Experiences with wild animals.

[Rico_Tiel]

This is a thread where you can share your encounters with wild animals! I have had many, and I even had one today which was REALLY scary and it prompted me to make this thread! So, share yours or other people’s wild encounters! Fishing and hunting are welcome, just no gorey descriptions please.


If you’re curious, here’s the terrifying situation I had today.

So, I was walking up the hill with my bike to get me a snack from the gas station, because when I’m hungry I will do ANYTHING to get me a snack, ESPECIALLY if it’s something as enjoyable as a bike ride! This hill isn’t very steep but it’s very big and long. I was halfway up the hill and this white SUV stops and this woman warns me about a moose at the top of the hill. I say “alright, thank you!” And I look forward and I see this HUGE moose running down the hill. I yell “OH S***!” And my absolutely GENIUS brain begins running away with my bike instead of you know, jumping on my bike which could get away MUCH FASTER and safer than quickly waddling away. I stop and turn at the bottom of the hill and look up at the hill and the moose panics and jumps over the railing and I assume, falls down the very steep side of the hill, covered in glass, rocks, and sand, falling into the water below. I did get up the hill though and I got my snack and came home.

I also saw a downy woodpecker!

Here is the lake next to the hill, before the moose encounter.

It’s truly a peaceful lake. It’s incredible at sunset.

 

[Rozalka]

My latest experience with a wild animal? It's not terrifying like yours but kinda funny...
Last week I almost had a face to face "crush" with a pigeon. I was passing under a tree and the mentioned pigeon decided to fly down from there at the same time not noticing me - it flew from the tree straight towards my face. If I didn't stop walking and the pigeon didn't turn in the last moment, it would literally fly into my face

 

[Rico_Tiel]

My latest experience with a wild animal? It's not terrifying like yours but kinda funny...
Last week I almost had a face to face "crush" with a pigeon. I was passing under a tree and the mentioned pigeon decided to fly down from there at the same time not noticing me - it flew from the tree straight towards my face. If I didn't stop walking and the pigeon didn't turn in the last moment, it would literally fly into my face

Omg! That is actually pretty funny! I wish I had experiences like that! Mine usually involve stupidity or terror so it’d be a nice change to have something as goofy as that (besides getting essentially gummed by moose) happen!

 

[clark_conure]

Today I was at a doctors office and they had mirrored windows so no one could see in. I'm in the exam room and a corvid. I'm thinking raven more than crow, found and egg on the ground...and as I watched this sucker just chowed down on the egg. The doctor (actually a PA) came in and I pointed it out her and she was like OMG... then it flew off.

True story.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

This is a thread where you can share your encounters with wild animals! I have had many, and I even had one today which was REALLY scary and it prompted me to make this thread! So, share yours or other people’s wild encounters! Fishing and hunting are welcome, just no gorey descriptions please.


If you’re curious, here’s the terrifying situation I had today.

So, I was walking up the hill with my bike to get me a snack from the gas station, because when I’m hungry I will do ANYTHING to get me a snack, ESPECIALLY if it’s something as enjoyable as a bike ride! This hill isn’t very steep but it’s very big and long. I was halfway up the hill and this white SUV stops and this woman warns me about a moose at the top of the hill. I say “alright, thank you!” And I look forward and I see this HUGE moose running down the hill. I yell “OH S***!” And my absolutely GENIUS brain begins running away with my bike instead of you know, jumping on my bike which could get away MUCH FASTER and safer than quickly waddling away. I stop and turn at the bottom of the hill and look up at the hill and the moose panics and jumps over the railing and I assume, falls down the very steep side of the hill, covered in glass, rocks, and sand, falling into the water below. I did get up the hill though and I got my snack and came home. View attachment 50235
I also saw a downy woodpecker!

Here is the lake next to the hill, before the moose encounter.View attachment 50236View attachment 50237View attachment 50238View attachment 50239
It’s truly a peaceful lake. It’s incredible at sunset.View attachment 50240

Years ago I was sitting in the living room of a top floor apartment I had just moved into in a suburban LA area with a "friend" who was really more of a "frenemy". I hadn't seen her for months and was happy about that, but she came over to see my new place. The large sliding door and screen door were open. Suddenly a huge red tailed hawk (quite common in the area) flew in through the open slider, bounced off the mirrored closet doors on the other side of the room, took a couple laps and flew back out! My "friend" immediately started screaming when she saw the hawk (she wasn't into birds at all and definitely not raptors) but I just watched in amazement, only concerned about the hawk finding its way out the same way he got in! All I could think of was that the hawk was telling me not to let this toxic, predatory person back into my life. I did not see her again, thanks to that big, beautiful bird! I SWEAR this actually happened!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Today I was at a doctors office and they had mirrored windows so no one could see in. I'm in the exam room and a corvid. I'm thinking raven more than crow, found and egg on the ground...and as I watched this sucker just chowed down on the egg. The doctor (actually a PA) came in and I pointed it out her and she was like OMG... then it flew off.

True story.

That had to have been such a treat to watch! I love ravens and I would eat a handful of earthworms to see something like that!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Years ago I was sitting in the living room of a top floor apartment I had just moved into in a suburban LA area with a "friend" who was really more of a "frenemy". I hadn't seen her for months and was happy about that, but she came over to see my new place. The large sliding door and screen door were open. Suddenly a huge red tailed hawk (quite common in the area) flew in through the open slider, bounced off the mirrored closet doors on the other side of the room, took a couple laps and flew back out! My "friend" immediately started screaming when she saw the hawk (she wasn't into birds at all and definitely not raptors) but I just watched in amazement, only concerned about the hawk finding its way out the same way he got in! All I could think of was that the hawk was telling me not to let this toxic, predatory person back into my life. I did not see her again, thanks to that big, beautiful bird! I SWEAR this actually happened!

OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO LUCKYYYY!!!! I wish I could see stuff like that! But I don’t sadly. However, I do get to see moose often! And if I’m lucky, I can pet them (despite it being illegal, but I didn’t know that until April) lol do you know how much I would give to see something like that? I’d sell my soul and walk around dressed like my first and last Barbie doll ever with not pg 13 things painted on my cheeks! I’d literally sing the nastiest song in the middle of NYC to do that! I’d even drink a jug of vinegar and drowned earthworms! You are absolutely lucky to have witnessed such a thing!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO LUCKYYYY!!!! I wish I could see stuff like that! But I don’t sadly. However, I do get to see moose often! And if I’m lucky, I can pet them (despite it being illegal, but I didn’t know that until April) lol do you know how much I would give to see something like that? I’d sell my soul and walk around dressed like my first and last Barbie doll ever with not pg 13 things painted on my cheeks! I’d literally sing the nastiest song in the middle of NYC to do that! I’d even drink a jug of vinegar and drowned earthworms! You are absolutely lucky to have witnessed such a thing!

It was a bizarre once in a lifetime experience!

What's with your moose up there? Maine is known for its moose but we almost never even see them much less encounter and interact with them except for road collisions during the fall mating season. Hormones make them lose their heads and do crazy things!

 

[Keet_Krazy]

There was that time I feared greatly for my fingers while I tried to detangle a wild SC2 from a towel

 

[DonnaBudgie]

There was that time I feared greatly for my fingers while I tried to detangle a wild SC2 from a towel

I'm sorry, what's an SC2?

 

[Keet_Krazy]

I'm sorry, what's an SC2?

Sulphur crested cockatoo

 

[wrench13]

Most of my one on ones with wild animals are with reptiles. My brother and I were armature herpetologists and we would go upstate to any property that had stone walls and an active barn pr streams. We pulled hundreds of snakes out of places like that, bag 'em and sell them to pet shops in NYC. Snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, salamanders, newts, you name it. Even caught a few rattlers and copperheads. My bro got into the record books for pushing the authenticated range of the 5 lined skink up north by 75 miles or so.

 

[Jcas]

Great stories!
We live in a rural area and are blessed with many wild animal encounters. One of the coolest was years ago when our mail lady stopped to tell us there was an owl caught in a barbed wire fence a few miles down the road. She said she stopped at our house because she always saw us outside taking care of our (many) animals and thought we would know what to do! We grabbed a couple towels and drove to the spot where she said the owl was. A full size Great-Horned Owl, hung up by his wings in the barbed wire, poor baby. I put my hand under his feet to take some pressure off his wings while we cut him loose. He was too badly injured to fly so we wrapped him in a towel and took him home (no wildlife rehabbers in our area). It was winter and I was wearing insulated leather gloves but he gripped my hand so tightly that my fingers were purple by the time we got home! His wing was badly strained but not broken so after convalescing in our garage and being fed grass-fed beef for several days, he recovered enough to make his way under the bridge over our creek. He stayed there for a few days with me checking on him frequently. On day three, there were clear tracks in the snow of feet and wingtips where he had taken flight! I hope he lived a long life after that. Absolutely stunning bird and incredibly gentle and calm when we handled him; even though I'm sure it hurt. It was like he knew we were trying to help.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

It was a bizarre once in a lifetime experience!

What's with your moose up there? Maine is known for its moose but we almost never even see them much less encounter and interact with them except for road collisions during the fall mating season. Hormones make them lose their heads and do crazy things!

So it turns out the moose freaking the heck out was the baby moose that i fed and it stuck around for nearly two weeks. It survived and actually ran past my window today. It scared Rico and the dogs since it was RUNNING and it fled into the woods behind our house. It’s great to know no moose died and our baby moose friend is alive and well! He’s definitely an orphan though.

Moose interactions are of course rare and dangerous but when you do encounter one in a position where you are safe and behind a strong barrier, then it’s almost magical yet also a little scary.

But it’s bever the teeth you gotta worry about, it’s the feet and temper you gotta be worried about. And if you show them you are not to be feared, there’s a good chance it will approach and ask for food, and attack you if you don’t have it or if you run out of it. So there is always the risk of that. And they have good memories too, they don’t seem to forget. He remembered my house, my window, and our yard after almost three months. So while they are truly magnificent beauties, that can be friendly, it’s best not to try and interact with them, and if you do, do it at your own risk.

the moose up here are like, different. They are either VERY aggressive or VERY skittish, they will just waltz into traffic and get hit then 6/10 times walk away fine, they sometimes just approach you for food, they are EVERYWHERE here, they are the most terrifying things to see in the dead of winter, they take bullets like a tank, and they are avid dog killers.
They are beautiful creatures who can be very dangerous, even deadly, which is why they must be respected and admired.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Look at this big harvestman! I’ll pick these guys up any day, but god forbid a spider touches me.

Also, look at this girl! She’s bigger than a quarter, and makes my skin crawl like a thousand of her friends are scurrying under my skin.

Oh and here’s our (pet?) wolf spider, Margaret, carrying a fly or smth. This was a day before she vanished. Idk where she went lol, but the night she jumped out at me from the toilet paper roll, was when she earned her name and her role as Pest Control and ’pet’.

Oh and here’s a cute moth I found on my moms car

Ain’t it adorable and fuzzy?

A cute lil Darner dragonfly (unsure of the species)

Look at this cute little weevil I saw at the park!

Lacewing!

Another ADORABLE moth I saw! This was at the gas station!

Here’s another moth! Idk where I saw this one. Maybe at the gas station or my house? Idk.

Crab spider eating something on a fireweed

Ladybug on a rock

José my brother’s ex pet spider (he set him free)

The Sacred Croc of the Gas Station

Fossilized worms at my grandma’s house

Milbert’s Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Little golden spider

I’m not sure what species of butterfly this is… but it sure is cute!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Look at this big harvestman! I’ll pick these guys up any day, but god forbid a spider touches me.View attachment 54101

Also, look at this girl! She’s bigger than a quarter, and makes my skin crawl like a thousand of her friends are scurrying under my skin.View attachment 54102

Oh and here’s our (pet?) wolf spider, Margaret, carrying a fly or smth. This was a day before she vanished. Idk where she went lol, but the night she jumped out at me from the toilet paper roll, was when she earned her name and her role as Pest Control and ’pet’.View attachment 54104

Oh and here’s a cute moth I found on my moms carView attachment 54105
Ain’t it adorable and fuzzy?

View attachment 54106
A cute lil Darner dragonfly (unsure of the species)

View attachment 54107
Look at this cute little weevil I saw at the park!

View attachment 54108
Lacewing!

View attachment 54109
Another ADORABLE moth I saw! This was at the gas station!

View attachment 54110
Here’s another moth! Idk where I saw this one. Maybe at the gas station or my house? Idk.

View attachment 54111
Crab spider eating something on a fireweed

View attachment 54112
Ladybug on a rock

View attachment 54113
José my brother’s ex pet spider (he set him free)

View attachment 54114
The Sacred Croc of the Gas Station

View attachment 54115
Fossilized worms at my grandma’s house

View attachment 54116
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell Butterfly

View attachment 54117
Little golden spider

View attachment 54118
I’m not sure what species of butterfly this is… but it sure is cute!

You found my husband's missing croc! I wonder how it got there?

 

[Rico_Tiel]

You found my husband's missing croc! I wonder how it got there?

Someone stole the croc a week later

 

[clark_conure]

DonnaBudgie and rico_tiel are banned for wearing crocs. oh crap sorry........... wrong thread. But I do mean it.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

DonnaBudgie and rico_tiel are banned for wearing crocs. oh crap sorry........... wrong thread. But I do mean it.

Gurl I don’t even wear crocs, what?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Gurl I don’t even wear crocs, what?

I don't wear Crocs! My husband is the one with bad taste in footwear! He has Fred Flintstone feet.