. A complete deforestation! And then the question really arises, is this what is meant by sustainability? The large-scale destruction of natural values! For those who pay attention, it has been clear for a long time, the climate must be saved and nature simply no longer matters. Witness the years of logging of the beautiful original forests in the Baltic States. Forests that contain an unprecedentedly large biodiversity. Where countless species occur that are downright scarce in the rest of Northern Europe. A scandalous destruction for what amounts to us being busy with CO2 reduction on paper. Of course my own country, the Netherlands, is the leader in this administrative nonsense! Calimero behavior of the highest order!
The images shows that fortunately there is still much beauty to be found in the National Park. Enjoy.
