{"id":1813,"date":"2019-05-30T11:17:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T11:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=1813"},"modified":"2019-05-30T12:34:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T12:34:48","slug":"wild-danish-mammals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2019\/05\/30\/wild-danish-mammals\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Danish Mammals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Looking at you! Det sorte egern<\/strong> (the black squirrel), the original Danish squirrel, unfortunately is endangered. (Free photo from Pixabay, no copyright; Pixabay license<\/a>.)<\/p><\/div>\n

A hare<\/strong> [ha-a] jumping mysteriously across the street in front of you.\u00a0 A r\u00e6v<\/strong> (fox) stealing your sausages at the beach barbecue party. A pindsvin <\/strong>(hedgehog) going for a moonlit stroll. As urban as Denmark is, the country has a lot of wildlife. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The Vikings believed in Ratatosk, an egern<\/strong> [e-yern] (squirrel) that was constantly running up and down the world-tree, Yggdrasil, to spread news and gossip. Visit Kongens Have<\/strong> (King\u2019s Garden) or another Copenhagen park, and there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll meet one of Ratatosk\u2019s descendants! S\u00f8d, ikke?<\/strong> (Cute, right?)<\/p>\n

There are two kinds of egern<\/strong> in Denmark, r\u00f8de <\/strong>(red ones) and sorte<\/strong> (black ones). The black squirrels came here thousands<\/a> of years before their ginger friends, but are actually very endangered now in 2019! If you see one, treat it kindly. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

In the top of the world-tree, the Vikings also believed, four hjort\/e<\/strong> [yort\/eh] (deer) were busy eating leaves. While I doubt you\u2019ll find a hjort<\/strong> in a tree in the park, you might <\/em>catch a glimpse of one in a Danish skov<\/strong> [skow] (forest). The kronhjort<\/strong> (red deer, literally \u201dcrown deer\u201d) is the biggest land animal in Denmark. There are also the smaller r\u00e5dyr<\/strong> (roe deer) and d\u00e5dyr<\/strong> (fallow deer). The female deer is generally called a hind<\/strong> [hinn], and the kid is called a kalv<\/strong> (\u201dcalf\u201d). Only the males have gevir<\/strong> [ge-VEER] (antlers) \u2013 don\u2019t get too close, or they might stange<\/strong> (butt) you. (Normally, though, Danish deer are only aggressive in the short mating season \u2013 brunsttiden <\/strong>\u2013 or when they have small kids.)<\/p>\n

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Gr\u00e6vlinger<\/strong>. (Free image from Pixabay, no copyright; Pixabay License<\/a>.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Have you ever seen a gr\u00e6vling<\/strong> (badger)? Few Danes have, but they are out there somewhere, hiding in their underground burrows. The Danish word for \u201dto dig\u201d is at grave<\/strong> \u2013 see the connection? \ud83d\ude42 A gr\u00e6vling<\/strong> is literally a gold\u2026, I mean, just a digger!<\/p>\n

Of course, in Denmark you can also find other pattedyr<\/strong> (mammals) such as odder<\/strong> (otter), m\u00e5r<\/strong> (marten), mus<\/strong> (mice), rotter<\/strong> (rats), flagermus<\/strong> [flower-moose!] (bats)\u2026 And when you least expect it, s\u00e6ler<\/strong> (seals) and marsvin<\/strong> (porpoises) will look at you from the ocean waves.<\/p>\n

Some oldies have been reintroduced into dansk natur<\/strong> (Danish nature). Even though the last vildsvin <\/strong>(wild boar) was shot by a hunter in 1801, there are now several places where you can see the big wild pigs \u2013 safely through a hegn<\/strong> [hine] (fence). There even have been experiments to bring back b\u00e6ver\/e<\/strong> (beaver\/s) and elg\/e <\/strong>(elk<\/a>\/s) to Denmark. And did I tell you we\u2019ve got ulv\/e<\/strong> (wolves<\/a>)? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

A hare [ha-a] jumping mysteriously across the street in front of you.\u00a0 A r\u00e6v (fox) stealing your sausages at the beach barbecue party. A pindsvin (hedgehog) going for a moonlit stroll. As urban as Denmark is, the country has a lot of wildlife. \ud83d\ude42 The Vikings believed in Ratatosk, an egern [e-yern] (squirrel) that was…<\/p>\n

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