AWARENESS

It's a nature reserve and has been since 1947. It says that this forest is a native forest, meaning that it has never been touched by man at all, but that is not really true. It's true though that it has escaped the kind of large-scale devestation that most other forests has been exposed to.

My plan was to walk around this forest, look at plants and animals and take some photos. The problem was that I had kind of forgotten that the summer isn't here yet. Even though the temperature was high, the snow was still very deep in the shadows of the forest. I had to understand that it was not possible for me to walk there. Okay okay, but this will be a later project for me!



This sign says "native forest"



This one tells a bit about the nature reserve area

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As I continued on my way home I stopped at a place where I saw some big boulders. I thought I would go and have a quick look for snakes. The snake I was looking for is called Vipera berus and is a member of the family Viperidae. This snake is one of the three naturally occuring species in Scandinavia, and it's also the only venomous one. These snakes spend their winter in cavities in the ground or in heaps of stones or twigs. In springtime they come out again. At this time they like to hang around on top of these big boulders and warm up their bodies in the sun.

Today I didn't see any snakes, but tomorrow I'm going to a place where I know they use to be. I'm taking the camera with me, so hopefully I will be able to show some photos tomorrow!

I did see one animal though - a butterfly! I don't really know why, but we had a strange relationship with eachother. At first I was trying to come near to take a photo, but then I got attacked. It actually got a bit intimidating, but I tried to defend myself with my camera.



The result of my attempt to defence

Anyway, after this the butterfly seemed to change its mind and didn't try to attack me anymore. Maybe this attack thing was just like a ritual? I was very releived. Were we friends now? I think so, because I was even allowed to come near and take a couple of (real) photos of it...








A friend of mine looked it up in a book and found that this little guy belongs to the species Nymphalis antiopa which is a member of the family Nymphalidae.

Here's a couple of other photos I took when I was in the territory of the butterfly. Trees, trees and... trees!