Sunday, July 3, 2022

My Little Garden Zoo: 2022 ZONE 4) Arctic Ring

 At first glance, there is something very logical and satisfying in organizing a zoo around geographical regions like continents.  Of course, the downside is that all animals don't restrict themselves to living on just one continent (or one ocean, for that matter).  It's easy to see this when you consider the migratory nature of many birds, for example.  While I placed the Mallard Ducks in Zone 3, truth be told, Mallards live on every continent except Antarctica, and given climate change, it's only a matter of time before they invade there, too.

My decision to focus this idea into a separate zone that would encompass the arctic ring of the northern hemisphere is based more on the fact that mammals make up such a large percentage of the spill-over.  Did you know that Moose, which are ubiquitous in Canada and iconic in some northern states like Maine, and Minnesota are also found across Scandinavia southeastward into Poland and then all the way across Russia to the far reaches of eastern Siberia?  In fact, in Europe, they are referred to as "Elk".  

With that information in your pocket, the species that qualify for this zone, but are NOT on display in my collection include: Caribou, Walruses, Arctic Fox, Arctic Wolf, Arctic Hare, Snow Owl, Musk Ox, and Narwhal.  Four species; however, did make the cut.  They are diverse and iconic in their own right and help to illustrate the diversity of this idea.

POLAR BEAR, Ursus maritimus

MOOSE (Elk), Alces alces

HARBOR SEAL, Phoca vitulina

TIMBER (Gray) WOLF, Canis lupus 

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