“Previously, I mostly hunted in mountainous areas belonging to the Chuy-Bishkek Society of Hunters and Fishermen. However, a few years ago, I became interested in a deeper study of wildlife. I wondered what life is like in the mountains when there are no people around. When you go to the mountains as a tourist or hunter, you usually see very few animals, and the valleys seem empty. However, after setting up camera traps in familiar hunting spots, I was amazed at how active life is in the mountains. For example, in one of the valleys where I had never seen badgers while hunting, I discovered on the camera footage that it is a true 'badger territory.' The cameras captured chukars, pheasants, eagles, magpies, foxes, jackals, badgers, and a huge number of rodents, such as mice and jays,” he shared.
Vitaly emphasized that the recordings from the camera traps reveal many interesting facts about the lives of mountain animals.
“The video footage showed that predators have an excellent ability to detect human scent and react aggressively to the presence of humans in their 'homes' - the mountains. For example, a jackal, noticing the camera with a battery, chewed through the wires and pulled out the battery. In another instance, a fox 'marked' the camera,” he shared his observations.
The naturalist plans to explore areas where people rarely appear and hopes to find traces of rare and endangered species, and possibly even capture footage of the Yeti.
Although Vitaly enjoys hunting with camera traps, he also mentions the difficulties that have arisen. In the mountains, if a camera comes into the view of local "trackers" or poachers, it can be stolen or damaged.
