Animals from Aland

This pretty First Day Cover was given to me by Pia. The stamps and the cover were issued on 1.3.1991. Brief descriptions of the animals pictured on the stamps are given below. The description as I said is brief, notwithstanding the fact that normally volumes could be written on each of these animals, but this blog is constrained to keep it short.

The European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), Common hedgehog or just Hedgehog in the Anglophone parts of Europe, is a hedgehog species found in northern and Western Europe. It is about 20 to 30 cm in length. Adult mass typically ranges from 600 (after hibernation) to up to 1,200 g (prior to hibernation); occasionally, it may reach as much as 1,600 g. Males tend to be slightly longer and heavier than females.

The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, omnivorous rodent. In Great Britain and Ireland, numbers have decreased drastically in recent years, in part because of the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) from North America.

The European Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), also known as the Western Roe Deer or chevreuil, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from the British Isles to the Caucasus. It is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian Roe Deer.