Animals
inside Fondotoce Natural Reserve
The humid area, subject to the changing of level of water, is a land where an extraordinary variety of small animals live.
Among the mammals that usually visit the cane thicket and the lake and streams shore, in order to find nourishing and shelter, there are the fox (Vulpes vulpes), the badger (Meles meles), the beech-marten (Martes foina), the weasel (Mustela nivalis) and also bats and wild mice.
As for amphibians, we find the frog (Rana dalmatina), the tree-frog (Hyla intermedia), the cristate triton (Triturus cristatus). Among reptiles, the grass snake (Coluber viridiflavus), the viper (Vipera spp.), Natrix natrix, the lizard (Podarcis Muralis), the green lizard (Lacerta virdis), the blindworm (Anguis fragilis) and the swamp tortoise (Emis orbicularis).
The cane thicket is a reproduction area for a lot of fish, as the luce (Esox lucius), the tench (Tinca tinca), the carp (Cyprinus carpio), the perch (Perca fluviatilis) and Scardinius erythrophtalmus, that depose their eggs on the canes and on other water plants.
Young fish use the cane thicket as a shelter and a source of nourishment (that they find in the thin patina covering the reeds and on the bottom of the water where a lot of invertebrates live).
The protection of the river mouth is fundamental for the survival of other fish that swim up along the last part of the river to go and be reproduced northwards.
The cane thicket is very important for birds, because it is a stop on the way of birds’ migratory ways.
During winter season the lake, the mouth of river Toce and the cane thicket host birds like divers (Gavia arctica), pochards (Aythya farina), tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula), Bucephala clangula, coots (Fulica atra), harriers (Circus cyaneus), Anthus spinoletta, buntings (Emberiza cia), yellow buntings (Emberiza citrinella), and bramblings (Fringilla montifringilla).
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Last updated February 20th, 2004
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