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There's these turkeys that live near me that flock in large numbers, its been fun watching them grow up and have new turkeys, little poults running around, and i know they are essentially food animals but i still always root for them, kinda like the rabbits and other prey animals around where i live. During the summer i came out my front door and startled a mother turkey and about eight or nine of her little babies who were escaping the rain under my house's front awning Today i was driving out to walk my dog and a few houses down the street the turkeys were crossing, the big males usually stand there and ruffle their feathers until every turkey has passed. Heres a shot of most of them over and the last few poults/now almost turkeys crossing:  The big males and the rest of the turkeys kept waiting though and then this last little guy on the right limped out of the trees and slowly crossed:  Its very cool to see wildlife even in your suburban neighborhood. I live in new england by the coast so we have a lot of forest, ponds and marsh and I spend a lot of time watching the local wildlife but this thread is hopefully not just for that, any observations, pictures or posts about wildlife are welcome.
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Jan 10, 2016 03:26
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We have lots of rabbits around me, eastern cotton tails, new england cottontails and hares/jack rabbits. Heres a shot of one of my little friends from a few years back just chilling by a boardwalk/sitting area next to the marsh: These little guys will come out at night to eat clover and just kinda hang out near me if i'm out having a drink by the fire pit. They are by no means tame but it seems like they've figured out I'm not going to do anything to them and the foxes, coyotes and birds of prey won't bother them if there's a human around. Its very cool seeing how the wildlife has adapted to life in suburbia. When i grew up in the late 70s and early 80s there were almost no deer, coyote or redtail hawks in my area but in the past twenty or so years they've rebounded in staggering numbers. I see them now almost daily. Last winter a pair of bald eagles actually came to the tidal river and hung out for a few weeks because their inland lakes and ponds had all frozen over.
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Jan 10, 2016 17:36
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Jan 10, 2016 21:28
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i like aminals. One time I watched an otter eat an iguana!
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Jan 11, 2016 01:56
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so theres been these really big raccoons hanging around lately, been trying to get a good picture but this is the best so far: little guys are so cute
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Jan 11, 2016 02:23
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Last month I saw a coyote walk through a herd of cattle at Point Reyes. Neither the cattle nor the coyote seemed to think it was a big deal. Ten minutes before that, I saw a calf get very upset at a great blue heron. Animals have weird priorities.
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Jan 11, 2016 02:57
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Turkey's loving suck. There's a group that hangs around our friends house because a neighbor feeds them and they're giant dickbags who will try to chase you I live next to the water and sometimes see seals swimming around in my "back yard", it's kind of cool. Not very good for getting a picture though since it's usually just their heads poking out of the water.
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Jan 11, 2016 17:46
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Levitate posted:Turkey's loving suck. There's a group that hangs around our friends house because a neighbor feeds them and they're giant dickbags who will try to chase you We get seals during the winter when boats are out of the tidal river. A few years back I was working on a mooring by being floated down on a large wooden float/dock attached by a rope and a seal came swimming towards me. It got to within about a foot and was looking me right in the eyes when I freaked out and slammed down my wrench to scare it away, which worked. I still have no idea why I did something so dumb bc the poor little guy was probably just swimming over to check out what was happening or look for fish under the float I was on. Still kicking myself to this day because normally I don't spook out like that. My families dock is about 2 miles from the mouth of the river and there's a nice fishing hole just off to the right of it, around where I was, river bottom drops off there from about ten feet at low tide to around 20ft deep. Lots of good striper fishing there. Seals also mean sharks though and last year there were a ton of great white sightings just outside of the rivers mouth as well as that discovery channel show where they tracked great whites off cape cod which is relatively close to me.
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Jan 11, 2016 17:58
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Wildlife means something where I'm from. We have to deal with bears, cougars, and wolves as things that would eat us. Moose and elk like to kill us if we cross their paths. And probably the most annoying of them all are the golden-mantled ground squirrels. People think they're chipmunks because they have the same colour pattern, but they're not. Chipmunks don't rip your stuff to shreds to get at snacks. Those little assholes have NO fear. This one was trying to tear a hole in my pocket to get at trail mix 
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Jan 11, 2016 19:17
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Picnic Princess posted:Wildlife means something where I'm from. We have to deal with bears, cougars, and wolves as things that would eat us. Moose and elk like to kill us if we cross their paths. And probably the most annoying of them all are the golden-mantled ground squirrels. People think they're chipmunks because they have the same colour pattern, but they're not. Chipmunks don't rip your stuff to shreds to get at snacks. Those little assholes have NO fear. So envious of your local wildlife, canada right? We've only recently been getting fisher cats and mountains lions back but our coyote populations are exploding. Will try to upload video later of a pack that grew up in the swamps and hills behind my house, just sounds but still unnerving. Last year their was a deer carcass stashed on a local trail my dog and I walk and there's always stories of cats and small dogs getting taken by coyotes.
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Jan 11, 2016 20:00
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Luvcow posted:So envious of your local wildlife, canada right? We've only recently been getting fisher cats and mountains lions back but our coyote populations are exploding. Yep, Canada is really empty when it comes to people so there's still actual animals up here.
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Jan 13, 2016 02:09
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chipmunks aren't actual animals  cute as poo poo though
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Jan 13, 2016 02:13
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I once had a chipmunk follow me around on a trail here in Colorado, so they are animals and my friends
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Jan 13, 2016 07:39
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I remember the first time I saw a chipmunk. I had just got to Grand Teton NP and a tiny little guy ran across the path in front of me. I didn't know what it was at the time and would've never guessed chipmunk- thought they would be bigger for some reason. They're seriously the cutest little guys though. I live out by lake travis in austin, so the usual suspects are around. Lots of deer, coyotes, snakes, roadrunners, and giant loving bugs everywhere.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:40
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Squalid posted:i like aminals. One time I watched an otter eat an iguana!   
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Feb 5, 2016 21:43
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Feb 6, 2016 02:37
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Too many pics to post, but here's a link to my blog entry about a raptor club meet we went to, tons of cool birds of prey! http://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/fun-with-raptors.html Turkey buzzards in the trees at the end of our street, they'd crash land in the trees and the sound of the branches breaking off was like gunshots, fuckers are HUGE: http://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2014/03/capistrano-gets-swallows-we-get-buzzards.html And California Quail, also known as Valley Quail, in my front yard! http://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2015/11/if-you-place-huge-food-block-they-will.html Clickity the pics in the posts for embiggering.
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Feb 6, 2016 05:22
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Velvet Sparrow posted:Too many pics to post, but here's a link to my blog entry about a raptor club meet we went to, tons of cool birds of prey! http://jackshenhouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/fun-with-raptors.html I love turkey buzzards! Or turkey vultures as I call them. I see them in droves in Mexico, and apparently they exist in southern Alberta but I have yet to spot one.
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Feb 6, 2016 06:30
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I've seen turkey vultures in central Saskatchewan, the middle of the Canadian prairies is about the northern limit of their range. Just one or two, not like the ubiquitous handful I see everywhere around Southern Ontario in April / May, and not like the hundreds, everywhere, in Florida in November. I talked to a bird-bander who claims to be the only person banding turkey vultures in western Canada, he said the adults are chill as gently caress when he's handling them, but the chicks / juveniles get freaked out when he's trying to put a band on.
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Feb 6, 2016 20:59
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Time for raptors.            
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Feb 6, 2016 21:17
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You can't throw a rock around here without hitting a coyote, cottontail, or bobcat. This dude likes to come and stare in our windows  There's been a bunch of sightings of a mountain lion and her two cubs in my area recently. I stumbled across where they've likely been hunting during the last week while hiking saturday. Three miles of cougar, baby cougar, coyote, and deer tracks. It was pretty neat but made me wish I'd remembered to bring my bear mace. We were traveling in opposite directions though so I wasn't terribly concerned.  I hope I see a ring-tailed cat soon, there are a lot in the area but they're hard to spot.
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Feb 9, 2016 19:41
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I've been seeing a bunch of coyotes lately around here but that's not crazy unusual. Supposed to be bobcats around here too but I haven't seen one...I'd like to Probably the coolest thing I've seen while backpacking was a pine martin that ran through our camp. It looked unenthused that we were around.
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Feb 10, 2016 00:52
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I saw a small weasel with a vole in its mouth run through my campsite once and it was the cutest badass ever.
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Feb 10, 2016 08:29
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Heard on the news about a guy from my town getting footage of some kitties today. Here's the youtubes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp6vg4QcZOg I haven't seen cougars in the wild, but was woken up at 2am this past summer when a couple of them decided to have a territorial dispute in the bush outside my tent. Puts a fear in you from some ancient place deep down in the most primal place of your brain.
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Feb 13, 2016 09:28
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I'm camping right now. Not hiking, just walking up mountains and short beach walks each day. On the drive down I had lunch in a park outside a country town, bunch of roos were having lunch too  A rosella was wondering if my tent had seeds around it (it did not)  He tried to peck my toenail too.  A couple of galahs chilling in a tree  And a wombat came around about half an hour ago, sniffing my car, tent and chair/cooking table for 'people food' 
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Feb 22, 2016 12:23
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Wombats are cool
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Feb 22, 2016 18:23
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Great horned owl
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Feb 22, 2016 18:37
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I got to pet a wombat at a zoo in Cairns, it felt really weird. They're also much bigger than I expected.
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Feb 23, 2016 02:50
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drunkill posted:And a wombat came around about half an hour ago, sniffing my car, tent and chair/cooking table for 'people food' I struck out on seeing Burrowing Owls while traveling through the Bay Area, but saw some other critters. The mudflats around Shoreline Park and the Palo Alto Baylands are one of the best places to watch American Avocets  Black Oystercatcher:  My favorite duck, the Cinnamon Teal:  Burrowing Owls frequently share habitat with the California ground squirrel, so I saw tons of them while checking out owl territory.  Tree Swallows doing Matrix poo poo while fighting over nest boxes:  Western fence lizard: 
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Feb 25, 2016 19:00
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Wood Ducks have returned to the wetlands around Humboldt Bay.   
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Apr 12, 2016 16:11
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We have Canadian geese. They are the dumbest, most arrogant animal in the world. They have zero fear of humans, cars, anything and everything. They're also a protected species. Fortunately there are predators that can help take care of them.
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May 22, 2016 21:42
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Three-Phase posted:We have Canadian geese. Yeah, gently caress geese. They put plywood cutout dog silhouettes up in the local parks to discourage them from hanging out and making GBS threads everywhere and attacking kids. Generally my policy is to just steer clear of wildlife, but I've had a goose go out of its way to cross more than 100 yards to come nip at me. Wish I could punt the fuckers into the river. I've seen geese attack a bear out on the trail before.
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May 23, 2016 17:38
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I'm attacked frequently by geese while at work, one in full flight, kicking my backpack, wings wrapped around my head. They're afraid of umbrellas though. I carry one for self-protection these days.
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May 24, 2016 02:26
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The University of Waterloo, where I work (I'm in the field, far away at the moment, but back in a few weeks) is so fully infested with Canada Geese they sell little plush ones with the university logo in the bookstore. There are multiple twitter hashtags for reporting the location and activities of the most beligerent individual geese, and this officially-sanctioned goose-tracking website to help you plan your daily activities around campus. I think they're loving hilarious, they act like they think they're pigeons sometimes (perching on rooftops / edges, flying between buildings and under raised walkways, etc.). I like to gently caress with them, they mostly ignore people who just walk past - and I can get pretty close without provoking a reaction from at least 99% of them - but they get very nervous when I stop and stare at one. Sometimes hissing, sometimes a little lunge, but I just tell them about the cookbook project I'm working on (every recipe, gonna take me years) and one of the recipes is for roast goose. Yes, they're protected, but if one breaks its own drat neck flying into a plate-glass window I'm not necessarily above finishing it off and taking it home. Like most birds, they don't weigh as much as they look like they should and outside of the actually-dangerous birds (ostriches and the like) or any attempt to physically handle a raptor without the heaviest of heavy leather gloves, geese are much more bark than bite. Yeah, a nip can hurt and they can break skin, and a lucky strike with a wing would be very painful (also, probably to the goose), but as far as I'm concerned they're all bluff. Ask me again after I get clobbered by one on a hard takeoff straight into me, though.
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May 24, 2016 05:11
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why the gently caress are canadian geese protected they're all over the goddamn place making GBS threads on everything. EVERYTHING.
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May 24, 2016 18:42
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They're migratory birds (even if some of them only migrate from the front nine to the back nine), and are therefore covered under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals; both the USA and Canada have passed laws relevant to the convention. You can still hunt Canada Geese in some places at some times of year. You can take 8 per day up to a bag limit of 24 in Manitoba in the fall, for example, or 5 per day with no bag limit in Ontario in the same season. This all depends on having a valid hunting license (cost depends on residency) and firearms laws. And for some reason, both of those provinces are eager to let you cleanse the skies of Snow Geese - unlimited daily takes, relaxed restrictions on when & where you can shoot them, and other exemptions from normal hunting regulations abound for "nuisance" species that somehow does not include Branta canadensis.
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May 25, 2016 05:18
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 I saw a moose this weekend in Glacier. It was across a meadow from me and it was also drizzling snow so the picture is pretty mediocre, but it's there!
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May 25, 2016 06:35
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Moose own and I love when people see them
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May 25, 2016 09:00
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ExecuDork posted:They're migratory birds (even if some of them only migrate from the front nine to the back nine), and are therefore covered under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals; both the USA and Canada have passed laws relevant to the convention. Pretty much. It's not because they're endangered. In the states migratory birds are regulated through laws that govern interstate commerce and there have been cases before the supreme court to affirm that. Sounds like a case of Big Geese lobbyists at it again. But yeah, the problem isn't that they dangerous. It's that they're cunts. Moose on the other hand are awesome, but I've heard they can be deadly. Never seen one personally, but I definitely wouldn't gently caress with one.
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May 25, 2016 18:52
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I had a close moose encounter, it was on trail and we were headed towards each other.   I crouched down in some tall grass just off trail with my mother in law and little sister in law, while my husband decided to be his typical self.  The moose was totally chill with us though, and stopped to watch us momentarily to decide whether we were a threat or not. We just spoke softly to him and he went on his merry way.  I was kicking myself for not bringing my real camera and being stuck with my cell phone.
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May 26, 2016 04:33
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