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#309504 - Sun Jun 04 2006 10:04 PM Wildlife
agony Offline

Administrator

Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003
Posts: 16595
Loc: Western Canada
Driving the 200km home from the city today, I saw three deer, one right in the road ahead of me! (Luckily, I saw it from far enough away to avoid it). Also lots of what we call gophers but which are actually Richardson's ground squirrels, several red tailed hawks, and of course many little birds - every bullrush had its red winged or yellow headed blackbird. Every puddle had its pair of ducks.
I know most of you live in cities, but not all, and even some of the city dwellers get out into the country now and then. What kind of wildlife do you see, driving down the highway?

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#309505 - Sun Jun 04 2006 10:35 PM Re: Wildlife
JoyJoyJoy Offline
Prolific

Registered: Wed Apr 28 2004
Posts: 1961
Loc: Wisconsin USA
I'm glad you saw the deer! I saw two deer along my road, both dead. I was driving the interstate and it was so sad to see.

There has also been warnings of deer attacking people on the campus of Southern Illinois University. People walking through the woods have been attacked.

Read the story

Quote:

Concerned about last year's cases, SIU officials last week launched a public-awareness campaign to implore anyone on the 20,000-student campus to watch out for deer, to not approach the animals and, if a wild-eyed deer starts bounding their way, run.



We take over their habitat and what else are they to do. (I'm not saying anything new...)
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#309506 - Mon Jun 05 2006 12:34 AM Re: Wildlife
JaneMarple Offline
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Registered: Fri Jan 30 2004
Posts: 14486
Loc: North West of England
Not much wildlife where we live, but we've always encouraged the wild birds into our garden, by feeding them, and, until the bird flu, leaving water for them for drink and bathe from. We'd had blue tits in our bird box, and Dad was fascinated by the way the parents conscently took food to the little ones. They finally fledged over the weekend
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#309507 - Mon Jun 05 2006 08:30 AM Re: Wildlife
lothruin Offline
Multiloquent

Registered: Wed Nov 12 2003
Posts: 2165
Loc: Nebraska USA
Well, I live in the city, but it's the type of city where a 20min drive will take you onto country highways with corn and soybean fields or cow pastures to both sides. I live on the edge of the city, with a large "wilderness" park shorter than a 10 minute walk from my house, and prairie and cropland just the other side of that. I've seen deer within the city, and there are racoons and possums in my own backyard, as well as plenty of squirrels and rabbits, and I have a nice cardinal family that is a regular nester. I've also twice seen male pheasants strutting down a main street for all the world as though it was perfectly normal for them to be there.

On the highway it's regular to see deer, possum, racoons, LOTS of skunks, plenty of smaller critters like rabbits and squirrels, birds of all shapes and sizes from pheasant and quail to ducks and geese, hawks and kestrels, and of course our Western Meadowlarks, the state bird.
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#309508 - Tue Jun 06 2006 05:57 AM Re: Wildlife
cinnam0n Offline
Moderator

Registered: Tue Nov 02 2004
Posts: 6750
Loc: Pennsylvania USA
I'm only about 30 miles from Pittsburgh and 10 from the nearest mall, but we really are in the country. Driving along the roads near our house, we regularly see deer, wild turkeys, groundhogs, and an occasional fox. We have squirrels and chipmunks around our birdfeeder, and if you walk out our back door around dusk, you will scare from one to five or six bunnies away!

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#309509 - Tue Jun 06 2006 06:17 AM Re: Wildlife
agony Offline

Administrator

Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003
Posts: 16595
Loc: Western Canada
Quote:

I'm glad you saw the deer! I saw two deer along my road, both dead. I was driving the interstate and it was so sad to see.




Funny thing about roadkill - I have lived around here most of my life, and have never seen a porcupine in the wild. From the number of them you see by the side of the road, though, you'd think they were as common as sparrows.

Jane, I've always wanted a bird feeder, but our cat is such a good hunter, I've never felt it right to lure the little things to their deaths! Now that age and ill health have confined her to the house, though, maybe I can risk it.

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#309510 - Tue Jun 06 2006 06:25 AM Re: Wildlife
tnrees Offline
Forum Adept

Registered: Wed Mar 09 2005
Posts: 154
Loc: Taunton Somerset UK       
I live in Taunton, England
I have seen a kingfisher flying along the river in the town centre.
Also on 2 occaions I have seen badgers as I was walking home at night - once 2 in the distance & once quite close. They must be at least 200 yards from the nearest field.

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#309511 - Fri Jun 09 2006 10:57 AM Re: Wildlife
ClaraSue Offline
Forum Champion

Registered: Sun May 18 2003
Posts: 7842
Loc: Arizona USA
We see all kinds of wildlife in our daily travel for the job. We see a lot of deer, raccoons, and wild turkey. Once while driving up the Pacific Coast near Santa Barbara, California we saw a bunch of dolphin under the waves swimming with the surfers. That was a neat sight. A few times while in the mountains I've spied bighorn sheep, elk and even a few moose. But the coolest one was yesterday.
We were in Southport, North Carolina and were parked at the local Wal-Mart store. In the pond in front of the parking lot ( right next to where we parked), I spied this and had to run for the camera. Apparently this alligator is a local celebrity because people kept showing up all day to look at him. There IS a fence around the pond, but nowhere is it posted what lies within. He (she?) was a good 7-8 feet long and very well fed. We heard that he has eaten a few dogs that weren't on a leash because there are a few spots where the fence can be gotten under. My husband threw him my lunchmeat and I got a lot of pictures. coming out to get the lunchmeat
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#309512 - Fri Jun 09 2006 03:32 PM Re: Wildlife
agony Offline

Administrator

Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003
Posts: 16595
Loc: Western Canada
All I can say to that is "Yikes! Now's THAT'S wildlife!"

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#309513 - Mon Jun 12 2006 11:02 PM Re: Wildlife
quogequox Offline
Prolific

Registered: Sat Sep 15 2001
Posts: 1050
Loc: Adelaide SA Australia      
When i was working in the outback we used to have kangaroos up the wazoo. A short walk out behind the railway track was a billabong which always had some Wedge Tailed Eagles nesting nearby. Goannas strolled amongst the staff quarters with regularity as did numerous snakes. We generally let them be unless they got inside. Occasionally we found the really cool looking Moloch lizard.
Once a year we were crawling in stink beetles and one year we had a mouse plague, where they very literally got into everything. Used to have to watch your step while working in the bar so you dont step on them.
I found that spilled soft drink seemed to work pretty well in attracting scorpions too, if left out overnight.
And finally we used to have dingos roaming around the rubbish dump a few hundred metres from the homestead too, if you got up early in the morning you could occasionally startle one snooping around closer to home.
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#309514 - Tue Jun 13 2006 06:30 PM Re: Wildlife
mandelbrotset Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: Sun Aug 11 2002
Posts: 230
Loc: Riverside Chicago Illinois USA
Actually today was a really good wildlife day for me. I live only ten miles outside of Chicago but in the forest preserve near my home I saw a female northern harrier crash land into a tree (absolutely huge hawk), a great blue heron catching some fish, and a large tortoise laying eggs. This is also a bad (or would you say good?) year for rabbits; I'm fed up with a couple of families of rabbits living under my shed. They've eaten all of my asian lilies and now they're starting on my hostas. But the babies were very cute, though.
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#309515 - Tue Jun 13 2006 07:16 PM Re: Wildlife
agony Offline

Administrator

Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003
Posts: 16595
Loc: Western Canada
I remember a canoe trip, years ago now. We were just floating down the river, not bothering to work very hard, and a blue heron kept pace with us the whole day. it would fly about a hundred feet, wait until we had passed it, and then fly past again. Never have figured out what he got out of it, but he certainly was a lovely addition to our day.

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#309516 - Wed Jun 14 2006 01:08 AM Re: Wildlife
picqero Offline
Multiloquent

Registered: Tue Dec 28 2004
Posts: 2813
Loc: Hertfordshire<br>England UK
Quote:

I remember a canoe trip, years ago now. We were just floating down the river, not bothering to work very hard, and a blue heron kept pace with us the whole day. it would fly about a hundred feet, wait until we had passed it, and then fly past again. Never have figured out what he got out of it, but he certainly was a lovely addition to our day.



I'm sure it was because your canoe would be likely to disturb fish, which might then swim to the river side for cover, making them easier to catch. The heron would have realised this, either by instinct or more likely having learnt or been taught by its parents.
The most common roadside animals I see are muntjac deer. a small species sometimes known as the barking deer. Originally introduced from Asia, they are very common in this area. They're quite roadwise, so roadkills are rare. Foxes and badgers are are also common, though the latter are secretive, and you're more likely to see a roadkill than a live one.

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#309517 - Sun Jun 18 2006 08:25 PM Re: Wildlife
tiffanyram Offline
Multiloquent

Registered: Tue Jun 13 2006
Posts: 2547
Loc: Tennessee USA
Since I live in West Tennessee, we see lots of wildlife. Most of this area is rural and we have tons of trees and green areas. I was raised in the country so seeing deer on a weekly basis was nothing. We also have plenty of rabbits, squirrels, moles, coyotes, oppossums, skunks, and bobcats. I remember being a little girl and not being allowed to get off of the porch at night because of the bobcats--they can easily overtake a small child. I also remember that I was out at night once and saw the eyes of one at the end of the porch looking at me.
I guess what surprises me most is that now I live in a city, not as big as Memphis but it's not rural, and I still see deer on some roads. I guess that since most Southern cities still have plenty of green woods area this shouldn't be too surprising
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