Animals

The moorland sheep and Lueneburg HeathThe moorland sheep is an old breed of sheep thatpurportedly stems from the mouflons that are at home in Sardinia and Corsica.The breed is divided into six subspecies. The “German Grey Heath” sheep haslong since been at home on the dry heath areas. It would be impossible tomaintain Europe’s largest heath areas without the help of our four-leggedconservationists, the moorland sheep.

The first cool nights not only announce the departure of the summer. They also herald the golden-yellow colouration of the leaves in the beech forests of Lueneburg Heath.It is also the time in which the largest species of wild animal in Lueneburg Heath makes its presence felt. This is stag rutting season. While other animals prepare for the winter by eating enough food to add a layer of fat for the cold winter days or by hoarding fruits in their winter nests, the autumn season is a time of passionate suffering for the deer.From mid-September to mid-October, the stags fight for the title of “top dog” in the vast forests of the Suedheide. The otherwise peaceful antlered animals become bitter enemies at this time. Their loud bellows to keep the competition at bay and the pack members together can be heard far and wide.Hard to believe, but true!The majestic deer do not eat during the rutting season. They only sleep a few minutes a day and mate with the deer several times a day. At this time, the 200 kg stags lose up to a quarter of their body weight.Peace returns to the forests of the Südheide at the end of October, when the stags replenish their lost rutting reserves to survive the coming winter.

Beekeepers and their bees have been existing in the Luneburg Heath since the Middle Ages. The harvest of the regional speciality, the heathland honey, is very complex and temporarely limited to the 6-8 weeks of the heath blossom.At that time the beekeeper must arrange a stand for his bee hives in the heath areas so that the bees can collect the pure heather honey. This honey tastes completely different compared to other honeys. The difficulty for the beekeepers is on the one hand to feed the bees throughout the whole summer and on the other hand to process the heather honey. This is because it is a thick ans sticky mass which is not as easy to spin as normal honey.This means that the bees have a lot of work during the heather blossom. By the way, bees and Heidschnucken (moorland sheep) work together unconsciously: The moorland sheep move across the heathland and crush the spider's nests that would otherwise be a danger to the bees.From the end of September, the new harvest of heather honey can be bought from the beekeepers, in some supermarkets and tourist informations within the Luneburg Heath.

Blue moor frogs- a nature show in Lüneburg HeathFor moor frogs,the mating season has started.The males turn blue– a nature show that you should not miss. Every year thousands of visitors flockto the bogs of Lüneburg Heath for this natural spectacle.When and where?In March and April, you can experience atruly blue wonder at "Pietzmoor"near Schneverdingen in Lüneburg Heath Nature Park, at "Schäfermoor" in Südheide Nature Park, and in the NABU Biotope near Molbath in Uelzendistrict.Itis the mating season of the protected moor frogs (Rana arvalis), which find ideal living conditions in both bogs. Thespecial feature of mating frogs' mating season is the almost complete blue colouration of the males to increase their attractivenessto the female.Thismay be the only time in nature that the females are delighted when the malesare blue. But beware: the frogs are only active in the sunshine.

Every year in spring the storks return from their warm winter habitats back to Germany to their existing breeding nests. The Luneburg Heath is one of the white storks' favourite summer homes.