ANIMALS OF LABRADOR 
27 
To some of those who landed on the coast and explored the 
nooks and valleys, the country seemed full of beauty, of 
attractiveness, and even of a rich and appealing fertility. At 
certain times it presents an amazing wealth of strikingly 
coloured flowers. So thickly sown are they that at certain 
seasons they remind one of a cultivated garden.* 
Once we leave the coast region and enter the interior of 
Labrador, the climate becomes less arctic in character and 
timber increases in quantity. In fact there are two distinct 
climates in Labrador, the arctic on the coast, the north tem¬ 
perate in the interior. 
According to Dr. Packard,f the Greenland and arctic forms 
of animal and plant life occurring on the coast are'the 
remnants of the glacial or arctic fauna and flora which, being 
formerly spread over the entire territory of British America 
and the north-eastern United States, still retain their hold 
on the treeless and exposed islands and headlands of 
Labrador. In many respects the Labrador fauna and flora 
resemble those of the far distant White Mountains in New 
Hampshire, as we shall learn later on (p. 35). 
When we survey the fauna of the coast of Labrador more 
closely we find that, besides the Greenland or arctic element, 
another much richer one has apparently invaded the territory 
previously occupied by the former. This new fauna becomes 
more and more abundant as we proceed westward and south¬ 
ward. Thus the existence of the barren-ground caribou of 
Labrador which resembles the reindeer of Greenland, is 
threatened by enemies such as the glutton or wolverine (Gulo 
luscus), and these do not penetrate farther north. Occa¬ 
sionally the Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus) has 
been noticed in the coastal territory. Besides the lemming 
(Dicrostonyx hudsonius), which is probably identical with 
the Greenland form, quite an assembly of distinct ground 
rodents make their appearance, among them Synaptomys 
innuitus, Microtus enixus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Evo- 
tomys ungava, Evotomys proteus, Zapus hudsonius, and 
Peromyscus maniculatus, also the arctic fox, red fox, several 
* Grenfell, W. T., “Labrador,” pp. 393—395. 
+ Packard, A. S., “The Labrador Coast,” p. 194. 
