“Previously, I primarily hunted in the mountainous areas of the Chuy-Bishkek Society of Hunters and Fishermen. A few years ago, I became interested in a deeper study of nature. I started to wonder what happens in the mountains in the absence of humans. Usually, when I went to the mountains for hunting or as a tourist, I saw very little wildlife, and the valleys seemed deserted. However, after setting up camera traps in the places where I hunted, I was amazed to find that life in the mountains is thriving. For example, in one valley, I had never managed to see badgers, but in the footage from the cameras, I discovered that this place had become a real 'badger kingdom.' The camera traps captured chukars, pheasants, eagles, magpies, foxes, jackals, badgers, and ibex, and the number of rodents, such as mice and dormice, is astonishing,” Vitaly shared his observations.
He added that the videos from the camera traps reveal many interesting facts about the lives of mountain animals.
“As the recordings showed, wild predators have an excellent sense of smell and react very aggressively to the presence of humans in their habitat. For example, a jackal, noticing the camera with a battery, chewed through the wires and pulled out the battery. On another occasion, a fox 'marked' it,” the photo hunter recounted.
Vitaly plans to venture into areas where people rarely go, in an attempt to find traces of rare and endangered species of animals, and possibly even capture footage of the Yeti.
However, he notes that despite the enjoyment of hunting with camera traps, there are certain problems. In the mountains, local "trackers" or poachers may discover the cameras and remove, steal, or break them.
