Hortense Giraud is a photojournalist. Passionate about nature, she shared the daily life of the Espace Naturel Sensible de la Save for an entire year, during her artist residency. She recounts her encounters, her exchanges and notably presents the emblematic species of our territory in a book entitled “Au fil de la Save”. Extract…
The pond turtle
A small, discreet and fearful animal, the European pond turtle is a protected species that likes to live in an environment where there is little disturbance and whose vegetation on the banks guarantees a certain safety against predators. In the pond turtle, which can live for around sixty years (all the same!), the female is larger and heavier than the male: up to 20 cm and 1,3 kg for the female against 16 cm and 600 g for the male. Its diet is carnivorous, partly scavenger. As a result, the pond turtle greatly contributes to the ecological balance of wetlands. It is even often called “the garbage man of the wetlands”. Thanks to you, pond terrapin!
The Beaver
From dark brown to black gray and often lighter on the belly, the European beaver, in adulthood, weighs on average about twenty kilos and measures more than one meter. This makes it the largest rodent in Europe! Relatively discreet, it is generally visible at nightfall when it comes out of its burrow-hut to take care of its dam or look for food. The beaver is strictly vegetarian, it consumes mainly aquatic plants and, in autumn and winter, the bark of certain trees such as willow, aspen, hazel or poplar.
And the other species then?
The pond turtle and the European beaver are our two “star” species at Les Balcons du Dauphiné. But the diversity of 16 Sensitive Natural Spaces that the territory has allows many other animal and plant species to flourish. We find in particular butterflies, dragonflies (which are distinguished from young ladies who, at rest, have their wings glued in the air, and not flat), birds such as the woodpecker that we can cross or rather hear in the Laurentière forest, frogs that can (almost) always be seen in the educational pond near the Save lake or water snakes.
The book “Along the Sava”
Find the entire adventure of Hortense Giraud in her book! By reading this book, you will experience a real immersion in the Sensitive Natural Space of the Sava. You will only come out more curious to discover this environment full of life! Book available free of charge at the Tourist Office.
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