Scottish wildlife (thing)

Scotland has a wide variety of wildlife either peculiar to itself or rare elsewhere. This node will look at some of the plants, birds, marine life, and other animals found here.

Plants

The thistle is Scotland's national emblem. Scotland has many conifers and other trees and bushes, including juniper, Scots Pine, and birch. The primula scotica is another example of Scottish plantlife.

Scotland has many seabirds, including gulls, terns, fulmars, auks, skuas, gannets and ducks, including the eider duck. Game birds include the capercaillie, grouse, and pheasant. Ospreys and golden eagle can be found in the country, the Scottish crossbill is a peculiarly native species, and many types of geese can also be seen.

The rivers, lochs and coastal waters of Scotland are teeming with life. Scotland's salmon and trout make fine eating, as do its mussels, some of which contain pearls. On the coasts, one can see bottlenose dolphins and grey seals in some areas.

Scotland has many deer and even some recently reintroduced reindeer. Mink which were previously farmed in large numbers for their fur can now be found in the wild. The lynx or wildcat is the largest feline in the country, and stoats and their rarer cousins, pine martens, are also here.

As far as reptiles go, the only poisonous snake in the country is the viper or adder.

Scotland has lost some of its earlier animal inhabitants, many of which were hunted to extinction, including the boar, bears, polecats and wolves of its ancient forests, and the great auk and sea eagle.