Washbear(Procyon Lotor)

The washbear is spreading from the west. It was seen in Gyõr-Moson-Sopron county first. Its migration is started in Germany with those 25 specimens which escaped in the last days of the World War 2. In Austria it is not a rare animal. Therefore, its appearance mainly in the western part of our country, even its settlement is expected. The climate and its opportunities of nutrition in Middle Europe is similar to those in its original home (North-America), consequently it became acclimatized wonderfully in these areas. It likes mixed and leafy forests, especially those in which it can find proper places to hide and which are difficult to reach. If it is not bothered or hunted in the forest, it will soon appear at rubbish dumps of cities. It loves the environments of lakes and riversides, but it can appear anywhere during its roaming. It got its name after its practice of dipping its nutrient into water and it likes washing it, and also it gets shellfish, snails or fish from water. Male specimens' bodies are stronger than females'. Its fur is yellowish-gray mixed with black. Its tail is 25cm long and it ends in blackish-brown color with some blackish-brown rings on it. It eats everything that is eatable. It likes fruit, grain, soft corn cob, insects, small vertebrata and birds' eggs. It can climb trees very well with its long fingers which are capable of grasping. The typical remains of its food like crab-crusts, cracked shellfish, leavings of fish can be found along lakes and streams. If it is near a populated area it filches a chicken, a pigeon or the eggs of these animals. On the outskirts of towns or on suburbs it often visits dustbins as well. It is difficult to catch sight of it, because of its living at night, therefore one can recognize its present by its characteristic trails. Its lair is in hollows of trees, but it may lie in clefts of rocks, on bundle-wood, or simply on a thick bough. A female is capable of breeding even at the age of one year. In spring it bears usually5-6 young animals after 60-63 days of pregnancy.

Moufflon(Ovis Musimon)
It is the only wild sheep in Europe, the ancestor of our domesticated sheep, it comes from Corsica and Sardinia. Its introduction to Hungary started at the end of the 19th century. Its body is covered by nigger-brown fur, and there are saddle-like spots on each ram's sides, which are called saddle-spots. Its senses of smelling and hearing are both good, its eyesight is very good. It signals danger by whistling. A male is called a ram, a female is a tag(from its second years of age till yeaning), then it is called a ewe. A lamb is called either a young ram or an ewe-lamb. A ram wears spiral horns, but sometimes a female has also got horns. The horns grow from year to year, and the moufflon never takes them off as the cervidae does. The two horns are very similar to each other, like each other's reflexions in a mirror. There are more delicate and rougher rings, grooves alternate each other. If a horn grows with its point to the inside, it reaches the animal's cheek and makes it impossible for the animal to eat, therefore it starves to death. This kind of horn is called a suicide-horn. Moufflons live in flocks, which go to the pasture at dusk and return at dawn. Their wandering is influenced by winter and summer. They move to cooler valleys in summer, and spend the winter on southern slides. If a man is approaching, moufflons wait for him, and then they run away, stopping for looking back at their disturber several times. In such cases their voice reminds one of whistling because they warn one another this way.

Fallow deer(Dama Dama)
Its original home is the area of the Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia in the Near-East. It was brought to France, Germany, England, The Scandinavian states, Poland and the Baltic countries in the Middle Ages. It was introduced to the Carpathian-Basin in the time of King Matthias. In the 18th century it was naturalized in Wallachia and Moldavia, Romania by the Boyars and voivodes. Today the fallow deer, as a naturalized wild animal species, lives everywhere in Europe, America, Australia and in New-Zealand. Fallow deers, who were set free or ran away from preserves, found their home everywhere in the Carpathian-Basin due to their outstanding adaptability. A stag is also called a shovel-headed in sportsman's slang because of its typical antlers. A female is a hind and a young fallow deer is a calf. A stag in the second year of age grows its first antlers and in spring it changes its antlers to one-branched (spit-like), then to two-branched antlers(forked). These are followed by the 3rd year's spoon-like antlers. The shovels on the antlers are growing more and more with the notchings and spurs on their upper and back parts. Royal stags are the 10-12-year-old ones. They can breed in preserves well. If they breed too rapidly, they may cause much damage on cultivated lands and also for sylviculture and mainly in orchards if they are not enclosed. Fallow deers like eating buds of trees, young leaves and sprouts of bushes and trees but they also keep on pilfering windfalls, watermelons and grapes. They eat feed-stuff and salt placed out for them as well. Hungarian stock of fallow deers is one of the best in the world, which is proved by the several world-record holder shovels.

 Rabbit/coney(Oryctolagus Cuniculus)
It was brought to Hungary from France in the 1870's, and it is also called “kinigli” in Hungarian. It lives mainly in Transdanubia, but it can also be found in the environment of Gödöllõ. Its sense of hearing and its eyesight are excellent, in case of fire it escapes into its underground channel.
A male is usually heavier, bigger than a female. It is similar to the brown hare in color, it is a bit grayer. There is a rusty-red narrow stripe on its neck, which ends in a wide spot between the rabbit's shoulder-blades. Its stomach is light gray. The length of all four legs are almost the same, its ears are much smaller than the brown hare's. Its pelt and meat(white) era well exploitable. The rabbit originally lives in its hole in the ground, and it never moves away so much from its hole, so that it cannot escape into it in case of danger. It can live anywhere if the quality of the ground allows the animal to hollow out its underground channel. It likes sandy, loose soil, chasmy, hilly areas and shrubby, bushy places, which can hide the animal. The rabbit hollow its holes in such places and if it has got a family, it makes a branching channel with pockets. The most populous stocks can be found in Pest and Bács-Kiskun counties. Smaller stocks live in Gyõr-Sopron county and near Hegyeshalom and Jánossomorja, in the environments of Vál and Pusztaszabolcs, in Fejér county, and near Biatorbágy, Pest county.
As the brown hare, it nibbles and disbark trees. It is not faddy about its food, it eats everything from grains to carrot. It eats every sort of agricultural product. If the weather is fine it eats grassy, rank, bushy areas near its warren. In cold windy and rainy weather it stays in its burrow. It does not go far away from the warren. It it is frightened it goes back to its warren quickly in zigzag line.
After 30 days of pregnancy a female bears 4-12 young rabbits in its underground burrow. After bearing it becomes fertile again, therefore it is very prolific.

 Raccoon dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides)
Spreading from the east the raccoon dog's present was first reported in 1961 in Vásárosnamény. It was noticed in the eastern part of the country as well in Lónya and it was also seen in the environments of Paks, in Gödöllõ, in Pécel and in Somogy. It spreads very dynamically. Although it cannot be said that it settled permanently, it can appear at any part of the country. Its original homeland is in the woods, tundras of Asia. It adapts to new environments easily. Because of its great prolification, it spreads more and more to the west. The parents stay together all over the year and they mainly live in marshes with woods, on lowlands and in reeds but it can appear at any place that has got rich vegetation. One should expect to meet a raccoon dog near lakes and along streams. The first specimen was hunted in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county in 1961. It appears scatteredly in that area since then.
Its fur is brownish-gray, its legs and its head from the mouth to the ears are dark blue. On its back there are dark stripes forming crosses. A male and a female are very similar to each other.
It settles in the warrens of foxes and badgers while wandering, but if there are no ready-made homes, it hollows out its own one. It may rest in a cleft of a rock or in a hollow of a tree, but it rarely climbs a tree. It is mainly a night animal, it is difficult to meet one during the day. One can conclude of its present by its waste.
 

 Ondatra (Ondathra Zibethicus)
In Europe it was first introduced into Bohemia in 1906. It started its conquering route in this country in 1915. At that time one specimen was shot in Moson county, Hungary. Today they can be found all over the country, Its life is bound to water because of its life style. There is no great difference between sexes. Its fur is dark chestnut-brown on its back, light gray on its stomach and brownish-black on its tail, which is pressed at both sides. There are webs of palmipeds at its hind legs. There is a scent-gland at its inguirral region. It likes lakes and channels most. It forms its lairs on channel-banks, in walls of dams or hollowed into the riverside. Its lair has got several ways out, usually under the water. These outlets become invisible in the case of low water. In shallow still water it builds a castle-like construction of branches, reeds and sedges, and it fastens it with mud. Its nest is 0.5-2m in diameter, which is above water. If the water is too deep, it builds a foundation first and if water is too shallow, it makes a hollow. The animal always keeps an eye on the changes of the level of water and therefore it can always keep its lair dry. It eats mainly water-weeds, corn-stalks, water insects, snails and perhaps small fish. Ondatra is an aquatic animal, it lives its life at night or at dusk. It prefers larger still water or slow rivers, and marshy places, or those rich in water-weeds. It dives into water if it hears any noise.