Wildlife in your area

[CACAdmin]

I see squirrels, raccoons and skunks on the city streets. I don't have to venture far however, to see coyotes and deer quite often and bears on occasion.

Today, I went for a short hike at one of our regional parks (Minnekhada). Walking through the bush the only creatures I encountered today were birds. However, driving down the road shortly thereafter, I encountered a beautiful doe. I wished I had my camera. As I slowly drove past she headed into the bush only to reappear in my rear view mirror as soon as I had passed her.

I must remember to take my camera with me on outings. Somehow I never have it with me at the right moment.

What sort of wildlife any of you see on and off in your area.

[mdfa.ca]

Well, lots of birds and even humming birds, squirrels, a ton of bunnies (cotton tails - they regularly munch on my beans, raspberries and lawn clover), possums, wood chucks, deer... There is a large skunk that takes a late night stroll under my bedroom window daily... He makes me tear up! We have a chipmunk burrowed under our front porch. And, last week I saw a fox crossing a parking lot at our local little league baseball field at night.

This isn't anything unusual, until you realize that I basically live in a large, industrial city. Mind you, I'm not downtown, but still.

[CACAdmin]

I forgot about bunnies. I do see them occasionally, too, unless I go to Richmond (a neighboring municipality) where the place is overrun with them. This is the result of what they believe years ago were people turning lose their pet rabbits and with no real predators their population has exploded.

I can totally relate to the skunk. For the past several years, I've had a similar situation at my place... and can barely stand the smell of the skunk passing by. I never did get to see him, (I'm way up in a hi-rise apt.) but I certainly could smell him... every night around the same time. However, he hasn't come by this year.

Chipmunks are cute and friendly creatures. I see them and turtles at Deer Lake Park (a city park) but have never seen one take up residence at someone's home. That's cute but I hope he doesn't cause any damage.

As for the ones who dine in your gardens, they obviously seem to think you planted it for them. I hope they leave some for you to eat. :laugh:

It's amazing how wildlife has learned to adapt and survive in our cities.

[mdfa.ca]

Naww, I don't mind sharing my garden with the "wild" critters. The chippie surprised me as well. For years he (she?) lived behind the garage in the raspberry patch (we have a rather large one in our backyard, planted about 40 yrs ago by my MIL) and fought over the bird feeder spills with the one living at our next door neighbour. This spring, while planting flowers in our front yard, I noticed a strange hole. And then it dawned on me - it's a chippie hole! Dohhh... I guess he wanted to be closer to those feeders LOL.

Luckily there isn't really much for him to damage. It's a very small, brick porch and he is under the cement stairs. And he is a very gentelmanly chippie and leaves my flowers alone.

[CACAdmin]

That's cute and a good place for the little critter. I'll bet his/her friends think that's really upscale living. :laugh:

[PintoHawk]

I'd love to have a little chipmunk living under my front porch! Cuuute!

We have a skunk that wanders through the school grounds across the street, and of course tons of birds (Magpies and Merlin Falcons and sparrows and other common species).

Last summer, two yearling moose wandered into a park near our old place; lots of people gathered around and took photos and watched them for the afternoon, and the animal control people tried their best to keep everyone safe. That was pretty cool. I'll never forgive myself for not running home to grab my camera.

A few years ago a large stag came through the windshield of my little Civic - right in the middle of the city - very very unexpected. There are alot of deer and antelope around here, especially down in the coulees by the river.

The prairies have an exceptional selection of birds of prey and at any given time you can drive out of the city and see a number of beautful species of eagles, hawks, falcons and owls.

Tons of gophers around here too, and most people consider them a 'pest'. I think they are adorable - they remind me of animated Beanie Babies.

In Northern B.C., where I grew up, it was very normal to wake up and find a moose or three on the front lawn, or a group of deer, a fox, or a bear on your driveway. My horses HATED the moose, they'd go absolutely NUTS whenever a moose came around, it was really funny - lots of prancing and snorting and head tossing and galloping back & forth along the fenceline with their tails held high and the whites of their eyes showing. They flipped out whenever moose were nearby, but would calmly stand and watch a bear waddle through the yard. Bizarre. LOL

[Pamelajo]

Here we have skunks, raccoons, lots of squirrels and for birds, chickadee, cardinals, sparrows, blue jays, junco(winter), morning doves and yellow finches, other assorted finches. On the out skirts of town we have deer, fox, coyotes and even a wolf. Who crossed in front of my car on the highway twice in daylight.

[Pamelajo]

And bunnies.

[GaryofMontreal]

Here on the island of Montreal, I've recently seen raccoons, skunks, black squirrels, grey squirrels, woodchucks, politicians, foxes, bats and moles. Just off island last week, I saw wild turkeys and deer, and on my drives to New Brunswick, moose and black bears have made appearances.
With all the rain this year, I think some of our mosquitoes are actually mammals. They are big enough.

[OldMan]

Around here I have seen bunnies, not the variable hares I saw when I lived near Montreal, lots of birds including my favorites, the redwinged blackbird and some cardinals, white tail deer, opposums, tons of squirrels but no chipmonks, a rare racoon. I wish the deer were that rare when riding to work. There are enough coyotes for everyone but only a few red tailed fox. There are no bear, moose or other northern animals here so I miss the moose that I saw wading in small lakes when I was growing up. I have seen cougar tracks on my small farm but so far no live cougar. The tracks I saw were in snow and it looked like the cat was tracking a deer, by the other tracks I found nearby and offset only about 50 feet. There are plenty of pheasant and mourning doves for anyone who cares but I never see a partridge or woodcock here.

[jewels]

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/content/view/113014/27/

Sighting not confirmed.

Moral of story : Hunger causes hallucinations :no:

[OldMan]

I don't remember being hungry when I found those cougar tracks Jewels. I had been told by people around that cougars are just not seen in the area until I talked to an old woodsman in the area. He told me that they are not all that unusual but people seldom notice them around because they are a bit hard to identify. When I described the tracks to him, he asserted they were "painter" tracks which is a colloquial term for panthers (cougars).

[Namor]

Did someone say gophers?

There are so many in Sask. that our football teams mascot is a gopher.
Here's "Gainer" with a new addition to the family.-
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj177/Namor_Sask/gainerjr.jpg

The look on the little tikes face as they returned to the sidelines from center field was priceless. I was too busy applauding their performance to get a pic,
and the beaming smile of Gainer Jr. was for me, the hi-lite of the game.

Aside from a vast array of birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians, critters I've seen are moles, mice, rabbits, squirrels, beavers,
porcupines, skunks, badgers, weasels, fox, coyotes,
(quite sure I've on two occasions seen a wolf), bobcats, deer, moose and the odd cougar sighting. Thankfully have not seen the later.:wideeyed:

Do rogue cows count?:twitcy:

P.S.- Anna, one doesn't expect to hit a deer in the city, hope everyone was OK.

[mdfa.ca]

Oldman,

I care! Mourning Doves are one of my favourite birds! But the silly things are sooo lazy LOL. They just sit on the ground, under the feeder in my front yard, and wait for stuff to fall as other birds feed at the feeder. And they only move when they have to, which means you can almost come within arms' reach towards them.

Namor, the new addition to the team is priceless!!! And you've got moles! I grew up with moles but haven's seen one for close to 30 years. I know they are considered pests but I still like the little guys. Then again, there aren't too many animals I don't like. :laugh:. And yes, we do have voles and all sorts of mice, even some residing in our garage, much to my husband's horror, but I don't really consider them wildlife. They are everywhere.

[Pamelajo]

Oldman,

I care! Mourning Doves are one of my favourite birds! But the silly things are sooo lazy LOL. They just sit on the ground, under the feeder in my front yard, and wait for stuff to fall as other birds feed at the feeder. And they only move when they have to, which means you can almost come within arms' reach towards them.


They are the laziest bird!!!:yes:Have you seen their nests. Lets throw 2 twigs together and call it a nest. It is a wonder they are not endangered due to laziness. I find eggs all over the back yard on the ground. This year two decided to turned our eves trough into their nest.

[mdfa.ca]

LOL, Pamela, a pair of them did the same thing in our back yard last year. Then it rained and they looked perplexed as the nest "dissolved" under them. Luckily there were no eggs in it yet and no babies were hurt. They went and built a nest somewhere else.

[Pamelajo]

Hubby took it out before they laid eggs and he got the "what the heck did you do that for" look. Yep ours moved on to somewhere else in the backyard.

[CACAdmin]

I'm a amazed given those strategies that more eggs aren't lost.

If you want to talk about lazy, the cowbird may be the laziest of all. They don't bother building nests or raising their young. They just lay their eggs in the nest of another bird and let that bird hatch and raise the little ones. :rolleyes:
http://www.audubon.org/bird/research/

[fishclubgirl]

I was at my parents in Didsbury and mama moose and her calf were wandering around town in the spring. In Calgary, I do believe "Gainer" is banned from McMahon Stadium, lol. Went to one game and the game stopped for a couple of minutes as there was a squirrel running around the field. Was quicker than any of the players!!!

[Pamelajo]

I'm a amazed given those strategies that more eggs aren't lost.

If you want to talk about lazy, the cowbird may be the laziest of all. They don't bother building nests or raising their young. They just lay their eggs in the nest of another bird and let that bird hatch and raise the little ones. :rolleyes:
http://www.audubon.org/bird/research/
Actually someone was just telling me about the cowbird.

[mdfa.ca]

There are a lot of them in our area, Pam. They sure have the parenting thing figured out... :twitcy:. Having a teenage (15) daughter, I think their way is very, very attractive...

[Pamelajo]

:twitcy:

[Namor]

In Calgary, I do believe "Gainer" is banned from McMahon Stadium, lol.

:rofl:
Gainers banishment is still on? Too funny!:laugh:
A google search of this fact provided for an entertaining read.:wink:

Another creature I've seen nearby is Pronghorn antelope, and once while out golfing I spooked three large elk, which went crashing through the bush.
They must have escaped from a farm, and I'm thankful they charged in the opposite direction.

[fishclubgirl]

Aren't pronghorns so graceful?? The bf and I went on a "fish run" to Great Falls and I was pointing them out. He's done many runs but it was the first time he noticed them(thanks to me!!). And yes, I do believe stadium security has a BOLO for "Gainer".

[PintoHawk]

...woodchucks, politicians, foxes...

I think some of our mosquitoes are actually mammals. They are big enough.
LMAO!!! :D Niiiice.

[PintoHawk]

P.S.- Anna, one doesn't expect to hit a deer in the city, hope everyone was OK.
Yeah, for the most part... my husband (we weren't even engaged yet at that point, he actually proposed about a week after the accident) was impaled in the shoulder by the deer's antler, he has a teeny tiny little scar that he is very disappointed with (the x-rays looked really cool though), and a piece of antler on his key chain as a keepsake. We both had some little cuts and lots of bruises and whiplash, very sore for several days afterwards... my car didn't make it, and Bambi's uncle didn't make it either. It was very shocking to suffer such a dramatic accident in the middle of the city, yes. You just don't expect that, especially after driving home from Calgary that very day, speeding along the dark highways, on the lookout for animals the entire time, and then right in the city: BAM. Scary stuff. That was the second really bad car accident I had been involved with, and I was very shaken up for a few months afterwards.

In Northern BC where I grew up, there is an abundance of very large moose all year round, and I hear way too many stories of people hitting moose... those are VERY big animals and very solid... they can take the top right off a truck or a car quicker than you'd think. Lots of deaths due to those animals roaming across the roads, and due to people driving way too fast on bush highways.

[mdfa.ca]

Pinto,

I can totally relate to your accident. Mine wasn't as traumatic (both of us came out of it with just scratches) but just as shocking. Same thing, in the middle of the city (though close to a park), I'm driving along minding my own business when out of the blue, WHAM, something hits the side of the car...

The deer hit the passanger's side mirror, ripped it off, left a whole bunch of fur on the door, flipped over behind my car, got up and run off... THank God, because I would probably be traumatize for life if it got hurt.::(:. I jokingly tell people that I have been hit by a deer...

[GaryofMontreal]

Pinto - are you trying to tell us your husband didn't propose to you until he had spent a week impaled through the shoulder on a deer antler in a car?

Out east, most guys give in and propose after no more than two days skewered on an antler.

[Pamelajo]

Out east, most guys give in and propose after no more than two days skewered on an antler.
So what your saying is that men out your way have to be tortured into marrying???

Anna feel free to throw something at him.