Animals

1. Suns

   Dog

   Usage

   Mani sakoda suns means a dog bit me

2. Kaķis

   Cat

   Usage

   Point at it with Esmu alerģisks pret kaķiem, I am allergic to cats

3. Putns

   Bird

   Usage

   Birds in general. The coastal lakes at Pape and Engure are known birding spots on the migration route

4. Zivs

   Fish

   Usage

   Both the animal and the food. Smoked fish, kūpināta zivs, is the local speciality at markets and seaside stalls

5. Zirgs

   Horse

   Usage

   Riding is jāšana; rural farmsteads offer rides

6. Govs

   Cow

   Usage

   Milk is piens; grazing herds are a common sight in the countryside

7. Cūka

   Pig

   Usage

   Pork is cūkgaļa. Show this card to check a dish if you avoid pork

8. Vista

   Chicken

   Usage

   Chicken meat is vistas gaļa and an egg is ola — both common on menus

9. Pīle

   Duck

   Usage

   Both the duck on a pond and the one on a plate. A goose is zoss — migrating flocks blanket the fields in spring and autumn

10. Kaza

    Goat

    Usage

    Goat cheese is kazas siers — useful at a market cheese counter

11. Aita

    Sheep

    Usage

    Wool is vilna — the raw material of the knitted mittens, cimdi, that Latvia is known for

12. Zaķis

    Hare

    Usage

    The wild one; a domestic rabbit is trusis

13. Pele

    Mouse

    Usage

    The small one. Istabā ir pele tells reception there is a mouse in the room

14. Žurka

    Rat

    Usage

    The big one, distinct from pele. Only ever about the animal — aimed at a person it insults

15. Lapsa

    Fox

    Usage

    Common in woods and on town edges. Even a tame-looking one should not be touched or fed

16. Alnis

    Elk / moose

    Usage

    Abundant in Latvian forests and a real collision risk after dark — the animal on those roadside warning signs

17. Stirna

    Roe deer

    Usage

    The deer you actually see, at field edges and on forest tracks — often standing by the road at dusk

18. Mežacūka

    Wild boar

    Usage

    mežs, forest, plus cūka, pig. They wander into suburban gardens at night; never approach a sow with young

19. Lācis

    Brown bear

    Usage

    Brown bears do live here, but only a handful and mostly in the north-eastern forests, so encounters are vanishingly rare. The animal is a fixture of folklore and heraldry

20. Vilks

    Wolf

    Usage

    They live in the forests but people almost never meet one; a stock character of Latvian folk tales

21. Vāvere

    Squirrel

    Usage

    Common in Riga's parks and the pine woods at Jūrmala; the winter coat turns greyish

22. Ezis

    Hedgehog

    Usage

    Out in gardens and parks after dark; look, do not handle

23. Stārķis

    Stork

    Usage

    The white stork, baltais stārķis, breeds here at one of the highest densities in Europe — nests on village power poles are a signature summer sight

24. Sikspārnis

    Bat

    Usage

    Out over water and parks at summer dusk; the sandstone caves along the Gauja are known winter roosts

25. Odze

    Adder

    Usage

    The only venomous snake in Latvia, marked by the zigzag on its back and found sunning on bogs and forest edges. If bitten, say Mani sakoda odze and get seen at once. The harmless grass snake, zalktis, is a household guardian in folklore

26. Varde

    Frog

    Usage

    Loud in the bogs and ponds; a frog is varde, a toad is krupis

27. Ods

    Mosquito

    Usage

    Ferocious in the bogs, forests and lakesides in summer. Repellent is pretodu līdzeklis — essential for a June to August walk in the woods

28. Ērce

    Tick

    Usage

    The insect to take seriously here — it carries tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease. Check your skin after any walk through forest or long grass; Man ir ērce tells a doctor or pharmacist you have one

29. Lapsene

    Wasp

    Usage

    They crowd terrace tables in late summer. Mani sadzēla lapsene, a wasp stung me — say so immediately if you are allergic

30. Bite

    Bee

    Usage

    Honey is medus; markets sell the local kind by weight

31. Skudra

    Ant

    Usage

    Latvian forests are dotted with big wood-ant mounds, skudru pūznis — check the ground before you sit down

32. Zirneklis

    Spider

    Usage

    House spiders here are harmless; point at it if you would rather someone else dealt with it

33. Prusaks

    Cockroach

    Usage

    Istabā ir prusaks, there is a cockroach in the room — grounds for asking to move

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