favourite animal you've seen in the wild

26-05-2008

I have pronghorn living that hang out in the parking lot at work. I find that really cool.

My favorite wild animal sightings have been wolves, grizzly & black bears, moose, collared peccaries, cacomistles, Gila monsters, river otters, sea otters, and beaver.

26-05-2008

Otters! I saw one a few years ago. It was a brief sighting, held my breath when I saw it because it was so unexpected.

Also saw a cougar very briefly some years ago, and a bobcat.

26-05-2008

great idea for a thread chlidonias, but you got in before me with the ground parrot. I was lucky enough to go on a bird banding day at a place called Barren grounds. A group of about twenty people walked through button grass trying to flush out the birds into the nets. In total, i think about twenty birds were seen that day. On another occasion i was in ther Jervis Bay area bush walking and a ground parrot flew up in front of me. This, to me, was a better sighting because i was in the right place at the right time.

Second best was banding albatross of wollongong. I got to hold a wandering albatross, it was huge.

Mammals proboscis monkeys in Borneo and bison, moose and elk in yellowstone and a black bear in yosemite.

Reptiles - a huge saltie almost twice the size of the tinnie i was fishing in up in Arnham land.

Mark, i am jealous about the killer whale. That would have been spectacular

26-05-2008

There's one that beats everything else though..... Tiger.

26-05-2008

i wish patrick was around to put us to shame with his list.

27-05-2008

Had an interesting sighting today. A wild turkey, at Eramosa Karst. For those not familiar with wild turkeys, they are known for being elusive.

27-05-2008

Mark, i am jealous about the killer whale. That would have been spectacular[/quote]

Boof, I was very surprised to see this, there was no sign of them before or after it appeared and so close, It look like a big bull.

There are two pods which work the east coast of Aust

27-05-2008

Hmm, a though one; but I did spend a good few months working in Botswana and so my list is unashamedly African orientated; a few that REALLY stuck in my mind are as such;

1) Aardvark
2) Nyala
3) Leopard (that we accidentally walked into on a bush hike)
4) Klipspringer
5) Aardwolf

For the birds;

1) Ground Hornbill
2) Saddle-billed Stork
3) Pygmy Kingfisher (in The Gambia)
4) Palm Nut Vulture (in The Gambia)
5) Ostrich

27-05-2008

I also have many favorites but I'll try to pare them down:
Tammar wallabies, Western grey kangaroos and an echidna on Kangaroo Island (koala too!) Dolphins off the Texas coast. Prettyface wallaby on the way to Lamington. Birds: osprey nesting near Jamestown, yellow-tail black cockatoo on KI, and the first bald eagle I ever saw was out the window of the lawyer's office during the reading of my father's will. I drove back to Indiana from Washington state and spotted another eagle when I got back to work--quite rare around here at the time. Spotted another a few weeks later at a church retreat. They're incredible birds. But I think my all-time favorite has to be the leatherback turtles in Costa Rica--What a magnificent animal!

01-06-2008

Well I haven't bin out of Aus yet but I am next year.
Here is my list:

Mammal: Red kangaroo, I like the size of them, saw them also on camp.

Bird: Wedge-tailed Eagle, saw them in Queensland and on camp. (my reference of camp is in SA somewhere)

Reptile: SA Woma, my favourite Australian snake. Saw them on camp but i forgot where.

Amphibian:Brown Tree Frog, I just love these guys. Saw them in local wetlands.

Fish: Skate (at Middleton) they just swim past you without a care and keep going. I love them.

01-06-2008

Also forgot to mention seeing flocks of Brown pelicans soaring in front of the golden gate bridge on a hot summers day (I really did see this one!)

02-06-2008

You Australians don’t know how lucky you are – all my best animal spotting has been there.

Mammal – Numbat
Bird – osprey catching fish in Wilson’s inlet, WA
Reptile – swimming with green turtle in Hawaii
Fish – snorkelling with a Manta ray in Ningaloo, (just a couple of days too late for the big one, the whale shark). Did see a basking shark off Mull though, along with minke whales. Oh and stingrays in the shallows around Rottnest, but crikey I didn't upset the little fellers

In the UK I have seen golden and sea eagles, and badgers, but no otters yet

02-06-2008

Unfortunately Canada doesn't have that much to see... at least where I've travelled! Everything I've seen here, as a city girl (unfortunately), has impressed me. Black bears, porcupines, elk, moose, white tail deer, wood frogs, boreal chorus frogs, tiger salamanders, skunks... I like them all!

As for overseas, I had never been out of the country until last month when we went to Costa Rica. I was in heaven! We saw a lot...including a neotropical river otter, agoutis, a crab eating raccoon, Ctenosaurs, Basiliscus basiliscus, bats (need help ID'ing them actually!), white faced capuchins, turkey and black vultures, scarlet macaws, variegated squirrels, american crocodiles, and so many little lizards...it was amazing!

I beg to differ.....
03-06-2008

Unfortunately Canada doesn't have that much to see... at least where I've travelled!


I have been near your neck of the woods on a camping trip through BC and Alberta -- you do have alot of interesting wildlife in Canada . Just go for a quiet walk in the woods ........

04-06-2008

I agree wholeheartedly with Nigel in terms of Canadian wildlife. Just looking at carnivores and omnivores there are black bears, grizzly bears, polar bears (up in the far north), lynx, bobcats, mountain lions, wolverines, fishers, martens, weasels, otters, mink, ferrets, wolves, coyotes, badgers, raccoons, and at least 5 different species of fox. Outside of North America many of those animals can never be found in worldwide zoos.

There are also wonderful opportunities to see hoofstock such as rocky mountain goats, bighorn sheep, dall sheep, bison, moose, muskox, pronghorn antelope, caribou, mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk. I've driven across most of Canada and have seen a large amount of amazing wildlife just from looking through the windshield.