Tohoku Animals

I originally starting by searching for Akita, but the keywords “Akita” and “animal” kept giving the Akita Inu, not very helpful. EDIT: I'm still splitting this up into two posts, but I decided to add on information to the animals here as I find things relevant to them.

http://campus.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/en_tu_shizen.html
Aobayama is located in Sendai. Aobayama seems to be a very well-known park from what I can gather. It’s been hard getting information on more specific regions at times.

http://campus.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/en_tu_shizen_animals.htm
The Hayabusa is a peregrine falcon which is neat, I didn’t know they inhabited Japan. They're beautiful, but their voice is definitely less pleasant than the yamagara they would eat (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id) If that site is correct, the Peregrine Falcon is one of most widespread birds in the World; they can be found on pretty much every continent. The Ootaka is a goshawk and they are also not unique to Japan so I won't get into them for now.

Ah ha! I was hoping to find some kind of information like this!
http://www.siskiyous.edu/ncta/japan2003/PhotoGlossary/fukurou.htm

The Fukurou (owl) is supposed to bring good luck though because of the association with night, can mean death as well. The Tohoku campus had this very pretty picture of a local Fukurou. (I looked Fukurou up on youtube, but ended up getting silent hill videos; so that's no help.) The most common type of Owl in Japan is the Japanese Scops Owl (http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Otus&species=semitorques). The Owl from Tohoku Campus's picture looks completely different nor does it look like the Oriental Scops Owl. The Tohoku Owl has very different facial features and colors. Whatever kind of owl it is, it breeds from March to May and its nesting habits are that of a typical owl (like nesting in tree holes).



We might hear Yamagara (varied tit) while in Sendai. They sound very pretty, that's bird call you wouldn't mind hearing in the morning. They look similar to our robins. They can be found in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, northeastern China and southeastern Russia. Their current conservation is of the least concern. They like open forests like around mountains or river valleys. You'll find them in various places and trees like the Japanese Yew, bamboo forests, pines, and sugi (cypress trees endemic to Japan).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGj38gNrfjs
(Source for information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varied_Tit)



The Kamoshika is the Japanese Serow. They are a mountain goat/antelope and they live in the mountains of Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku. Both males and females have horns of the same size. They are active during the day and while they tend to be solitary, sometimes several can be found together. Apparently they can secrete something similar to vinegar from a gland close to their eyes and the Kamoshika use it to mark their territories. See those gray ovals below their eyes? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Serow, http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/behavior/Spring2006/Magargal/magargal.html) They are a natural monument of Japan along with animals like the Iriomote cat, Red-crowned Crane, Marimo (algae that actually grow into balls), Japanese River Otters, and Giant Salamanders. Japanese Serow eat primarily bamboo and cypress plants. The latter site notes that the Kamoshika eat less in winter even when food in not in shortage such as captivity. I wonder how that adaptive measure works versus eating as much you can when get the chance as many predators do.

I think most of us know that Kitsune means fox right? And that they’re known for being mischievous spirits or tricksters. The critter below that is a Tanuki, or raccoon dog, and as it turns out, they can be found in Europe, parts of Asia, and Japan of course. If you click the map at this website (http://www.eol.org/pages/328684) it shows you the distribution of Tanuki. They’re also in a lot of Japanese folklore and pop culture (Tom Nook in Animal Crossing is one and Mario/Luigi has an upgrade based off a Tanuki) In recent years, American Raccoons have become a problem for Japan and the Tanuki as well as foxes and heron. The raccoons were introduced into Japan in the late 70's as pets and apparently quite a few roam freely at this point in places like Hokkaido. They've bred well because they don't face much competition and they do a pretty good job savaging Tanuki so the Tanuki population has decreased. Raccoons have been up to their usual mischief like tearing holes in roofs so I can't imagine they are too popular in Japan now. (http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=890&catid=26&subcatid=164)



The Tohoku sanshouuo is a Tohoku Salamander. They use those tails like paddles, look! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnrTjDhquVg
As the namesake suggests, these salamanders are only found in Tohoku Japan. They're freshwater critters (they prefer more still water like ponds) and they currently have a stable population. They juveniles actually take a long time to mature, they take four to five years. Tohoku salamanders also show signs of being only one of two salamanders that fertilize eggs externally and their egg sacs are shaped like bananas. (AmphibiaWeb )

Next is the Japanese Giant Salamander. They are absolutely enormous!

They like shallow, flowing freshwater like mountain streams. These salamanders are active at night and are known to eat other amphibians, crabs, and fish. (They're not cute sensei, they are kind of scary in a cool way.) Their eyesight is poor, so they have to rely on the sensory cells on their skin. Males guard nests to keep their nest site and protect the eggs.Like the Kamoshika, it is a fully protected creature (they used to be eaten and used for medicine) and has been since 1952. The species is threatened because of habitat destruction. They have been found to live up to 80 years in the wild. (Source and Source)

Momonga (Japanese flying squirrel) are so adorable!!!


http://www.pref.akita.jp/koho/foreign/en/0150.html <- So many beautiful places to visit in Akita! I'm sure they have a bunch of different critters to see.

(Links should be working, yay! The links that aren't clickable are my information sources, I'll convery much of what they say so you don't have to read! Totally check out the salamanders ^_^ )