"Animals don't lie. Animals don't criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do."
- Betty White
Upon this planet we call home, one can find a great multitude of forms of life. From the birds in the sky to the creatures beneath the waves, the creatures that move upon the earth to the ones that move below it. They are everywhere. Some can be seen in certain places around the world more than others. One of these places is none other than the European continent.
For all that the wilderness of Europe has been subject to great change, what with the increase of agriculture and the ever increasing number of cities, nature still manages to flourish in the way only it can. The birds of the continent still fly in the skies, such as the Eurasian skylark and the Golden eagle. And upon the land move a variety of creatures; whether in the open areas or amongst the trees or even the valleys and mountains. Predators such as the Eurasian lynx and the wolf move quickly, stalking their prey, while the Brown bear and the European pine marten go searching for anything from berries to fellow animals.
Europe is also the home to a variety of lizards and snakes. From the venomous European viper to the easygoing European green lizard, they are everywhere. Yet while so many creatures are free to wander the fields and forests of Europe, such as the moose and the reindeer, many of the various animals are at risk. Due to the constant spread of new farmland and the growth of cities, much of the native habitats are slowly dwindling away. Birds such as the European turtle dove, water-dwelling creatures such as the Mediterranean monk seal, and small mammals such as the European mink. Each of them are at risk of disappearing unless we are able to mitigate the damage that we are causing.
The continent of Europe has many wondrous creatures that call it home. The sounds echo throughout the mountains and valleys, constantly reaffirming that life is bountiful there. Keep watch for the next blog post in this series, where it will be based on the creatures of Asia.
“The wild is where you find it, not in some distant world relegated to a nostalgic past or an idealized future; its presence is not black or white, bad or good, corrupted or innocent... We are of that nature, not apart from it. We survive because of it, not instead of it.”
- Renee Askins
More in this Series: Part 1: North America | Part 2: South America