# Your Wild Life



## MsBrightside (May 17, 2015)

Since I moved to Texas, I've encountered a lot of creatures that I'd never seen in person before, some of them just hanging around my house.

The first pic is of an alligator devouring some kind of large frog. I ran into this guy at a local botanical garden, right on the sidewalk between the cafe and the theater. Some people have seen alligators in my neighborhood, too, although they're mostly smaller than this one.







The second pic is of a black-velvet leatherleaf slug. There are tons of these in my front yard! Apparently they're native to Paraguay and were first found in LA in 1960 but have spread to MI, FL, and east TX. (I live less than an hour from the LA border.)





I also saw some huge bluish-grey heron in my backyard today, but it flew away when I tried to snap a pic of it.

What kind of wildlife have you seen where you live?


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## tankyguy (May 17, 2015)

Deer, quite often in our yard. It's a regular occurrence in the Fall to find them drunk on fermented apples from our tree.

Coyotes, skunks and foxes were common to see on the walk to school in the morning. Several times I've had to run off porcupines from our property with a shovel/hockey stick.

Also, rarely, Black bears. One time we saw one in our yard as we were coming home from a drive and decided to stay out a bit longer until we were sure it was gone. Another time vacationing in a cabin, one came by and started pawing the door because my dad didn't tidy up after cleaning the fish he caught.


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## Xyantha Reborn (May 17, 2015)

I'm in Ontario Canada.

We have some pretty badass racoons. 

I think the craziest thing I have seen is a possum hereabouts. I didn't realize how long and creepy their faces were. It was pushed up against the glass of the back door and I was like "awww....OMFG WHAT THE HELL?!" as it turned sideways. 

Never realized how weird salmon look until I found a riverbed full of sated, dying fish after their mating run. 

Hmm. Pretty sad.


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## Amaranthine (May 18, 2015)

I was hoping I could talk about all the crazy things I've done when I saw the thread title...


We get a surprising amount of wildlife for living in the suburbs of Syracuse. A great many deer, rabbits, raccoons, the occasional opossum or fox. We have a duck couple that hangs around our pool. There was a Japaense rooster in our backyard once; no one knew where that one came from. 

When spring was finally starting to warm up, we started putting corn out for the deer again. I guess their hunger surpassed our supply, because one of them jumped up on our covered above ground pool (my dad had put corn on it for his aforementioned ducks.) Luckily the water was still frozen or everyone would have been SOL. 

View attachment WP_20150409_00_51_45_Pro.jpg


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## agouderia (May 18, 2015)

My most unexpected wild life encounter (no pics though, was too surprised) was in downtown Berlin, on an icy January night right in front of the Federal Defense Ministry: A fox calmly wandered across the snow-covered parking lot at 9 p.m. (security anyone???)

What must be kept in mind though, Berlin is by far the least densely built up European capital, much less than Washington D.C. And the inner city woodland of 'Tiergarten' is just so few blocks away, so I assume that's where Mr. Fox normally lives. 

Nevertheless, not exactly what you would expect on the premises of such an official building in the middle a capital city.


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## ColeR91 (May 18, 2015)

Driving around Alberta Canada it is pretty common to see Elk, Bison, Moose, Coyotes & rams. Almost everyone seems to have a story about seeing a bear or a mountain lion as well. Our insect life is not exciting.... Just too many damn mosquito. The weirdest animal I've seen wander into the city limits of Edmonton was a coyote. Also you find Hares littered all over the city, I swear they're more common then cats around here.


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## Xyantha Reborn (May 18, 2015)

Amaranthine said:


> I was hoping I could talk about all the crazy things I've done when I saw the thread title...



LOL!

I realized that I have seen some other wildlife. The one that shocked me most was a deer; I had seen them on TV but had no idea how big the buggers were until one jumped out of a field in front of me and my horse, who I was grazing. It was almost as big as my horse! For some reason, I thought they were more on the smallish size...

This morning I saw a pair of hairy woodpeckers in a tree outside my house. I also see a fair amount of hawks of some species around here - looks like a red tail but I can't be sure. 

Last summer a pair of teeny tiny chipmunks almost crawled up my ridgeback's legs. They were about the size of a mouse; i'd never seen them as babies before! 

When I went to Poland I saw a cute little thing in a cage with pointed ears and i was like OMG SO CUTE! And my BF at the time was like...it's a squirrel.:doh: Ours have round ears and are not nearly so cute...sometimes even the most basic of creatures can look different place to place!


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## Dr. Feelgood (May 18, 2015)

We get quite a few wanderers through our yard at night. My wife has taken to putting out dry cat food (Meow Mix is their favorite) for the raccoons, opossums, and skunks, and we now have our "regulars" who show up each summer. Lots of birds, including a red-tailed hawk who likes to sleep in a dead tree down the street. And a mountain lion occasionally leaves tracks in the river bed south of town, but I don't know anyone who's seen him/her yet.

Here's a picture of Mrs. F wrestling a baby coon for the cat food sack. 

View attachment babycoon.PNG


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## MattB (May 18, 2015)

I'm in Ontario as well, and we have a TON of deer in my neighbourhood. I live right next to a greenbelt, and there's a trail that passes through that you'll see deer quite often. I've inadvertently been quite close to them, and it can be startling if you're not expecting to see them and they cross your path.


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## GrowingBoy (May 19, 2015)

*The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, at the northern tip of the Everglades, is the home to countless birds, one of whom is this great blue heron. 
* 

View attachment IMG_0188.jpg


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## loopytheone (May 19, 2015)

We don't really have a lot of exciting wild life in the UK, to be honest. I've seen deer, foxes, hares etc but not a lot else. 

She's not exactly wild life but I've taken Rosie the cocker spaniel back home about a dozen times. And once her owners drove off without their chihauhau so I looked after her too.


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## MsBrightside (May 19, 2015)

tankyguy said:


> Deer, quite often in our yard. It's a regular occurrence in the Fall to find them drunk on fermented apples from our tree.
> 
> Coyotes, skunks and foxes were common to see on the walk to school in the morning. Several times I've had to run off porcupines from our property with a shovel/hockey stick.
> 
> Also, rarely, Black bears. One time we saw one in our yard as we were coming home from a drive and decided to stay out a bit longer until we were sure it was gone. Another time vacationing in a cabin, one came by and started pawing the door because my dad didn't tidy up after cleaning the fish he caught.


Don't think I've ever seen an inebriated deer. 

I've never seen a porcupine outside of a zoo, either. Just out of curiosity, why do you have to run them off? Do they release their quills when you get nearby or eat your garden produce or something?

Wow! An actual bear at your house. That is cool  and terrifying  at the same time!



Xyantha Reborn said:


> I'm in Ontario Canada.
> 
> We have some pretty badass racoons.
> 
> ...


 
Have you seen one of these "found cat" ads? 







Amaranthine said:


> *I was hoping I could talk about all the crazy things I've done when I saw the thread title...*
> 
> We get a surprising amount of wildlife for living in the suburbs of Syracuse. A great many deer, rabbits, raccoons, the occasional opossum or fox. We have a duck couple that hangs around our pool. There was a Japaense rooster in our backyard once; no one knew where that one came from.
> 
> When spring was finally starting to warm up, we started putting corn out for the deer again. I guess their hunger surpassed our supply, because* one of them jumped up on our covered above ground pool* (my dad had put corn on it for his aforementioned ducks.) Luckily the water was still frozen or everyone would have been SOL.


Yeah, I was trying to think of a catchy title. Please feel free to share, though. I'm sure the rest of us would enjoy that no matter where you posted. 

Love that you got a pic of the deer on top of the pool; it's one of those "you've got to see it to believe it" moments!



agouderia said:


> My most unexpected wild life encounter (no pics though, was too surprised) was in downtown Berlin, on an icy January night right in front of the Federal Defense Ministry: A fox calmly wandered across the snow-covered parking lot at 9 p.m. (security anyone???)
> 
> What must be kept in mind though, Berlin is by far the least densely built up European capital, much less than Washington D.C. And the inner city woodland of 'Tiergarten' is just so few blocks away, so I assume that's where Mr. Fox normally lives.
> 
> Nevertheless, not exactly what you would expect on the premises of such an official building in the middle a capital city.


This reminds me of the time a wild turkey took up residence in Forest Park in St. Louis. It caused quite a bit of havoc on the adjacent interstate highway at rush hour.



ColeR91 said:


> Driving around Alberta Canada it is pretty common to see Elk, Bison, Moose, Coyotes & rams. Almost everyone seems to have a story about seeing a bear or a mountain lion as well. Our insect life is not exciting.... Just too many damn mosquito. The weirdest animal I've seen wander into the city limits of Edmonton was a coyote. Also you find Hares littered all over the city, I swear they're more common then cats around here.


 
Except for the coyotes and hares (which I imagine look pretty similar to rabbits), that all sounds pretty exotic to me. 



Xyantha Reborn said:


> LOL!
> 
> I realized that I have seen some other wildlife. The one that shocked me most was a deer; I had seen them on TV but had no idea how big the buggers were until one jumped out of a field in front of me and my horse, who I was grazing. It was almost as big as my horse! For some reason, I thought they were more on the smallish size...
> 
> ...


So true. LOL at the name hairy woodpecker. 



Dr. Feelgood said:


> We get quite a few wanderers through our yard at night. My wife has taken to putting out dry cat food (Meow Mix is their favorite) for the raccoons, opossums, and skunks, and we now have our "regulars" who show up each summer. Lots of birds, including a red-tailed hawk who likes to sleep in a dead tree down the street. And a mountain lion occasionally leaves tracks in the river bed south of town, but I don't know anyone who's seen him/her yet.
> 
> Here's a picture of Mrs. F wrestling a baby coon for the cat food sack.


I love that pic of your wife with the raccoon. :happy: Apparently the makers of Meow Mix are missing out on a golden marketing opportunity. 



MattB said:


> I'm in Ontario as well, and we have a TON of deer in my neighbourhood. I live right next to a greenbelt, and there's a trail that passes through that you'll see deer quite often. I've inadvertently
> been quite close to them, and it can be startling if you're not expecting to see them and they cross your path.


The deer are probably a lot safer there than the ones here in Texas. It seems like half the people I know have a deer lease for hunting



loopytheone said:


> We don't really have a lot of exciting wild life in the UK, to be honest. I've seen deer, foxes, hares etc but not a lot else.
> 
> Shnot exactly wild life but I've taken Rosie the cocker spaniel back home about a dozen times. And once her owners drove off without their chihauhau so I looked after her too.


What seems commonplace to you may be exotic to someone else. I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that the UK has quite a few deer of some sort (fallow deer?) that retain their spots as adults. Plus you have Sherwood Forest! That's pretty awesome. 


GrowingBoy said:


> *The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, at the northern tip of the Everglades, is the home to countless birds, one of whom is this great blue heron. *


That looks like the bird I saw in my backyard. We've had a LOT of rain lately, and it's practically a wetland.


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## Tad (May 19, 2015)

We are pretty deep into the city, so we don't get a lot of wildlife. There are some racoons in the area who we will see occasionally, and an ongoing kerfuffle of various grey and black squirrels. Our birdfeeder has a regular population of not overly exciting city birds, but once in a while pulls in cardinals or a woodpecker (and of course the black squirrels use 'Mission Impossible' maneuvers to get to it too (the grey ones meanwhile just pick up seeds that everyone else knocks to the ground). 

My parents back onto some green space, so have an ongoing challenge keeping rabbits, groundhogs, raccoon and deer out of my mother's garden, except that in recent years coyote seem to have moved in which has brought the herbivore population down somewhat (they hear the coyotes and see their tracks back in the woods in the winter, but have never seen them directly).

I did work at one building, quite some years ago, that was adjacent to some woodlands and occasionally would look up to see deer grazing outside the window. I miss that about that location!


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## luvmybhm (May 19, 2015)

even though i live in a more rural area outside of charlotte now, we amazingly don't get alot of wildlife in our yard. i know it is around, but luckily not in my yard. 

we had a bunch of ferral cats in the fall living in the woods behind our yard, as my neighbor was feeding them. hub's uncle said a coyote had moved into the area. it must have picked off the cats, as i have only seen 2 in the last couple of months. 

i know there are deer not far from here, as 1 did run across the road in front of me last year. they looked like normal deer...maybe a bit smaller than the giant ones i grew up around in PA.

mostly we just have birds in our yard. loud, loud birds that like to go off right before dawn.  i am trying very hard to keep them out of my peach tree.

we do have a black snake in our yard. the baby found a snake skin by the bottom of our porch. he can stay as long as he likes. he seems to be greatly reducing the mole/vole population that was devastating my lawn last year.


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## Dr. Feelgood (May 19, 2015)

Tad said:


> My parents back onto some green space, so have an ongoing challenge keeping rabbits, groundhogs, raccoon and deer out of my mother's garden, except that in recent years coyote seem to have moved in which has brought the herbivore population down somewhat (they hear the coyotes and see their tracks back in the woods in the winter, but have never seen them directly).





luvmybhm said:


> we had a bunch of ferral cats in the fall living in the woods behind our yard, as my neighbor was feeding them. hub's uncle said a coyote had moved into the area. it must have picked off the cats, as i have only seen 2 in the last couple of months.



When I was a child, coyotes were pretty much confined to the southern United States. As suburbia expanded, coyotes (and, of course, raccoons) discovered that humans were willing to feed them lavishly: all you had to do was knock the trash can over. I hadn't realized they made it to the Great White North, but I'm not surprised. And yes, coyotes think cats are yummy: a friend in Arizona wrote me that _every_ cat in Tempe is an indoor kitty... or else an entree.


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## tankyguy (May 19, 2015)

MsBrightside said:


> Don't think I've ever seen an inebriated deer.
> 
> I've never seen a porcupine outside of a zoo, either. Just out of curiosity, why do you have to run them off? Do they release their quills when you get nearby or eat your garden produce or something?
> 
> Wow! An actual bear at your house. That is cool  and terrifying  at the same time!



Drunk deer are very unpredictable.
Sometimes they just stagger about.
Other times they stand utterly still trying to balance and focus their eyes and let you get close enough to touch them.

Our previous dog would sleep outside in the Summer and got a muzzle full of quills before we found out there was a porcupine about. Our current dog stays in at night always, but I'd still run them off so they don't too comfortable and come around during the day.


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## lille (May 19, 2015)

tankyguy said:


> Drunk deer are very unpredictable.
> Sometimes they just stagger about.
> Other times they stand utterly still trying to balance and focus their eyes and let you get close enough to touch them.
> 
> Our previous dog would sleep outside in the Summer and got a muzzle full of quills before we found out there was a porcupine about. Our current dog stays in at night always, but I'd still run them off so they don't too comfortable and come around during the day.



Dogs are really good at getting faces full of quills. My dog stayed away from the porcupine we had in our yard but he did get a single quill through his lip once, I think he found it on the ground and tried to eat it or sniffed it a little too vigorously.

And I feel the need to add that porcupines cannot shoot their quills. Quills are modified hairs and just like hair, they can be pulled out or fall off, of course porcupine quills are designed to pull out easily from the porcupine and not so easily from whoever got quilled. I think this myth comes from the fact that they can and will swing their tails in order to fend of a threat. Overall, they''re generally quite sweet.


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## lille (May 19, 2015)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> When I was a child, coyotes were pretty much confined to the southern United States. As suburbia expanded, coyotes (and, of course, raccoons) discovered that humans were willing to feed them lavishly: all you had to do was knock the trash can over. I hadn't realized they made it to the Great White North, but I'm not surprised. And yes, coyotes think cats are yummy: a friend in Arizona wrote me that _every_ cat in Tempe is an indoor kitty... or else an entree.


Our coyotes are bigger and nastier too. They're Eastern coyotes and have wolf blood in them. Between them and the fishers, outdoor cats did not last in our neighborhood. A neighbor even had to run out and rescue her dog from a pack of coyotes and we had one stalking our Lhasa apso.


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## Dr. Feelgood (May 20, 2015)

lille said:


> And I feel the need to add that porcupines cannot shoot their quills. Quills are modified hairs and just like hair, they can be pulled out or fall off, of course porcupine quills are designed to pull out easily from the porcupine and not so easily from whoever got quilled. I think this myth comes from the fact that they can and will swing their tails in order to fend of a threat. Overall, they''re generally quite sweet.



I have read that when a porcupine is agitated, its quills loosen and come out more easily. I know from experience that when a guinea pig (which is closely related to porcupines) freaks out, you're in for a hairstorm!


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## lille (May 20, 2015)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> I have read that when a porcupine is agitated, its quills loosen and come out more easily. I know from experience that when a guinea pig (which is closely related to porcupines) freaks out, you're in for a hairstorm!




They'll loosen or fall ou but they can't shoot them. It's like how our hair stands on end when we're nervous. Porcupines are generally pretty mellow. We got a baby one at the zoo I worked at and she was super cute. Also had a huge one that lived in my yard for years. You could walk right up to him. He'd just sigh and walk away if he didn't want to be bothered.


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## Surlysomething (May 21, 2015)

This picture definitely wins the thread.  



MsBrightside said:


> Since I moved to Texas, I've encountered a lot of creatures that I'd never seen in person before, some of them just hanging around my house.
> 
> The first pic is of an alligator devouring some kind of large frog. I ran into this guy at a local botanical garden, right on the sidewalk between the cafe and the theater. Some people have seen alligators in my neighborhood, too, although they're mostly smaller than this one.


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## bayone (May 21, 2015)

In the city, so raccoons, black squirrels, and some foxes and coyotes in the park. I've seen some rabbits up close in the northwest areas, and lots of groundhogs at a distance (they seem to like the embankments alongside roadways and train tracks.)

Good variety of birds, though -- besides ducks, geese and swans, there are bufflehead ducks in the winter, cormorants, great blue herons, night herons, red-tailed hawks, and (north of Bloor St.) harrier hawks.


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## MsBrightside (Jun 20, 2015)

bayone said:


> In the city, so raccoons, black squirrels, and some foxes and coyotes in the park. I've seen some rabbits up close in the northwest areas, and lots of groundhogs at a distance (they seem to like the embankments alongside roadways and train tracks.)
> 
> Good variety of birds, though -- besides ducks, geese and swans, there are bufflehead ducks in the winter, cormorants, great blue herons, night herons, red-tailed hawks, and (north of Bloor St.) harrier hawks.


I have to admit that I have no idea what a bufflehead duck is.  I've never seen a cormorant, either, although it makes an appearance in one of my favorite books (_Jane Eyre_, in one of the sketches examined by Mr. Rochester: a cormorant, dark and large, with wings flecked with foam; its beak held a gold bracelet set with gems.' I'm pleasantly surprised that you see so many varieties of birds in a city setting.


Tad said:


> We are pretty deep into the city, so we don't get a lot of wildlife. There are some racoons in the area who we will see occasionally, and an ongoing kerfuffle of various grey and black squirrels. Our birdfeeder has a regular population of not overly exciting city birds, but once in a while pulls in cardinals or a woodpecker (and of course the black squirrels use 'Mission Impossible' maneuvers to get to it too (the grey ones meanwhile just pick up seeds that everyone else knocks to the ground).
> 
> My parents back onto some green space, so have an ongoing challenge keeping rabbits, groundhogs, raccoon and deer out of my mother's garden, except that in recent years coyote seem to have moved in which has brought the herbivore population down somewhat (they hear the coyotes and see their tracks back in the woods in the winter, but have never seen them directly).
> 
> I did work at one building, quite some years ago, that was adjacent to some woodlands and occasionally would look up to see deer grazing outside the window. I miss that about that location!


Hmm...I've seen tons of gray squirrels, and there are red squirrels in the Midwest, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a black one. LOL at "_Mission Impossible_ maneuvers." I've heard they can be pretty tricky when it comes to getting their paws on food. 


luvmybhm said:


> even though i live in a more rural area outside of charlotte now, we amazingly don't get alot of wildlife in our yard. i know it is around, but luckily not in my yard.
> 
> we had a bunch of ferral cats in the fall living in the woods behind our yard, as my neighbor was feeding them. hub's uncle said a coyote had moved into the area. it must have picked off the cats, as i have only seen 2 in the last couple of months.
> 
> ...


I admire your liberal attitude toward snakes, although I'm afraid I don't share it. There are quite a few rat snakes around my house, but I hate them! 


Surlysomething said:


> This picture definitely wins the thread.


Thanks, but I love the others, too. :happy:

It just so happened that my dad and stepmother were visiting from Illinois and were with me that day--the gator made quite an impression. 

There are tons of little green and brown lizards around my house. They freaked me out a little at first, but now I've kind of gotten used to seeing them scurry away every time I step outside:





Some herons also built a nest right on the waterway behind my house, and occasionally you can see one of the babies venture out.  With all of the rain we've been having, there are certainly plenty of frogs for them to eat!


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## bayone (Jun 20, 2015)

Aw, you have lizards!

Buffleheads are small ducks that live in the Arctic during the summer and fly south to Toronto for the winter. Males and females have striking black-and-white patterning. They're very.... chic ducks. Like, if Coco Chanel had invented ducks, buffleheads are the sort of thing she'd have come up with.


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## Gingembre (Jun 21, 2015)

I live in the concrete jungle, so a squirrel is about as exciting as it gets around here, or the odd fox...or rat (eww!).

My parents live nearer the countryside so there's a bit more wildlife there - rabbits, foxes, deer, ducks, badgers, hedgehogs etc.


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## tankyguy (Jun 21, 2015)

Apparently today some shore birds thought our garage was an especially good place to drop shellfish from high to smash open. The roof wasn't as hard as they expected, nor was their aim that good, so we had half-mangled crabs scuttling about the front lawn while I mowed.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Jun 22, 2015)

On the whole, I think I'd prefer manna.


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## Tad (Jun 22, 2015)

tankyguy said:


> Apparently today some shore birds thought our garage was an especially good place to drop shellfish from high to smash open. The roof wasn't as hard as they expected, nor was their aim that good, so we had half-mangled crabs scuttling about the front lawn while I mowed.



That is pretty amusing!


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## MsBrightside (Jun 22, 2015)

bayone said:


> Aw, you have lizards!
> 
> Buffleheads are small ducks that live in the Arctic during the summer and fly south to Toronto for the winter. Males and females have striking black-and-white patterning. They're very.... chic ducks. Like, if Coco Chanel had invented ducks, buffleheads are the sort of thing she'd have come up with.


Now I want to see one!


Gingembre said:


> I like in the concrete jungle, so a squirrel is about as exciting as it gets around here, or the odd fox...or rat (eww!)...


Too bad I can't send you some of my rat snakes--you're welcome to them. 



tankyguy said:


> Apparently today some shore birds thought our garage was an especially good place to drop shellfish from high to smash open. The roof wasn't as hard as they expected, nor was their aim that good, so *we had half-mangled crabs scuttling about the front lawn while I mowed*.


Yuck. 

Your birds must be pretty hard-core if the roar of a lawn mower doesn't keep them at bay.


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## bigmac (Jun 24, 2015)

lille said:


> Our coyotes are bigger and nastier too. They're Eastern coyotes and have wolf blood in them. Between them and the fishers, outdoor cats did not last in our neighborhood. A neighbor even had to run out and rescue her dog from a pack of coyotes and we had one stalking our Lhasa apso.



The local bird population will be thankful -- domestic cats kill lots of birds.


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## lille (Jun 24, 2015)

bigmac said:


> The local bird population will be thankful -- domestic cats kill lots of birds.



My neighbor had one cat that managed to catch a baby turkey. How he managed it without getting mauled by mama turkey, I don't know.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Jun 24, 2015)

bigmac said:


> The local bird population will be thankful -- domestic cats kill lots of birds.



Once in a great while, the birds get a bit of their own back. Great horned owls, for example, like an occasional snack of cat.


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## MsBrightside (Jul 5, 2015)

These little frogs are common here and can often be found glommed onto my house's windows or siding. Another kind of critter I never saw in the Midwest. 

I'll take them any day over gators and fire ants, though.  

View attachment greenfrog.jpg


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## MsBrightside (Jul 12, 2015)

Here are a couple of snaps from a trip to a local nature center last Tuesday, which is located along the bayou and includes this cypress-tupelo swamp area.

The tree in the second pic is over 1,200 years old! It must be pretty tough to survive all of those hurricanes. Apparently the only hurricane damage it sustained in recent years occurred when a much younger tree fell on top of it.


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## tankyguy (Aug 22, 2015)

Today I spotted a katydid on the trail. I had to look it up online; I've lived here all my life and never saw one around before. People doubt climate change but I keep coming across species that haven't been here in the past, or have stayed off the coast, sticking to the warmer inlands.


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## MsBrightside (Aug 22, 2015)

tankyguy said:


> Today I spotted a katydid on the trail. I had to look it up online; I've lived here all my life and never saw one around before. People doubt climate change but I keep coming across species that haven't been here in the past, or have stayed off the coast, sticking to the warmer inlands.


Interesting. I haven't lived in Texas long enough to know what its weather and fauna are typically like; but this area has had two major hurricanes, a near-miss for which we evacuated, and a level 1 "surprise" hurricane since I've been here, which long-time residents tell me is a higher frequency than in the past. The last major hurricane devastated our Gulf Coast beaches on the Bolivar Peninsula; they still haven't fully recovered.


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## dwesterny (Aug 22, 2015)

MsBrightside said:


> Interesting. I haven't lived in Texas long enough to know what its weather and fauna are typically like; but this area has had two major hurricanes, a near-miss for which we evacuated, and a level 1 "surprise" hurricane since I've been here, which long-time residents tell me is a higher frequency than in the past. The last major hurricane devastated our Gulf Coast beaches on the Bolivar Peninsula; they still haven't fully recovered.


I moved off of Long Island a few months before hurricane Sandy.  Although I did have to go 2 weeks without power from relatively mild hurricane that hit Long Island the year before.


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## MsBrightside (Aug 22, 2015)

dwesterny said:


> I moved off of Long Island a few months before hurricane Sandy.  Although I did have to go 2 weeks without power from relatively mild hurricane that hit Long Island the year before.


I have no idea how many hurricanes typically hit the East coast that far north, but having two back-to-back does seem unusual. 

I'm really glad you escaped the worst of Sandy, although living in a major metropolitan area without power for 2 weeks sounds like it could be pretty rough. A lot of people here have their own generators and outdoor stuff like lanterns, gas grills, and camping stoves, which makes dealing with power outages a bit easier.


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## dwesterny (Aug 22, 2015)

We had gone maybe 10 or 15 years with no hurricanes then two in two years. I remember hurricane Gloria when I was a kid a little bit that was the biggest one before Sandy. We had this awesome Ben Franklin stove in our house at the time, so cooking was easy. Lots of trees in the northeast, so hurricanes can do a ton of damage if the trees are overgrown.


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## Wanderer (Aug 24, 2015)

I'm on the edge of East Texas myself -- Forney in Kaufman County -- so I mainly get to see skunks. (I've been lucky so far. Neither I nor the skunks regretted the encounters.) A friend up around Rockwall mostly sees possums, though.

Then there are the turkey buzzards. They're not scared of anyone, humans included. I applied for a position as a groundskeeper once and had to shoo one of them away from sizing me up for lunch!

Beyond that, I spotted a fox in Mesquite (over in Dallas County) and there are plenty of coyotes around.


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## lille (Sep 1, 2015)

Archer and I had a wildlife encounter on our afternoon walk today. I walk him next to a small river/creek that runs behind our building and it is not unusual to see cranes and the occasional great blue heron hunting there. Well today we were standing under one of the few small groups of trees when a heron (which was apparently in the tree) took off from directly above our heads, squawking. Having a three and a half foot tall bird over my head is not an experience I'd like to repeat any time soon.


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## MsBrightside (Sep 1, 2015)

lille said:


> Archer and I had a wildlife encounter on our afternoon walk today. I walk him next to a small river/creek that runs behind our building and it is not unusual to see cranes and the occasional great blue heron hunting there. Well today we were standing under one of the few small groups of trees when a heron (which was apparently in the tree) took off from directly above our heads, squawking. Having a three and a half foot tall bird over my head is not an experience I'd like to repeat any time soon.


That sounds like a lovely place to walk, and hopefully the next time you see a heron you can both appreciate it from afar.


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## Crumbling (Sep 2, 2015)

Apparently there's now a couple of otters by me.

I spotted one making it's way inland along a field boundry in march, but i met it againon the road about a week ago, where it decided to confuse any predatory instincts i may have had towards it by poledancing around a trailmarker.


The best photo of one i ever got looked like a squiggle in the distance, but
One of my neighbours is a keen amateur photographer and he has a telephoto lens.


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## MsBrightside (Sep 2, 2015)

Crumbling said:


> Apparently there's now a couple of otters by me.
> 
> I spotted one making it's way inland along a field boundry in march, but i met it againon the road about a week ago, where it decided to confuse any predatory instincts i may have had towards it by poledancing around a trailmarker.


 
Nice visual 



> _The best photo of one i ever got looked like a squiggle in the distance_...


 
A perfect description of the photo I tried to take last evening of a full-arc rainbow at sunset.



> ..._but __One of my neighbours is a keen amateur photographer__ and he has a telephoto lens_.


Those are beautiful pics! The otters in them appear to be fairly close to the sea. I always think of the ones here as hanging around tree-lined riverbanks.


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## Crumbling (Sep 2, 2015)

MsBrightside said:


> Those are beautiful pics! The otters in them appear to be fairly close to the sea. I always think of the ones here as hanging around tree-lined riverbanks.



I think the otters have their holts further by freshwater lochs or the drainage canal. I usually see them moving inland along the fencelines.


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## dwesterny (Sep 2, 2015)

Crumbling said:


> I think the otters have their holts further by freshwater lochs or the drainage canal. I usually see them moving inland along the fencelines.



Lochs is such a better word than lakes. I want to start a petition to call american lakes lochs.

"Where do you live?"
"On the southern shore of Loch Ontario"



Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


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## MsBrightside (Sep 2, 2015)

dwesterny said:


> Lochs is such a better word than lakes. I want to start a petition to call american lakes lochs.
> 
> "Where do you live?"
> "On the southern shore of Loch Ontario"


 
OK, I'll sign. Maybe then a few people here in the US could actually learn to pronounce the "kh" portion of my surname.  

And, Crumbling, maybe you should consider saying "loch" or something else for us in the voice thread--it would be fun to hear from you there, too!


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## dwesterny (Sep 2, 2015)

MsBrightside said:


> OK, I'll sign. Maybe then a few people here in the US could actually learn to pronounce the "kh" portion of my surname. [emoji14]
> 
> And, Crumbling, maybe you should consider saying "loch" or something else for us in the voice thread--it would be fun to hear from you there, too!


Agree, do it. Do it sir and I will toast you with a Speyside single malt. Though not while eating haggis. No matter what poem you invoke.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


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## lille (Sep 2, 2015)

Last night my bf found a tiny gecko, probably a Mediterranean house gecko but it was so tiny it was hard to tell. He handed it to me and it proceeded to run up my arm, across my cleavage, into my hair, and over my shoulder. We finally caught the little guy again and set him loose onto the building wall. Unfortunately we didn't get any pics.


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## fat hiker (Sep 2, 2015)

agouderia said:


> My most unexpected wild life encounter (no pics though, was too surprised) was in downtown Berlin, on an icy January night right in front of the Federal Defense Ministry: A fox calmly wandered across the snow-covered parking lot at 9 p.m. (security anyone???)
> 
> What must be kept in mind though, Berlin is by far the least densely built up European capital, much less than Washington D.C. And the inner city woodland of 'Tiergarten' is just so few blocks away, so I assume that's where Mr. Fox normally lives.
> 
> Nevertheless, not exactly what you would expect on the premises of such an official building in the middle a capital city.



A few years back, a black bear swam across the Ottawa river, climbed up the hill behind the Canadian Parliament buildings, and then wandered into the Parliament's Centre Block, through a door that had been propped open to let in some air (it was August and hot, and Centre Block had no central AC at the time). 

Again, not what you'd expect in a national capital - a little reminder how close many Canadians live to nature, even in our cities!


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## lille (Sep 3, 2015)

He was kind enough to squawk before taking off this time so I was not startled and managed to snag a pic.


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## MsBrightside (Sep 3, 2015)

lille said:


> He was kind enough to squawk before taking off this time so I was not startled and managed to snag a pic.




Cool pic, lille!


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Sep 10, 2015)

Wild Life? How about Wild Night? 

Our two cats got out late last night and there were four of us out in the yard, in jammies, attempting to catch/tempt them back inside. One cat was hiding in the overgrown blackberry bushes that grow in the field next to my yard. 
A young possum kept running out of the bushes to 'investigate" what we were doing. It seemed like it would have been easier to catch him than the cats :doh:


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## MsBrightside (Sep 11, 2015)

Green Eyed Fairy said:


> Wild Life? How about Wild Night?
> 
> Our two cats got out late last night and there were four of us out in the yard, in jammies, attempting to catch/tempt them back inside. One cat was hiding in the overgrown blackberry bushes that grow in the field next to my yard.
> A young possum kept running out of the bushes to 'investigate" what we were doing. It seemed like it would have been easier to catch him than the cats :doh:


You know what people say about trying to herd cats--apparently it's true! Leave it to a cat to find a hiding place in a bramble of thorns.

And thanks for entertaining us all with the image of you running around outside in your PJs. Pics would have been even better, though.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Sep 11, 2015)

I finally got a look at the baby opossum who's been living under our back porch for the last couple of weeks. He comes out after dark to eat the cat food we leave for him (Meow Mix is his favorite). He's kitten-sized and quite charming. but also extremely skittish, which is why I haven't been able to get a picture of him to show you.


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## MsBrightside (Sep 11, 2015)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> I finally got a look at the baby opossum who's been living under our back porch for the last couple of weeks. He comes out after dark to eat the cat food we leave for him (Meow Mix is his favorite). He's kitten-sized and quite charming. but also extremely skittish, which is why I haven't been able to get a picture of him to show you.


 
I hope he gets over being camera shy pretty soon--I loved the picture of your wife feeding the young raccoon. :happy:


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## Xyantha Reborn (Oct 14, 2015)

Found this little dude or dudette outside my house. The freaky colour made me stop and look more closely. Apparently it is a garlic snail!

(Ours are normally brown with brown and tanish shells)


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Oct 23, 2015)

Last friday night we were surprised by a black bear under the carport strewing trash around my yard. He looked annoyed by my headlights....


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## agouderia (Oct 25, 2015)

My neighbor found a 25 pound little dead wild boar in the hedge between our gardens yesterday afternoon. The local hunt tenant came and said it must have been bitten to death by a fox (and tried to save himself to inhabited areas). 

It was a bit surreal, as I live in the city, only 15 minutes by bike from the city center - but at the same time 1/2 block from the woods. So probably the best of both worlds ....


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## RentonBob (Oct 25, 2015)

Saw this guy on my walk the other day 

View attachment Turtle.jpg


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## Tad (Oct 26, 2015)

Agouderia, remind me not to mess with the foxes in your area -- taking on a 25 pound boar, even it is young? Fierce! But indeed odd to find that so close in to the city core.


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Oct 26, 2015)

I just had to go out and pick up my over turned trash can - I think the bear is back


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## Surlysomething (Oct 27, 2015)

Great pic. Turtles are so cool. 





RentonBob said:


> Saw this guy on my walk the other day


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## MsBrightside (Oct 31, 2015)

Xyantha Reborn said:


> Found this little dude or dudette outside my house. The freaky colour made me stop and look more closely. Apparently it is a garlic snail!
> 
> (Ours are normally brown with brown and tanish shells)


Interesting--I'm not sure I've ever seen a live snail outdoors. But on our Gulf beaches, it is pretty easy to find shells like this:






I think they're called moon snails, but I've never seen one of the shells with a snail still inside it.




Green Eyed Fairy said:


> Last friday night we were surprised by a black bear under the carport strewing trash around my yard. He looked annoyed by my headlights....





Green Eyed Fairy said:


> I just had to go out and pick up my over turned trash can - I think the bear is back





agouderia said:


> My neighbor found a 25 pound little dead wild boar in the hedge between our gardens yesterday afternoon. The local hunt tenant came and said it must have been bitten to death by a fox (and tried to save himself to inhabited areas).
> 
> It was a bit surreal, as I live in the city, only 15 minutes by bike from the city center - but at the same time 1/2 block from the woods. So probably the best of both worlds ....


People think our gators are bad, but at least they (mostly) stay in or near water. I'd be terrified to meet up with a bear or wild boar in the yard, even if it was a little one!



RentonBob said:


> Saw this guy on my walk the other day





Surlysomething said:


> Great pic. Turtles are so cool.


I second this--there's just something about them; it's always a feel-good moment to see one. Although I like to keep my distance from the snapping variety.


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## Tad (Nov 12, 2015)

Living in the city, this is about as wild as we get to see. He (?) and his equally sleek sibling were ambling through our yard the other morning. We're guessing that mamma kicked them out and that they are roaming around, looking for their own territory, but we could be wrong. 

View attachment rcn.jpg


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## MattB (Nov 22, 2015)

Seen on the way to the football game today...Fly boys, fly. Enjoy pooping on the Americans, see you in the spring...


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## LeoGibson (Nov 22, 2015)

One or two might make it back but the rest in that pic I'm afraid will pay the ultimate price for pooping on us! Happy duck season y'all.


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## Tad (Nov 23, 2015)

LeoGibson said:


> One or two might make it back but the rest in that pic I'm afraid will pay the ultimate price for pooping on us! Happy duck season y'all.



Based on the number of those _geese_ that are back here each Spring, y'all either aren't trying hard enough, need better aim, or maybe a guide to which kind of bird you are shooting at ;-)


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## Surlysomething (Nov 23, 2015)

People shoot Canadian geese? That's just...wrong. 



LeoGibson said:


> One or two might make it back but the rest in that pic I'm afraid will pay the ultimate price for pooping on us! Happy duck season y'all.


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## LeoGibson (Nov 23, 2015)

Surlysomething said:


> People shoot Canadian geese? That's just...wrong.



Tell that to good ol' Sully and the rest of the people on the plane those little flying terrorists put into the Hudson!


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## big_lad27 (Dec 22, 2015)

Recently signed up to Instagram to add some of my random pictures  

View attachment 12357660_153623514996953_1163208291_n.jpg


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View attachment 12331958_169374466750967_992067266_n.jpg


View attachment 11142307_421814558026237_508798153_n.jpg


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## swamptoad (Dec 31, 2015)

View attachment 20140729_192156.jpg


View attachment 2013-08-22 12.40.12.jpg


View attachment 2013-08-14 14.08.42.jpg



...........


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## beefsteak (Dec 31, 2015)

Here in northeast GA we have a large population of deer I have counted 14 in my yard at once. Had a bear get in my garbage every night for a couple weeks found out bears don't like pepper so I poured some black pepper on the top my garbage and after a few nights the stopped coming around. We have lots of snakes here I've killed about 5 copperheads in the past 2 years learned from my dad to roll a golf ball in egg put it in the shell and place it in the yard will kill snakes


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## RentonBob (Feb 9, 2016)

Made a new friend on my walk today  

View attachment Goose1.jpg


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## Tad (Feb 10, 2016)

RentonBob said:


> Made a new friend on my walk today



And another Dims guy fall for a Canadian bird ;-)


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## RentonBob (Feb 10, 2016)

Tad said:


> And another Dims guy fall for a Canadian bird ;-)


If only they loved me back lol


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## RentonBob (Apr 7, 2016)

My friend brought his family out with him this time on our walk tonight. 

View attachment Turtles.jpg


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