A young pair is expected to arrive at the Paltamo Otter Nest – will Tommi and Liisa have chicks this summer?

Last year, we practiced hard to make chicks, but we didn’t get any results. Now the young gnats are definitely ready to breed.

Residents are eagerly awaited at the Paltamo weather nest. The nests monitored by the Mosquito Foundation already have residents in Janakkala, Ylläslompolo and Taipalsaari.

Last year, a young pair of gnats lived there, but they had no chicks yet. The gnats, named Tommi and Liisa, practised mating diligently, but this did not yet bear fruit last summer.

– Tommi is on Liisa’s back just fine, but Liisa needs to know how to turn her tail so that the semen can drain into the fallopian tube where fertilisation takes place. It’s not an easy job, and the accuracy is pretty poor. This is also the reason why mating is so frequent, even hundreds of times.

The male breeding drive looked strong last year as it buryed the nest while the female was away. The eggs are just missing.

The dog’s task is to hatch while the female is eating, for example.