The forest is the habitat of different rodents (dormouse, edibles and squirrels)
as well as of the game, especially of deers. The red deer sometimes lives in mountain forest.
You find many predators like foxes, badgers and martens and few polecats, ermines or weasels.
The most hunted mammals are hares and rabbits. At altitudes above 1,300 m blue
hares are found. The high alpine area (1,300 m - 2,700 m) is the habitat of
marmots. The characteristic cloven-hoofed animal in the Alps is the chamois
which has increasingly reproduced in the last few years. Also the ibex could be
introduced.
Buzzards, sparrowhawks and hawks can often be observed. Golden eagles are not seen frequently. Only a few pairs breed at the upper edge of the forest.
In the Alpine lakes and rivers many fishes are found. In the lakes of the
Salzkammergut region and in the mountain streams there live especially trouts,
chars, tenchs etc.
The area around the lakes and rivers is the habitat of snakes like the grass
snake. The snake of Aesculapius, wich can grow to a length of 1,80 m, prefers warm places.
This snake migrated from the Mediterranean region to the Alps. The adder instead
lives everywhere. Vipers and adders are poisonous snakes.
The Alpine salamander prefers the twilight and the rain. On warm rocks and
on sunny pathes you can observe lizards.
Many insects, which is the class of animals containing the largest number of
species, are protected by law for example the stag-beetle and butterflys like
the swallowtail.
