Читать книгу Trekking Munich to Venice. The Traumpfad, 'Dream Way', a classic trek across the eastern Alps онлайн

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Like the flowers, animals have to be capable of surviving extreme conditions living on slim pickings. Perhaps the most prolific, and certainly the easiest to spot, are marmots. They look like a tubby meerkat (with a similar upright posture) but in fact are a type of squirrel. They live in colonies and whistle to each other as a warning. The colony leader, standing upright, spots or smells danger, issues a whistle that often echoes around a rock face, and the colony of marmots promptly disappears underground. You will certainly see and hear them along the route.

Sunbathing marmots

Less common and generally seen only in the distance are the chamois and ibex. Both in the past have been hunted to near extinction and both are happily in recovery. They are part of the goat-antelope family and share with their domestic brethren a distinct goat-like smell. As well as being incredibly nimble over rocks and up the side of mountains (occasionally unhelpfully dislodging stones) they graze in places where even in summer there is little in the way of grass. The male ibex has much bigger horns than chamois and the chamois has a distinctive black strip on its face.