Where are all the Mammals?

We continue our drive across Newfoundland, traveling through harbor towns interspersed between deep forests and miles of wilderness.  Still we have yet to spy a single mammal.  It is, indeed, odd.

While David dashed into a Canadian Tire Store for a few items, I stayed in the truck with Roxanne.  I was surprised to be able to pick up WiFi from a neighboring restaurant.  On a hunch, I Googled “Newfoundland wildlife.”  What I discovered was absolutely amazing to me.  

Here is the list of all of the native hoofed animals on the island of Newfoundland:  caribou.  That was it… no deer, no bighorn sheep, no mountain goats… only caribou. 

In fact, I discovered that Newfoundland has only fifteen native species of mammals.  The Newfoundland wolf is now extinct, leaving fourteen on the list.  Three of those are bats.  One was the snowshoe hare.  Black bear exist.  Martens are on the endangered list.  There were a few mammals that were introduced, like the moose (a VERY interesting story that I will save for another post).

Wow!  My hopes of photographing wildlife here have been all but dashed.  We are still trying to understand Newfoundland.  The folks are lovely… they drive like crazy people, but when we speak with them, they have been very friendly and open. 

So we drive on… We spent the night at a great private campground, the Kilmory Resort near Swift River.  Tomorrow we travel to the Bonavista Peninsula.