Meet a Real Life Snow White

Simona Kossak came from a Polish family of artists, but she went in another direction and studied science- biology, zoology, and forest ecology. Her research is invaluable, but her private life was like many movies, not just Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Kossak went to work for the Mammal Research Institute in Białowieża National Park, and they lodged her in a decrepit hunter's lodge called Dziedzinka with no plumbing or electricity where she spent the rest of her life. Kossak was surrounded by forest creatures of all kinds, from owls to aurochs, and she shared her home with any that wanted to come inside.

But she didn't own the lodge, and the forest service moved wildlife photographer Lech Wilczek into another part of the house. Kossak didn't like the invasion of her privacy and solitude one bit, but Wilczek was just as welcoming to sharing his life with wildlife as Kossak was, and over time they bonded over their mutual love of a wild boar piglet named Zabka, who lived at Dziedzinka for 17 years. Kossak and Wilczek became life partners in a true story that reads like a rom-com with a huge boar as a matchmaker. Read about Kossak and meet some of the many animals she loved at Messy Nessy Chic. 

(Image credit: Lech Wilczek)