There are many species of wild animals in Norway such as: Elks, lynx, squirrels, Adders,wolves, foxes, roa deer, snakes, deer, birds, insects, wild cats, badger and bears.
Most of these animals are not dangerous as long as they don’t feel threatened, especially during the mating and giving birth seasons.
You can go up to the mountains, woods,forests, fjords without being worried about getting hurt by wild animals.
Elks are the largest animals in Norwegian woods. The male adult elk can be up to 240 cm tall and weigh 850 kg.
Many Norwegians who have hunting permissions and licenses go for hunting during the hunting season in fall and winter.
Elk hunting with dog( hound) is an old tradition. Norwegians consider it as a fine training. Some of the elk hounds are born to be great hunters!
Do you know why elks have fur? The reason is that fur keep them warm and some times they even have fur on their horns! Such elks are sick and need medical attention. Elks can be very mean if they feel threatened! Some people say elks are the forest rebel!
Reindeer or caribou hunters are good at finding the caribou.They sense their smell in the air or follow their traces. In Norway there are various types of elk hunting such as:
posteringsjakt(in Norwegian) : hunters chase the animal by following their traces
smygjakt (in Norwegian): A hunter senses animal’s presence.
drivjakt (in English: Noise making): Make some noises in order to send the animal to a place where hunters are patiently waiting( this method is mostly used in south of Norway). Based upon my observations, when deers that hear your rattling, they respond differently! One, the leader (I guess) will come to investigate where the noise come from, two will run dead away and seven will ignore it. Hunter’s patience and persistence are very important factors for success.
Trondheim Animals are under protection of the Norwegian environment authorities.
Squirrels: They are everywhere in Norway, especially on top of the pine trees in the forest. The red squirrels ( ekorn in Norwegian) live mostly in upper North and Finnmark. They are very cute, but not as tamed as squirrels in the United States.
Lynx: Lynx in Trondelag can be found in forest and mountains. Sometimes they attack sheep which is unpleasant for the farmers in animal production. They are wild animals but so beautiful. They live in central and north Norway. They usually eat cat and the other small animals.
Hares: They live in prairies and forest and their fur changes color with the seasons, brown in summer and white in winter. Hares live around Trondheim and the other cities in central Norway.
Adders: They were observed in Trøndelag. I have seen one in North of Trøndelag on the mountain. If an adder bites someone, gives a slight fever to the victim. Their poison does not kill at all. They eat mice and the other small animals and bite if they feel threatened. In summer 2008 many adders were discovered in Jonsvatnet area in Trondheim. That is why people especially joggers and hikers were warned about adders in those areas.
Wolves are not too many in Norway. They are protected by the Norwegian natural environment. They live in the forest and eat small animals. They also can be found in the upper north and very few in south of Trondelag.
Foxes and Brown bears live in the forest. Brown bears( Bjørn) are few in Trøndelag.They live either underground or inside the holes.
Whale (Hval)
Whales live in North of Norway. They are faithful and beautiful creatures.
If you ever get a chance to travel to the North of Norway i suggest you to try whale safari (hvalsafari). You get amazingly close to them as close as 300 Meters.
The Scandinavian countries are the only countries that authorizes whaling.Norway started commercial whaling in the early 90’s. There are some arguments about hunting whales in order to keep the ecological cycle in balance since they eat huge stocks of fish. Whales are not endangered by its annual hunt in Norway
Birds (fugl): There are various birds in Trondheim.Some of them are very curious and beautiful birds.The Commontern in Norwegian Makrellterne (Latin: Sterna hirundo) is a seabird and lives in Europe, Asia and central North America. They are also called sea swallow. They eat fish and the other small sea creatures. They live in colonies on coasts, islands and fresh water lakes. They are very romantic and caring birds. The male bird takes care of the female by offering fish which is a part of courtship display. They reach an age of 23 years or more.
Oyster catcher in Norwegian Kjeld can be seen in different colors in the world. They are either black or black and white.
They eat earthworms,insect larvae and the coastal oyster catchers feed upon gastropods and polychaet worms. Oyster catchers are monogamous and very territorial birds especially during breeding season!
The male oyster catcher is very fiddle and faithful to the female! They make their nests in the ground which may be placed in a spot with good visibility.
The eggs of oyster catchers are delicious! Kidding! I don’t know how their eggs taste. Ok..back to the eggs. They lay one to four eggs and females take care of eggs while the males engage in more territory defense.
