02 • 01 • 2019

Forest Calendar: December

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Last months of the year is the darkest time of the year - there is only a few hours of daylight, and biological activity is at its lowest level. However, nature does not look into the calendar. Wild boar and other animals do not know that the old year is over and a new year has just started. Life and work in the forests managed by JSC "Latvia's State Forests" continue.

Buds are still sleeping in trees and bushes, covered with a thick shell, so that leaves and flowers do not get frost-bitten. Sap is no longer circulating in tree trunks, making wood drier. Almost all invertebrates have hidden into their wintering sites and they are rarely to be seen in the forest, mostly only during the hours of thaw.

December is the darkest time of the year; and it is advantageous for those who have not hibernated - for owls and the majority of animals. The rutting season continues for wild boar, they celebrate wedding and still tend to stay in groups. Light-loving animals have little time to fill their stomachs and therefore they are busy from dark to dark.