Around here (St. Louis) the only wildlife I've seen are birds, squirrels, rabbits and dead armadillo and deer. I'd never seen an armadillo before and I was quite disappointed that the first one I saw was flat.
In Phoenix AZ we'd see hawks, eagles, falcons, rabbits, coyotes, javelina and a few other desert critters even in the middle of the city. The javelina was awesome and my dogs were going nuts when they saw them and couldn't get to them.
In Grants Pass Oregon (I'm moving there in late Feb-early May) we get raccoons, squirrels, birds (of prey too), rabbits, coyotes, fox, deer and bears. And whatever else comes with the forest.
@Jessica.....love the story of the fox barking at Miko!
I love seeing wildlife, whatever, wherever.
When I lived in the midwest there were some badass racoons there....they are big and kind of cool to watch, but super aggressive. And what's up with the possums? They are some nasty little creatures too! They hiss!
One of the coolest things I saw here was a badger, once while driving back from Santa Fe. I love badgers, and you don't see them very often. It stood up on the side of the road as I drove past, so I got a good look at it. (A side note: my husband and I had a very confused conversation about badgers "dachs" in German, because he kept saying they were pretty gentle animals, and I kept saying, WTF? Badgers? Are we talking about the same animal? Apparently not. Euro badgers look different and are much, much less fierce than American badgers. I always was puzzled by the idea of dachshunds hunting badger: I thought, really? That little dog? The badger would eat it alive. Well, apparently an American badger would, but a euro one, maybe not!) And one more sidenote about that. Badgers are super badass. Check out this pic. It's not entirely clear, but the website says it's a badger with young (dead) coyote: http://www.badgers.org/images/gallery_badger_and_snack.jpg
Of course, I grew up in Alaska, so I was kind of spoiled for wildlife....moose, caribou, bears (I'm still very, very afraid of bears, even though the bears here are tiny compared to the ones in AK), wolves, coyotes, etc. My mother worked up on the arctic ocean a lot, and saw polar bears....talk about scary! They stalk people.
I can't see a Dachshund going after a Badger. A Badger after the Dachshund, yes. I had a Badger charge my Jeep once. That was freaky until I remembered I was in a car o_O
I got badgers in my woods I have 16 acres of yard only saw the badger once it went to the pond for a drink and went back into the woods I've seen lots of holes so one might be a badger hole.
I've seen red fox in the woods too. Coyotes were yipping when I took Bella out they sounded close I tried to imitate them and they answered. lol
Yeah badgers are no fun, but I read they are caring parents.. lol
Pearly my last white boxer was skunked once poor thing smelled like burnt rubber.
We got her in from going potty smelled something so we thought something was on fire till we found Pearly in the guest bed laying on it with yellow skunk stuff on her. OMG it took forever for her to smell decent and even then she still had a smell a few months later.
I never knew about skunk smell reomover dog shampoo so never tried it I wonder if it works. Vinegar seemed to be the best thing we tried.
Being in the country is full of adventure.
I love coyotes they keep those rabbits who chew my veggies up in line. lol
They can be scary if they got rabbies or brazen..
Look up fox calls they sound scary if you don't know it was a fox.. lol
Shibamistress your story of the fox following you is cute!
Tosca's owner had the same thing happened to her too she doesn't post anymore, but that reminded me of Tosca.
It was Jessica who had the cool fox story, not me, though I'd love to see it!
I'd read about the badger/coyote thing, though apparently it is more of the coyotes being opportunistic than the badgers actually getting much of out it.
Speaking of badgers...my favorite one is the honey badger! Honey badgers are the coolest thing ever! They pretty much will survive any animal attacks! Honey badger is #1! The sad thing is that there are not very many left! Sigh =(...
Also, Gen, your comment about being a badger made me laugh. I think I could just be any of the mustelids--martens, minks, weasels, badgers, but I would definitely want to be a wolverine. Historically, the range of the wolverine included the northern part of Indiana (my state), but obviously not any longer. I would crap my pants if Tuula treed a wolverine. Then I would have a big ethical dilemma about whether to shoot it out to her.
Dude its either a badger or a wolverine. I had this simillar conversation at work with my partners. Ok dont make fun of me for this.
We asked what we would want to be if we coud come back as animals. My partners picked anials like wolves, bears, sharks, and what not. It came to me and I said either a Unicorn or Shamu. And I get made fun of for the rest of the shift. I mean why not, a Unicorn has mythical powers and Shamu is a Killer whale, a killer whale. Helloo?
Gen, that's pretty hilarious. I would have laughed at you for the unicorn thing too. If you have netflix, search for wolverine and you'll come upon a PBS special about the nasty little critter. My wife found it the other day and I couldn't wait to watch it when I got home from work. It did not disappoint.
I do not think our coyote in KS are as brazen as what everyone else has. They came up to the house and such, but I do not think they would ever purposefully get close enough to a human to bite. I grew up with them singing me to sleep, and the dogs often joined in. And the coyote are NOT scared of cars here...so, from time to time you see them lying on the side of the road.
Our dogs were pretty much considered LGD, but were also family pets. They were outside most of the time, and sometimes they'd get into a tiff with a coyote, but I don't recall any real injuries. However, coyote hunting is pretty common here, so it helps with population control, and perhaps also keeps the coyote a little leery of humans and other dogs. Also, we have a ton of open space, so I don't think they feel they have to compete as much for food and living area.
Raccoons = nasty little buggers no matter where you live! lol! They will kill cats, attack dogs and/or anything else getting in the way of their midnight snack.
Wolverines are pretty bad ass, even more than badgers. I've never seen a wild one, though my mom saw one once way up north around Point Barrow. She has an awesome pic of a wolverine over a caribou carcass, holding off a big pack of wolves. She also saw a lot of polar bears.
Gen, gotta admit the unicorn thing cracked me up....I think because I always think of the sparkly rainbow-y, my little pony type of unicorns! I bet a "real" unicorn would be badass, right? It's a horse, and it's got a horn! Of course it would be!
I don't know what I would be. Maybe a raven. They're pretty cool: they can survive about anything, and are smart, and can fly. (And hey, they created the world, at least in the mythology of the Native people of the Northwest coast!) We get crows here in the summer and ravens in the winter (though NM ravens are a lot smaller than the big old Alaskan ravens). Yesterday I saw 3-4 ravens chilling in the backyard, rummaging through the seeds on the ground from the birdfeeders. They were clearly not impressed with my offerings, though!
eta: oh, and racoons....when I was a kid I ran into someone in CA who had a pet racoon....it was just a baby, walking on a harness, and was so cute, and for years and years I wanted one. I know they'd really be awful pets, but you know that kind of stuff has a big effect on you as a kid!
At my old house last winter, I cleaned out the freezer and left some meat on the porch overnight. In the middle of the night, I woke up and Solomon was downstairs freaking out about something, so I went to let him out only to realize that a HUGE raccoon and two big coyotes were throwing down in the front yard, presumably over the food on the porch. I flicked on the light, let Solomon out THEN saw the critters outside. They scattered pretty quick when the light went on. Even so, I was uncomfortable with the idea of Solomon being out there with a couple hungry coyotes. He might weight 60 lbs, but he's not a fighter.
I just got a call from my boss, who is about a mile from my house. He just got a coyote that had an unfortunate run in with a vehicle out of the road. He said when he first came up on it, he thought it was a GSD. He said it was HUGE. About 75 pounds or so. He took some pictures, so when he gets back to the office, I will see if he will let me share (I did verify that it was not a bloody mess).
I love the coyotes and all the other wild creatures. I am a bit disturbed by the supposed animal lovers that talk of shooting them. We have lots of them and, yes, they can jump the fence and get in our yard. I always go out at night and in the early morning with my little guy. My lab was actually attacked by a coyote couple with pups. It was scary and of course I ran them off and protected my boy, but I harbor no ill will toward them. We don't own the planet, they have a right to be here too.
Comments
In Phoenix AZ we'd see hawks, eagles, falcons, rabbits, coyotes, javelina and a few other desert critters even in the middle of the city. The javelina was awesome and my dogs were going nuts when they saw them and couldn't get to them.
In Grants Pass Oregon (I'm moving there in late Feb-early May) we get raccoons, squirrels, birds (of prey too), rabbits, coyotes, fox, deer and bears. And whatever else comes with the forest.
I love seeing wildlife, whatever, wherever.
When I lived in the midwest there were some badass racoons there....they are big and kind of cool to watch, but super aggressive. And what's up with the possums? They are some nasty little creatures too! They hiss!
One of the coolest things I saw here was a badger, once while driving back from Santa Fe. I love badgers, and you don't see them very often. It stood up on the side of the road as I drove past, so I got a good look at it. (A side note: my husband and I had a very confused conversation about badgers "dachs" in German, because he kept saying they were pretty gentle animals, and I kept saying, WTF? Badgers? Are we talking about the same animal? Apparently not. Euro badgers look different and are much, much less fierce than American badgers. I always was puzzled by the idea of dachshunds hunting badger: I thought, really? That little dog? The badger would eat it alive. Well, apparently an American badger would, but a euro one, maybe not!) And one more sidenote about that. Badgers are super badass. Check out this pic. It's not entirely clear, but the website says it's a badger with young (dead) coyote: http://www.badgers.org/images/gallery_badger_and_snack.jpg
Of course, I grew up in Alaska, so I was kind of spoiled for wildlife....moose, caribou, bears (I'm still very, very afraid of bears, even though the bears here are tiny compared to the ones in AK), wolves, coyotes, etc. My mother worked up on the arctic ocean a lot, and saw polar bears....talk about scary! They stalk people.
I had a Badger charge my Jeep once. That was freaky until I remembered I was in a car o_O
I've seen red fox in the woods too. Coyotes were yipping when I took Bella out they sounded close I tried to imitate them and they answered. lol
Yeah badgers are no fun, but I read they are caring parents.. lol
Pearly my last white boxer was skunked once poor thing smelled like burnt rubber.
We got her in from going potty smelled something so we thought something was on fire till we found Pearly in the guest bed laying on it with yellow skunk stuff on her. OMG it took forever for her to smell decent and even then she still had a smell a few months later.
I never knew about skunk smell reomover dog shampoo so never tried it I wonder if it works. Vinegar seemed to be the best thing we tried.
Being in the country is full of adventure.
I love coyotes they keep those rabbits who chew my veggies up in line. lol
They can be scary if they got rabbies or brazen..
Look up fox calls they sound scary if you don't know it was a fox.. lol
Shibamistress your story of the fox following you is cute!
Tosca's owner had the same thing happened to her too she doesn't post anymore, but that reminded me of Tosca.
I'd read about the badger/coyote thing, though apparently it is more of the coyotes being opportunistic than the badgers actually getting much of out it.
For your viewing pleasure.
Also, Gen, your comment about being a badger made me laugh. I think I could just be any of the mustelids--martens, minks, weasels, badgers, but I would definitely want to be a wolverine. Historically, the range of the wolverine included the northern part of Indiana (my state), but obviously not any longer. I would crap my pants if Tuula treed a wolverine. Then I would have a big ethical dilemma about whether to shoot it out to her.
We asked what we would want to be if we coud come back as animals. My partners picked anials like wolves, bears, sharks, and what not. It came to me and I said either a Unicorn or Shamu. And I get made fun of for the rest of the shift. I mean why not, a Unicorn has mythical powers and Shamu is a Killer whale, a killer whale. Helloo?
If you have netflix, search for wolverine and you'll come upon a PBS special about the nasty little critter. My wife found it the other day and I couldn't wait to watch it when I got home from work. It did not disappoint.
Our dogs were pretty much considered LGD, but were also family pets. They were outside most of the time, and sometimes they'd get into a tiff with a coyote, but I don't recall any real injuries. However, coyote hunting is pretty common here, so it helps with population control, and perhaps also keeps the coyote a little leery of humans and other dogs. Also, we have a ton of open space, so I don't think they feel they have to compete as much for food and living area.
Raccoons = nasty little buggers no matter where you live! lol! They will kill cats, attack dogs and/or anything else getting in the way of their midnight snack.
Gen, gotta admit the unicorn thing cracked me up....I think because I always think of the sparkly rainbow-y, my little pony type of unicorns! I bet a "real" unicorn would be badass, right? It's a horse, and it's got a horn! Of course it would be!
I don't know what I would be. Maybe a raven. They're pretty cool: they can survive about anything, and are smart, and can fly. (And hey, they created the world, at least in the mythology of the Native people of the Northwest coast!) We get crows here in the summer and ravens in the winter (though NM ravens are a lot smaller than the big old Alaskan ravens). Yesterday I saw 3-4 ravens chilling in the backyard, rummaging through the seeds on the ground from the birdfeeders. They were clearly not impressed with my offerings, though!
eta: oh, and racoons....when I was a kid I ran into someone in CA who had a pet racoon....it was just a baby, walking on a harness, and was so cute, and for years and years I wanted one. I know they'd really be awful pets, but you know that kind of stuff has a big effect on you as a kid!
He had a broken rear leg and a bloody mouth, but otherwise was quite beautiful. I would have loved to have seen him running wild.
Nice coat on that one!