Refuge

A few days after the culmination of the water during the massive floods in September 2024, I went into the field in the Poodří Nature Protected Area. I photographed floods and small spills here for the first time in 2007, then in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023 and now. One of the images that personally caught my attention the most is this one. It captures a water snail hidden in the bark of a tree at a height of about 180 centimeters above the ground on the edge of the floodplain of the Odra River about a kilometer from the main riverbed. I find it fascinating that a creature that normally lives in water would prefer to take refuge in such a refuge high up in a tree trunk. It is fascinating evidence of adaptability in nature. Perhaps even this creature did not want to risk its life or the loss of its homeland. It didn't want the water to wash him away dozens, maybe even hundreds of kilometers away. In addition, the Odra River in Poodří flows from south to north, this snail ingeniously found a hiding place precisely on the northern side of the trunk, where the flow of water is logically the weakest. It took me about an hour of wading in the water along the floodplain to get to this place and I couldn't go any further. The water was too high and the current too strong. Very quickly, however, the water began to recede and the following days I concentrated on wider views of the spills. Photographed by Panasonic S5 with 14-28mm lens. Czech Republic, 2024.