The widest plain expanses, a wild field, overgrown with flowers and herbs - this is what the steppe is. These are hectares of boundless land, breathing freedom, calcined by the summer heat, blown away by all winds or frozen by a winter cold. Rugged by river channels, free, like the soul of a Russian person, the wild steppe is praised in folk songs. She was admired, loved, cared for. In the modern world there are few unexplored spaces by man. The steppes were plowed and sown with wheat, oats, rye. The same fields that remained untouched or were abandoned and again covered with herbs continue to fascinate at any time of the year.
What is the steppe in the geography of Russia? These are endless expanses that stretched from the westernmost Russian outskirts to Siberia, covering the territory to the Black, Azov Seas and the Caspian Sea and reaching the Caucasus Mountains. Large rivers such as the Volga, Don, Ob, and Dnieper carry their waters through the steppe strip. This is somewhere flat, somewhere slightly hilly terrain, on which sometimes, here and there, there are small islands of trees.
The nature of the steppes is diverse. The steppe in the spring is a vast territory covered with rich variegation. A riot of colors, a true palette of the artist - this is what the steppe is at this time of year. The islands of bright red and yellow tulips are adjacent to violet violets, blue and lilac hyacinths, golden sparks of adonis, and all this in the midst of bright green grass. A little later, already at the beginning of June, this spring bloom is replaced by an equally bright palette of summertime flowers - the expanses are covered with blue forget-me-nots, red poppies, irises, yellow tansy, wild peonies. July is the time for the blooming of purple sage. In the second half of summer, the steppe turns white, covered with glades of daisies, clover and meadowsweet. In the hot season, when the sun rises high and dries the earth, and rains are rare, the steppe is like an endless scorched canvas. Here and there, among the faded stalks of cereal grass, gray feather grass flutters. When the hot sun finally “works” on the vast expanses, tumble-field balls will roll across the faded scorched, cracked earth. These are various plants linked together, forming a lump and moving across open spaces, spreading their seeds.
The fauna of the steppes is also rich. What is steppe for him? These are harsh living conditions, to which the inhabitants of the vast expanses are forced to adapt. A large number of rodents prey on the steppe: ground squirrels, mole rats, jerboas, woodchucks, and some species of hares. They all build their holes with numerous passages, underground. Among ungulates there are various types of gazelles, antelopes. Not rare in the steppes and snakes. Birds of prey are represented by steppe eagles, kestrel, and moons are found. In addition, bustard and various species of small birds, such as larks, live in the steppes. Predatory animals live in the steppes. Steppe wolves and jackals become especially dangerous in winter. When the steppe was still little developed, there were frequent cases when wolf packs attacked humans.
The steppe is found on other continents. However, there she has other names. In America it’s the prairie, in Africa it’s the savannah.
