I've found a rather idyllic- if somewhat chilly- island to settle on, and am setting up quite comfortably. There are all the turtles I can eat, and when I get tired of that, an ocean covering the east and south edges of my map, lots of trees and shrubs, an abundance of sand, freshwater pools and an aquifer (which I've already easily bypassed to get at stone layers, with so much magnetite and hematite that it's really sort of an inconvenience)- it's a calm and inviting landscape.
Only, it's a bit too calm. There are no wild animals. The entire time that I've been here (which, granted, is not long- it's late summer of my first year) the only creatures on the unit list have been my dwarves and the animals we brought with us (a horse, a camel, and four dogs- which are now looking rather superfluous, along with the six cage traps set up at the entrance).
Is this normal for an island? It's not evil terrain- neutral something, can't remember what the other descriptor was- but I was hoping for something to kill. Will animals begin to come later, or should I count on vermin being the only things for my cages (no elves, so I have no hope of trading for exotic animals like leopards)?