Cesky
Dulezite upozorneni - Prosim, zaparkujte sve auto na na waypointu PARKNG a dale pokracujte pouze pesky nebo na kole, nebot se budete nachazet v oblasti chranene geocacherskym zakonem. Neuposlechnuti bude trestano zapadnutim do hlubokeho (nejen mravniho) bahna.
Pise se rok 1985. Nasli jsme tehdy docela nepatrnou melkou stopu obtisknutou v jilu. Ve vedeckem svete nas nalez nevyvolal zadny vetsi ohlas. Pro nas vsak mel tento kousek sadry zvlastni vyznam. Vedeli jsme, ze jdeme spravnou cestou.
O dva roky pozdeji mela expedice stejne slozeni. Ivo Soukup - doktor zoologie a Dr. Lubomir Bauer - biochemik. Zbytek expedice tvoril kameraman Jirka Mraz a ja. Meli jsme opet namireno do Severnich Cech. Petroleus mostensis neboli ropak bahnomilny se totiz jinde nevyskytuje.
Dr. Soukup je jedim z mala lidi, kteri videli ropaky na vlastni oci. Podle jeho nazoru vznikl ropak bahnomilny zcela vlastni vyvojovou cestou.
Nase prvni cesta vedla za Emilem Nedbalem, ktery pred casem ukazal Dr. Soukupovi, kde muze ropaky spatrit. Pan Nedbal nemel zadny vedecky titul, ale o zivote ropaku vedel temer vse: "Tam me prijeli chlapi s naftou, tam to slozili tu naftu, ze jo... Ta nafta snad mela spatnej uzaver, tak vytejkala ven a prisli vam ty ropaci a tu naftu voni uplne pili! A chlastali to a chutnalo jim to vyborne. A vite, a byla to nafta! Anebo po sichte jsem si dal holinky k boude a rano vam prijdu do prace a voni jsou ty holinky vokousany! Jo a tak jsem si myslel, kdo by to moh bejt? Voni to byli ty ropaci. Voni me vam z toho udelali galose namisto holinky!".
Po dvaceti letech jsme se vydali najit a prozkoumat hlavni hnizdiste ropaku. Expedice mela i tentokrat stejne slozeni, pouze pan Nedbal se zapojit nemohl, protoze jiz zemrel. Nejprve jsme navstivili misto, kde ropaci radi odpocivaji. Casto jich tu pry byva k videni i nekolik desitek. Abychom toto misto presne lokalizovali, vyuzili jsme veskerou dostupnou techniku vcetne satelitni navigace. Museli jsme dat ropakum za pravdu: vyhled na vodni plochu a okolni krajinu musi potesit snad kazdeho.
Nasim hlavnim cilem vsak bylo nalezeni mista, kde ropaci staveji sva hnizda. Bedlive jsme zkoumali vsechny stezky, na kterych jsme nasli otisky stop. Nakonec nas k hnizdisti dovedla cesta vyjezdena od nakladnich aut. Prekvapilo nas, ze si ropaci sva hnizda staveji jen par metru od ni v prostoru tzv. mesicni krajiny. Bohuzel jsme zde zaznamenali ubytky tohoto prirozeneho prostredi diky kerum a stromum, jez se zde zacinaji hojne rozrustat. To by skutecne mohlo ohrozit populaci ropaku a zpusobit kalamitu. Proto jsme alepson zaznamenali aktualni stavy jedincu v teto lokalite.
Veskere informace, ktere se nam podarilo nasbirat jsme ukryli v hermeticky uzavrene schrance na nedalekem mirne vyvysenem miste. Ukryt jsme zvolili s ohledem na pripadne dalsi expedice, ktere se nejspis take vydaji po stopach ropaka bahnomilneho. Misto, kde je schranka ulozena, ropaky nijak zvlast nepritahuje. Nabizi vsak pekny vyhled na krajinu, kde ziji ropaci i lide v dokonale harmonii.
Rady a prosby dalsim expedicim
- Tuto oblast jsme oznacili jako chranene uzemi, proto se pohybujte pouze po vyznacenych cestach!
- Ropak bahnomilny se opravdu vyskytuje na mistech, kde byva bahno. Zvlast po desti.
- Mladsi clenove vyprav se nemusi niceho obavat, budou-li pod dohledem zkusenejsich kolegu.
- Podari-li se vam vyfotit ropaky pri odpocinku nebo v jejich hnizdisti, poskytnete zabery i ostatnim.
English
Important notice - Please leave your car at the waypoint named PARKNG and continue on foot or by bicycle only, because you will be in the area protected by geocaching codex. Flagrant violation will be punished with miring (not only to a slough).
In the year 1985 we found just an indistinct footprint in the clay. No scientists were interested in it. But this plaster model had a special meaning for us. We knew, we were on the right way.
Two years later the expedition staff was the same. Ivo Soukup - doctor of zoology and Dr. Lubomir Bauer - biochemist. The rest of the expedition comprised Jirka Mraz as cameraman and me. We were destined to the Northern Bohemia. Petroleus mostensis or ropak mud-loving (also known as Oil Gobbler) lives nowhere else.
Dr. Soukup is one of those very few eyewitnesses who met ropaks. In his opinion ropak mud-loving grew up by its own way.
At the first we contacted Emil Nedbal, who showed the way to ropaks to Dr. Soukup. Although Mr. Nedbal was degreeless, he knew nearly everything about ropaks: "There were guys with rock-oil, they dumped the oil, you know... It had a broken sealing, so the oil flew out of the tank. The ropaks came and they started to drink it! They were toping it and they liked it very much. And it was the oil, you know! Or another day I left my gums outside and when I returned back in the morning I found my gums nibbled! I started to think about who did it? And it was nibbled by the ropaks. They made galosh from my gums!".
Twenty years later we took the route to find and investigate the main breeding place of ropaks. The expedition had the same staff again, except for Mr. Nedbal who had already died. First of all, we visited the place where ropaks prefer to relax. It is said there can be seen several tens of ropaks taking a rest. We utilized all of available devices including global positioning system to locate the right place. We agreed with ropaks: the view of water sheet and the surrounding scene will warm the heart of everybody.
But our main goal was to find the area where ropaks build their nests. We scanned all the paths, where footprints were found. After all, we were lead into the breeding place by the track beaten by trucks. We were surprised the ropaks build their nests only a few meters away from the track in the area of so-called moonscape. Unfortunatelly, we perceived some loss of the original environment because of overgrowing bushes and trees. The situation can endanger the population of ropaks. So we recorded the standing crop in this habitat.
All the information we collected was hidden in a sealed container, which was placed at a near rise. The cache was chosen considering the other expeditions trailing the ropak mud-loving. Ropaks are not interested in this place too much, but it offers a nice scenic view over the region where ropaks and people live in an outstanding harmony.
Suggestions and demands to the next expeditions
- This area was declared as protected territory, so do not leave the tracks!
- Ropak mud-loving is abounding where mud can really be found. Especially after the rain.
- Younger members of expeditions can feel safe if they are supervised by collegues having more skills.
- If you take some photos of ropaks taking the rest or at their breeding place, please provide them to other expeditions.