Ruka And Kuusamo’s Flora And Fauna
Fauna
Animals
Photo by Marshmallow
As well as reindeer the forests are also home to moose, brown bears, lynx, wolverines, foxes, mink and various other small creatures.
In the summer months The Large Carnivore Centre, an animal sanctuary for orphaned animals, is open and you can get a closer look at bears, lynx, wolverines and other local inhabitants.
Birds
Kuusamo is very popular with bird watchers and nature photographers from all over the world due to the large number of birds around the Kuusamo area including Siberian, Arctic and rare Eastern species that are rarely seen outside Russia – for more information see this list of more than 200 species of birds in Kuusamo.
Fish
The lakes and rivers are full of fish. The lakes hold a variety of fish such as vendace, pike, whitefish, perch and burbot. And the rivers are home to species such as trout, arctic char and greyling. Fishing, both as a sport and a profession, are very popular here in Kuusamo.
Flora
Photo by Mwri used under creative commons
Berries
When not covered in snow the ground offers up an plethora of food, all of which you are free to pick as much as you like under Finland’s Every Man’s Right Wild raspberries, blueberries and lingonberries grow in abundance all though the forests and cloudberries, a delicious and unusual berry purported to contain more vitamin C than an orange in a single berry, grow in the marshes.
Mushrooms
Edible mushrooms such as porcini and Russula decolorans are common through out the forest and, like the berries, you are free to
Photo by echoforsberg under creative commons
pick as many as you like. Beware with picking mushrooms though, as many are poisonous and some even lethal and it is vital that you know what you are eating.
Every time someone tells me about this mushroom I can’t help wondering about the discovery process that it took to find it out, and why they persevered after the first time didn’t work. It is however considered something of a delicacy in Finland and is often served in restaurants in soups and salads. I have eaten it several times myself and it is delicious.
Oulanka National Park Featured In National Geographic
‘The next time I visit Oulanka National Park in the far north of Finland, I want to be two feet tall. That way the autumn mushrooms will come up to my knees, and I’ll find myself walking in a waist-high forest of heather and lingonberries and crowberries and lichens. At that height, too, the wood-ant nests will tower over me.’
Hi, I'm Heather and this is my blog and travel guide to Ruka and Kuusamo, Lapland
