Deer rut in Polish mountains

Events of the last few nights inspired me to write this article. It turned out that not only I did not sleep at night - somebody else was awake too. What is more – he was extremly active. Just below our window a stag was walking and roaring loudly. These sounds were not addressed to me but to the potential partner which he was looking for. The roaring did not frightened me because I already had the opportunity to hear similar sounds during mountain hiking – it is called the deer rut.

The rutting period we name the deers mating season in which the males (stags) are trying to entice females (hinds). The stags usually hidden in the forest become noisy and visible. They start calling hinds with the bass roar which can be heard from a distance of several kilometers. The more good-looking male the greater chance of gathering a group of admirers he has.

The deer in the Tatra Mountains, Poland.

Often it comes to a confrontation between two stags. Sometimes they only compete for voices, but from time to time it happens that the males decide to fight and attack themselves with antlers. It is a real treat to observe the fight! Hearing a crack of clashing antlers is also very exciting.

The mating season is very exhausting for deers. Stags behave as if the world did not exist, having only one goal - to find a partner. They forget about eating and lose many kilos during searches and combats. Unfortunately, deers become easy targets for the poachers at that time.

When to listen the deer rut? The mating season takes place from mid-September to mid-October. The deers are most active at night, from dusk to dawn. Their roar can be heard also during the day.

Where to observe the rut? In the Polish Tatras stags often choose the clearings in Kondratowa and Tomanowa valleys. Roaring deers can also be heard in many other places. The first rut I had the opportunity to hear was in the Bieszczady Mountains - I had an impression that deers roar echoed the entire area. The deer I mentioned at the beginning approached the window of our house in the Silesian Beskid. As you can see there is no rule, deers choose wild places in the national parks as well as those which are close to human settlements.

At the end I will tell a story - this situation happened to our friend from the mountain rescue:

[Phone ringing at the office of mountain rescue]

- Hello?

- Good morning. My friend and I have a problem. We are sitting on a tree and next to us the bear is roaring. What shall we do?

- Are you sure that this is a bear?

- Yes!

- Do you see it?

- No, we hear the roars.

The rescuer is looking for recordings of a roaring animal and releases them to the panicked tourists.

- Is that how it roars?

- Yes, just like that!

- It's not a deer but a bear. Don't worry, come down from the tree and continue hiking.

I wish you all successful observations :)

Shepherding in the Tatra and other Polish mountains

Autumn morning, I'm sitting in the kitchen and sipping coffee. Suddenly I hear gentle buzzing, with time the sound becomes clearer. I look out the window and see a flock of sheep moving along the road towards the nearby meadows. Small bells tinkle hung on the neck of some sheeps. Ah, the owner is leading his herd to the pasture. Grazing season, which traditionally runs from April 23 (St. Wojciech day) to September 29 (St. Michael the Archangel day) is already completed - the sheep descended from the Tatra mountain pastures. Now they are driven only on the foothill meadows.

 

Pastoral customs, traditions, techniques and equipment came to the Polish mountains from the south. They were strongly influenced by Vlachs - nomadic people coming from the Balkan area, who in the early Middle Ages began centuries long pilgrimage to the north. Nomads assimilated with the inhabitants of the Carpathian range and taught them new skills. Pastoral way of life came upon a breeding ground - difficult natural conditions (harsh climate and poor soil) favoured more animal husbandry than cereal farming. Shepherding started to develop in the Tatra and other Polish mountains. 

 

What did the traditional pastoral season look like? Each owner wanted to send his sheep to the mountain pasture for summer. It would entail leaving the household for several months, what was impossible. Therefore the function of baca (the main shepherd) was established – a man to whom farmers entrusted their flocks for summer time grazing. Baca was choosing some helpers – younger shepherds and set off to the mountain pastures owned by the village. Walking to the pastures called redyk could last even several days, depending on how far from the mountains the village was located. On a pasturage shepherds lived in a wooden hut called bacówka. Apart from grazing they were protecting sheep from predators or getting lost and manufacturing products ​​from sheep's milk. The best known are three types of cheese - oscypek, bundz and bryndza. Grazing was terminated with autumn redyk - sheep descent from the mountains. It was a very solemn event, accompanied by singing and music. Then the main shepherd settled up with sheep owners and returned them their flocks. Children welcoming redyk were receiving little pieces of cheese in the shapes of animals. Many traditions and superstitions associated with the pastoral season come from a borderline between religion and pagan beliefs. They are subject of a number of ethnographic research nowadays.

What about shepherding in the Polish mountains today? History of individual pastoral areas and its influence on contemporary sheep grazing caused diversification of shepherding in different regions of Poland. Idyllic view with sheep in the mountain pastures is not as common as it was in the past. Nevertheless we can still meet shepherds or even visit their huts while hiking on the mountain trails in Gorce, Beskids or Pieniny. In some areas (eg in the Bieszczady Mountains) the aim is to renew the tradition of pastoralism.

In the Tatra Mountains, where shepherding had been completely liquidated due to the nature conservation in the 70's, it was decided to restore grazing. Decisive influence had cultural issues - perennial relationship between the highlanders and the Tatras and richness of traditions and customs as its effect. In 1981, shepherding returned in a form of so-called Cultural grazing of sheep and cattle in the Tatra Mountains. What does it mean? Under agreements with the Tatra National Park highlanders can graze sheep on some of the clearings. They must, however, obey several rules including speaking in a dialect, wearing the original highlander outfit, whether be assisted by traditional herding dogs – the Polish Tatra sheepdogs. The are many more requirements, but thanks to them we can learn more about old customs and try products prepared according to original recipes.

Extremely interesting event is the Carpathian Sheep Transhumance organized for the first time in 2013. It is an international project aimed at meeting people involved in shepherding across the whole Carpathian range linked together with an exchange of experiences. This is the traditional wander of shepherds and flocks through the mountain area of the Carpathian countries - Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic. The trail is about 1,200 kilometers long (10-15 kilometers a day) and takes place between May and September. The wander is accompanied by various events.

Dusk, the day is slowly coming to the end. I hear the tinkling sound again ... The sheep are coming back to the pen for the night. 

TEXT WAS PUBLISHED ON LINK TO POLAND WEBSITE.

 

Traditional food and beverages from southern Poland

Hm… I made up a title and right after that noticed that it is almost impossible to write about all traditional dishes even only from southern Poland. To face this problem I decided to divide Polish Carpathians into smaller regions and write about several dishes from each region. I had a chance to taste all of them :)

PODHALE, ORAWA, SPISZ – AROUND THE TATRAS

Moskol

It is a potato pancake made on a griddle. It is around 1 cm thick, made of mashed potatoes, flower and water. Moskols are served warm and with butter (even garlick butter!), sometimes also with bryndza and bacon. It used to be a very popular dish in Podhale region thanks to its simplicity and availability of cheap ingredients from which it is made of. Nowadays it is not so popular because in many houses are modern kitchens without the traditional griddle. But you can taste it in Zakopane and around in some guesthouses or restaurants e.g. Kraczma Sabala in Zakopane. 

Oscypek

Oscypek is a sheep's milk yellow cheese made in Podhale. It is firm, smoked and salty. Oscypek is also known as a shepherds cheese. You can buy it in many places in Zakopane and surroundings, in shops, on stands along the road. It is so popular that you will also find it in shops all over the country but the best is from its land of origin. Hiking in the Tatra, Pieniny and other Carpathian mountains in Poland you have a chance to visit traditional shepherds huts where the cheese is produced. I like to eat it warmed up (grilled) and with cranberry jam. Maybe it is not traditional way of eating but tasty ;)

Ice cream from Nowy Targ

Mhhmm…jummy. This is ice cream for patient people – sometimes the queue in front of the ice cream parlor is so long… but it is worth waiting. The ice cream has homemade taste and shape and is being sold by weight. You can buy it on a market square in Nowy Targ or on Krupowki street in Zakopane. The name of the shop is Zarneccy. 

Bryndza

It is the traditional white cheese made from mainly sheep’s but also cow’s milk. It is made in Podhale region and Beskid Mountains. Bryndza has salty, slightly sour and spicy taste. It is perfect together with bread or moskols but often it is used as an ingredient for preparing other dishes. In order to produce bryndza you need to pass through 10 stages of production.

Bread backed on cabbage leaf

Delicious! Especially when it is fresh, eaten with butter ;) It is springy, with crispy crust and it has gentle flavor of cabbage. It is an traditional dish from Orava (close to Babia Gora mountain).

WESTERN BESKIDY

Sliwowica Lacka

It is the traditional drink from Lacko with alcohol content more than 70%. “Sliwowica” means that it is made of plums. Lacko is famous for arboriculture.

Kolocz from Cieszyn area

Delicious cake – I use to buy it whenever I am visiting the Silesian Beskids. Bottom and top of kołocz is a baked yeast dough. Inside there is a poppy seed, cheese or apple filling. Top of kołocz is adorned with crumble sometimes sprinkled with powdered sugar.

 

BIESZCZADY and BESKID NISKI

Proziaki

These are pancakes made on a griddle. They consist of wheat flour or wheat-rye flour, eggs, sour cream, water, salt, sugar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Proziaki are very typical for Subcarpathian region (south-eastern Poland). They taste delicious with fresh butter, cool milk or sweet cream.

TO BE CONTINUED…