29 January 2023

Austria in February

Hey everyone,

I am going to stay for a week in Vienna around February 20th.

I plan to spend some of the time mammal watching, and was wondering if anyone has good information.

I reckon that the famous European Hamsters and Souslik of Vienna will be hibernating and impossible to watch, am I right?

Is it still possible to spot any other of the city’s mammals like beavers or deer? Where?

Also, I would greatly appreciate any other tip for Austria mammal watching (preferably not too far from Vienna but will be flexible), especially for Mustelids.

 

Any information will be helpful.

Thanks!

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Yuval Tamir
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5 Comments

  • 31 January 2023
    Miles Foster

    Hi, Yuval,

    I used to know Vienna very well – I lived and worked there some years ago. Some of this information may be out of date but for what it’s worth… You don’t say what your target species are but the Lainzer Tiergarten, despite its name, is a 24 sq. km. wildlife reserve west of the city, easily reached by public transport, and wild boar, fallow deer, mouflon, red deer etc. are all fairly easy to see. The Vienna Woods / Wienerwald are, of course, also close by and easy to get to. Though popular, the woods are vast with many miles of hiking trails and have always been a good place to see wild boar, roe deer etc. There are also deer in the woods of the Prater amusement park. I cannot say with certainty whether there is any chance of seeing souslik or hamsters but I never saw them in February and I suspect you are right – they will be hibernating. But there is a good chance of seeing red squirrels in the city parks, including the black morph. For beaver try the Stadtpark and the Donaukanal. Have a great time it’s a wonderful city!

    3
  • 31 January 2023
    vmoser

    Hello Yuval, my trip report from 2022 might provide some tips for the winter as well. Hamsters: I have no idea, their hibernation seems pretty deep, but it might still be worth a shot to walk the cemeteries, especially if it’s a warm day. They do wake up from time to time apparently and if I would be you, I would definitely give it a try!

    4
  • 1 February 2023
    dactylor

    Hello Yuval,

    The Austrian nature conservation also has a website with distribution maps off all the mammals in Austria and even better also of Viena and the surroundings. Sadly for some species there is just very little data.

    https://www.naturbeobachtung.at/platform/mo/nabeat/mammadat/species/maps.do

    On the left bar where it says: Kartenausschnitt
    Put in: Wien und Umgebung
    And at the bar Art wahlen:
    Type the latin name off the species you want
    Click the button: Karte generieren

    Hopefully that helps a little bit.

    Greetings Jens

  • 9 February 2023
    wildlifereizen

    Hello Yuval,

    I think the hamster are hibernating, but I think it would still be worth it to visit the central cemetery. You will definetely find roe deer closeby. We saw them there every day, and there are not so shy.

    Greetings Björn

  • 31 December 2023
    Yuval Tamir

    So for future planners – I did get to the Vienna central cemetery in February on a rather sunny day. I saw many roe deer in the Jewish section, a red squirrel and one european hamster which left it’s den to get food and stayed out for very long, giving me a great sighting with photo opportunities.

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