Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Animal Life, by James A. Grieg
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There are 67 mammals within the confines of the country,
among them being 8 species of bat. Of these, the Scandinavian
bat (Vespertilio Nilssoni) is found as far north as Tromsø, and the
common long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus) up to the polar circle.
The other species are only found in the southern districts. Among
the insectivora are the hedgehog, which belongs especially to the
country about the Kristiania Fjord. The only Norwegian species
of cat is the lynx, which occurs in unfrequented and mountainous
forests up to Vefsen. A great enemy of the reindeer is the glutton
(Gulo luscus), which inhabits the same tracts as the reindeer,
namely, the mountains of the north. The reindeer’s worst enemy,
however, is the wolf. In former times, wolves were very numerous
in the country, but about 1850 they suddenly disappeared, probably
owing to disease, from a great part of southern Norway. It was
onlv at Røros that a stock was left, and from this there have
been emigrations from time to time. On the other hand, wolves
have never been absent from the north of Norway, and especially
Finmarken. The number, however, has varied here too.
The commonest beast of prey is the common fox and its
relative the arctic fox (Canis lagopus), whose home is in the
mountains, and which only finds its way into the lowlands in the
so-called lemming-years. Bears were formerly numerous, but, like
several other beasts of prey, are gradually disappearing. In some
districts, indeed, they are altogether exterminated. They are most
numerous now along the frontier from Trondhjem up to Tromsø,
in Telemarken, and in the more inland fjord-districts of the west.
The common seal (Phoca vitulina) is the most general of its
kind in Norway. Next comes the gray seal (Halichærus grypus),
which has a large breeding-place on the Fro Islands. In former
times, the hunting of this seal formed a profitable occupation. All
the arctic seals, and even the walrus, occasionally make their
appearance on our north coast. Of these, however, only the harp
seal (Phoca grœnlandica) possesses any interest, as it has appeared
in recent years, in large flocks in the Varanger Fjord, at the time
of the codfisheries in April and May. Its arrival is much dreaded
by the fishermen, who declare that it destroys the fish.
One of the most remarkable animals in the country is the
lemming (Myodes lemmus), which inhabits the mountain wastes.
In the north, however, it is found as far down as to the sea. In
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