What’s your most exotic animal sighting in real life?
- Thread starter WojoRising
- Start date
I once killed an afternoon watching videos of dogs ragdolling coyotes, but haven’t been able to find them since.
Duck-billed platypus. It was a creek where I first saw it but I think that beast followed us and found it’s way into a club in Nashville. A weekend to forget :/
anon_0astpxev9h4gk
Well-Known Member
I've seen different whales in the pacific while out on boats. I've also seen an octopus and a couple sting rays. Idk, nothing that cool tbh. I've always wanted to see a Panda Bear.
I saw a kangaroo on a golf course in Australia. That was probably the most unusual animal I have seen.
I also saw a grouper while snorkeling on the same trip which was about the size of a Volkswagen bug. Had to be 8-9 feet long. Our guide took great joy in telling us to be on the lookout for “George” a large grouper which lived around the reef. He didn’t elaborate on how big it was - left that for a surprise.
Saw some whales on a whale watch tour in Japan but I don’t think that counts since that was the intent of the tour.
I also saw a grouper while snorkeling on the same trip which was about the size of a Volkswagen bug. Had to be 8-9 feet long. Our guide took great joy in telling us to be on the lookout for “George” a large grouper which lived around the reef. He didn’t elaborate on how big it was - left that for a surprise.
Saw some whales on a whale watch tour in Japan but I don’t think that counts since that was the intent of the tour.
I saw a baby human when I was being raised by a pack of wild dogs. I guess that’s a common sight in most parts of Kentucky.
I’ve had three really scary and neat encounters.
My wife grew up at about 8900 feet up in the Rockies on a 600 acre horse ranch. One day we were there and I decided to take the dogs for a walk on the trail. At the time I had a boxer, half pit half mastiff, and a Great Dane. The dane heard something and went to explore. A few minutes later I hear it going nuts. The other dogs take off (never keep them on a leash) so I began running after them. When I get there the dane is fighting a freaking cougar. The other dogs chased it away but got a couple face lashes. The dane ended up dying from wounds the others just a few scratches. The cougar punctured the Danes skull which led to internal bleeding. Pretty terrifying.
Fast forward a few months. We are back at the ranch and I’m out visiting my new black Percheron (beautiful horse). I’m sitting there on the tailgate about dusk and notice a few dear about 300 yards away grazing in a meadow. I look over about 100 yards west and see a lone wolf stalking. Then I notice another 3 working their way around in a circle at the end the of the meadow. Pretty soon, the lone wolf takes off running and runs the deer straight into his 3 waiting buddies on the other side. The deer made it into the woods before hitting the other 3 so I didn’t actually get to see the take down but it was pretty neat seeing them hunt in the wild like that.
Third time I had my 1/2 pit 1/2 mastiff attacked by 5 coyotes about a half mile from my house. He was tore up pretty good but I think he won the battle. The coyotes ran off when he threw one of them around like a rag doll. They were probably only about 50-60 pounds and my dog was a good 120 solid muscle.
I’ve held a baby kangaroo (which was awesome) pet a young wildebeest and water buffalo. Even young, the buffalo was aggressive as heck. Seen plenty of rattlesnakes and killed a few. Encounter many bear in Alaska, a couple moose in both Colorado and Canada. Saw a giant gator in Florida, plenty of wild boar in Texas. Seen Zebra, giraffe, and rhino in Africa.
Had a giant boa snap at me (probably the scariest moment of all because I wasn’t expecting a strike).
Really I’ve seen quite a few things. Definitely respect wild animals.
My wife grew up at about 8900 feet up in the Rockies on a 600 acre horse ranch. One day we were there and I decided to take the dogs for a walk on the trail. At the time I had a boxer, half pit half mastiff, and a Great Dane. The dane heard something and went to explore. A few minutes later I hear it going nuts. The other dogs take off (never keep them on a leash) so I began running after them. When I get there the dane is fighting a freaking cougar. The other dogs chased it away but got a couple face lashes. The dane ended up dying from wounds the others just a few scratches. The cougar punctured the Danes skull which led to internal bleeding. Pretty terrifying.
Fast forward a few months. We are back at the ranch and I’m out visiting my new black Percheron (beautiful horse). I’m sitting there on the tailgate about dusk and notice a few dear about 300 yards away grazing in a meadow. I look over about 100 yards west and see a lone wolf stalking. Then I notice another 3 working their way around in a circle at the end the of the meadow. Pretty soon, the lone wolf takes off running and runs the deer straight into his 3 waiting buddies on the other side. The deer made it into the woods before hitting the other 3 so I didn’t actually get to see the take down but it was pretty neat seeing them hunt in the wild like that.
Third time I had my 1/2 pit 1/2 mastiff attacked by 5 coyotes about a half mile from my house. He was tore up pretty good but I think he won the battle. The coyotes ran off when he threw one of them around like a rag doll. They were probably only about 50-60 pounds and my dog was a good 120 solid muscle.
I’ve held a baby kangaroo (which was awesome) pet a young wildebeest and water buffalo. Even young, the buffalo was aggressive as heck. Seen plenty of rattlesnakes and killed a few. Encounter many bear in Alaska, a couple moose in both Colorado and Canada. Saw a giant gator in Florida, plenty of wild boar in Texas. Seen Zebra, giraffe, and rhino in Africa.
Had a giant boa snap at me (probably the scariest moment of all because I wasn’t expecting a strike).
Really I’ve seen quite a few things. Definitely respect wild animals.
-Wild monkeys in Dania Florida. They are super agressive.
-I saw an otter two different times in South Florida.
-I saw a full grown manattee swimming down the shoreline.
And I've seen a road runner, and coyote in Southern California.
-I saw an otter two different times in South Florida.
-I saw a full grown manattee swimming down the shoreline.
And I've seen a road runner, and coyote in Southern California.
How did this all go down? We've had a thread or 2 on this board, discussing how many coyotes one dog (pit) could take.
They actually had a den in a drainage pipe unbeknownst to me. We were just out for a hike and he was running ahead. We lived at the time in the foothills near Bolder CO and it was an undeveloped area that had already been slated for building. He ran down to the hole where I guess they were all sleeping or something. I was a good 80-100 yards behind so I didn’t see how it all started. He started barking and growling and I had no idea why. Pretty soon I see him tussling with 2 coyotes and then 3 more popped out. They were trying to surround him and biting at his heels. Every time he would get one and pin it down another would bite his haunches. He finally got one good by the back leg and flung him in the air a good 3 feet. After that they pretty much scattered. Didn’t last longer than 30 seconds or so.
I saw a living baby albino wallaby in an old lady's arms as I arrived for a job interview with a humane society last week.
This isn’t a competition, but I think dead alongside the JFK Parkway wins IMO FWIW
Some cool stories in here.
Strangest animal sighting was probably a cassowary in Australia out in a rain forest. Similar to an Emu.
Easily the coolest encounter was when I was kayaking in Byron Bay (east coast of Australia) and a humpback breached about 50 yards dead in front of me. Had seen whales in the area the day before, but no sign of any around while we were kayaking then out of no where it just did a full breach. Was insane how freaking big the thing was.
Have seen quite a few rays, eels, octopuses, and turtles while snorkeling. Went shark cage diving and saw a bunch of sandbar sharks.
Bucket list includes snorkeling with a whale shark and cage diving with great whites.
This is probably stupid, but I live in CO and I've specifically been targeting hikes this summer where there have been recent bear or mountain lion sightings. Want to see one badly this summer. Would also like to see a moose. Recently saw a Golden Eagle out here which was pretty cool, and wow they're huge.
Strangest animal sighting was probably a cassowary in Australia out in a rain forest. Similar to an Emu.
Easily the coolest encounter was when I was kayaking in Byron Bay (east coast of Australia) and a humpback breached about 50 yards dead in front of me. Had seen whales in the area the day before, but no sign of any around while we were kayaking then out of no where it just did a full breach. Was insane how freaking big the thing was.
Have seen quite a few rays, eels, octopuses, and turtles while snorkeling. Went shark cage diving and saw a bunch of sandbar sharks.
Bucket list includes snorkeling with a whale shark and cage diving with great whites.
This is probably stupid, but I live in CO and I've specifically been targeting hikes this summer where there have been recent bear or mountain lion sightings. Want to see one badly this summer. Would also like to see a moose. Recently saw a Golden Eagle out here which was pretty cool, and wow they're huge.
Last edited:
There are plenty of other race threads. Let’s leave it out of this one.
Where are you getting mountain lion intel?
I've seen black bears in Ouray. Never saw a mountain lion. Seen quite a few moose, right in the swampy area after you get off of Berthoud Pass (heading towards Winter Park), in Vail, out camping, etc.
One I just remember, from when I was still in high school. Family used to head to FL every other summer to my grandparents condo in St. Pete Beach area. One time, I'm about 50ft out in the water with my then GF and we are walking back towards shore. We see this huge, dark shadow in the water (but not a single shape, like a shark).
It is a huge area of darkness.... turns out to be a swarm/flock/herd of stingrays that were all swimming along the shoreline. We tried to beat them to the shore, but we had to stop about half way in between the giant group and just wait it out. They were bumping into our legs while they swam by.
It is a huge area of darkness.... turns out to be a swarm/flock/herd of stingrays that were all swimming along the shoreline. We tried to beat them to the shore, but we had to stop about half way in between the giant group and just wait it out. They were bumping into our legs while they swam by.
I'm mainly just checking recent reviews on all trails. For example, the Ypsilon Lake hike in Rocky Mountain last year had like 4 bear sightings in the month before I did it. I can't remember which hike had the review that someone had seen mountain lion tracks, but I went there. But when I'm looking for a good hike, reviews with bears/mountain lions bump them up the list.
Haven't seen either or a moose yet, but have seen the golden eagle, bald eagle, elk, big horn sheep, coyotes, and foxes since I've been here.
Might hit Ouray this summer. The gf and I are taking off July 5th and 6th on top of having the 4th off. Leaving the 3rd and doing Crested Butte --> Ouray --> Telluride --> Durango & Pagosa Springs (cousins live there). Any suggestions for hikes in Ouray?
Some of the coolest shit in CO is between Ouray and Telluride. What kind of vehicle do you have? If any type of 4x4, you can head up to Yankee Boy Basin / Mt Sneffels area. 4th of July should be prime for wildflowers / colors. Island Lake and Clear Lake are a little further south but supposed to be pretty cool (turquoise alpine lakes).
Crested Butte is my favorite place in CO though. We go camping up there every summer, usually around 4th of July. Paradise Divide is beautiful 4x4 road, that leads up to Emerald Lake (another turquoise alpine lake). We watched the Perseid meteor shower from there a couple years ago. Crazy stars you get to see when you're on a mountain, at 11k feet. Also "lost lake" campground is pretty cool area, with a few hiking trails around it. Really, you can't go wrong in Crested Butte. Just seems different than a lot of other spots in CO - much more green/lush, wildflowers everywhere, etc.
We hadn't decided on taking my altima or the gf's jeep, but with this info will likely take the jeep. thanks for the info.
I'm very excited for all of the stops. And the meteor shower up there sounds pretty awesome.
Definitely take the Jeep, if you want to see some "off the beaten path" stuff. Even the Yankee Boy Basin area... you won't want to walk the entire "road" before you get up there - take the Jeep until you are uncomfortable driving any further, and hike from there. Blue Lakes is at the end
http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/4109-yankee-boy-basin-road.html
Went on a short hike in Boulder after work today and stumbled upon a female bobcat and its two kittens. The girlfriend and I sat down on this big rock that we always rest at, and after we sat down we saw the bobcats like 40 feet in front of us. Just sat there and watched them for about 30 minutes. The mom was pretty unconcerned and the kittens were chowing down on a rabbit.
Pretty cool experience.
Pretty cool experience.
It must have been out of mating season. I've encountered a couple very large bull moose in Maine. When looking for some, they are down right mean, aggressive and scary. They'll roar and charge. They'll charge a car.
In addition to bears in Denali in '98, I also saw moose.
I've seen bald eagles in the wild, at Sturgeon Bay in northern Michigan.
We cornered a groundhog in our solar shed a few weeks ago. They're big. They look like beavers w/o the broad tail. Having never encountered one, we weren't sure about triggering their fight or flight instincts, so we were pretty timid approaching it. We wrangled it into a cat carrier. We looked it up and learned that they had a poor rate of survival when displaced... so we didn't tell the kids and I took it about 11 miles or more away (the odometer in my old pick-up is broken, I learned on that trip; I only meant to go 5) and released it at the end of a remote dead end road. It took off into the underbrush. Good luck, kid.
Last week, I was crossing our yard back toward the house after collecting eggs and closing the chickens up for the night. I saw what I thought was a cat out of the corner of my eye, but it looked kind of weird, so I looked more closely, then walked toward it. It was a possum. I walked right up behind it and at the last second it turned its head to look over its shoulder and I kicked it right in the butt. It ran in a circle around our pear tree and came back toward me. I think it was just running away and disoriented, but in the moment I thought maybe it was attacking. Either way, I kicked it in the face and it ran off in some other direction. It was really gratifying, those kicks.
I've seen bald eagles in the wild, at Sturgeon Bay in northern Michigan.
We cornered a groundhog in our solar shed a few weeks ago. They're big. They look like beavers w/o the broad tail. Having never encountered one, we weren't sure about triggering their fight or flight instincts, so we were pretty timid approaching it. We wrangled it into a cat carrier. We looked it up and learned that they had a poor rate of survival when displaced... so we didn't tell the kids and I took it about 11 miles or more away (the odometer in my old pick-up is broken, I learned on that trip; I only meant to go 5) and released it at the end of a remote dead end road. It took off into the underbrush. Good luck, kid.
Last week, I was crossing our yard back toward the house after collecting eggs and closing the chickens up for the night. I saw what I thought was a cat out of the corner of my eye, but it looked kind of weird, so I looked more closely, then walked toward it. It was a possum. I walked right up behind it and at the last second it turned its head to look over its shoulder and I kicked it right in the butt. It ran in a circle around our pear tree and came back toward me. I think it was just running away and disoriented, but in the moment I thought maybe it was attacking. Either way, I kicked it in the face and it ran off in some other direction. It was really gratifying, those kicks.
