Finland has a strong animal protection system. Even though there are many homeless cats (I’m not sure about dogs but maybe too!), you won’t see them on the streets. Homeless animals are kept in foster homes until a new owner is found who can then adopt them. Still there are animals you can eventually encounter.

Foxes

A very typical street animal. In our campus there were two foxes. I haven’t seen them in a while, so I’m not sure if they’re still around. You could see them in the university’s yard and on the way home. I saw this fox in Helsinki.

Guess where? At a parking lot.

Seagulls

Every spring you can find them anywhere, even in your yard. Our student campus is surrounded with Saimaa lake and the forest, so seagulls manage to fly around the campus and come to the inner yards. And in Helsinki they are almost everywhere.

Hedgehogs

In summer they cross roads near your home, so be careful while driving =) I saw one right on the street – check this video! 

Pheasants

I met a pheasant on a corner of a road while driving. It was crossing the road as there were no cars at all. I couldn’t make picture of it but it is a stunning bird! This picture is from Wikipedia’s page of pheasants. The one that I met had a bit longer neck and more violet color around the wings.

Reindeer and elks

I saw real Finnish reindeers and elks in a zoo in my hometown Almaty, Kazakhstan. In Finland you might meet them on the roads outside cities but probably not in your courtyard (unless you live in Lapland).