I'm super lucky that I get to be in the mountain wilderness most every day, usually at night, so I have quite a few. And some have been pretty crazy and cool. But a recent fun one was last week. A buddy came up for the weekend and we were night hiking. He said, "Man I'd love to see some animals" and about 10 seconds later my headlamp hit a group of coyote eyes and he got all stoked. Then my lamp hit a set of eyes in a tree. I said, "Look dude. An owl." He was all excited, walked over to the tree and said, "I don't think that's an owl." :)
We sat under the tree for about ten minutes hoping it would come down but it didn't. I have had bobcats come really close and they've been totally chill. Super cool animals.
@Wiseacre Very. I mean, if you corner or mess with any wild animal then it's anyone's guess. And there are some rare incidents of bobcats with rabies losing it. But if you chill then they chill. I've just sat with them a few times on trails and they're super mellow. But they're wild cats which means they see us and we don't usually see them. They're beautiful though.
@Wiseacre And that's ok. Some aren't. But if you ever find it holding you back then a little research can take care of that. If you know how they roll it becomes a lot more comfortable. 👍
I spend a lot of time outside and have done lots of hiking and backpacking, so there are many. Some of the more notable are two encounters with mountain lions in the Big Bend Region of Texas; three or four with javelina in the same area; brown bear in the Adirondacks of upstate NY and in Algonquin National Park in Ontario; rattlesnakes in several locations in Texas, including on the beach on Padre Island; and fox, coyotes, bobcat, opposum, raccoon, fisher, deer, and other animals in my neighborhood.
I had a close encounter with a rattler...too close. I was just about to sit down on a rock when I spotted the snake coiled up. My adrenaline was pumping..i’m scared of all snakes, even the non venomous ones.
I see Eastern Brown snakes all the time in summer. I leave them alone. I see Kangaroos at least every week. When I was a tourist in the far North of Queensland I had a Cassowary pace me for half a mile, about 100 feet away. That was worrisome. Those birds are aggressive and have been known to kick a horse and break its leg. Fortunately the stupid bird settled down and wandered off...
I was sitting by the edge of a river, and this muskrat swam across from the other side, approached me, climbed up the rock, and snagged a piece of twig from a plant right in front of me, looking at me cheekily as he did so.. as if showing off, and then back to the river he went.
It was so adorable, and this encounter really lifted my spirits.. Like, yeah.. I just "met" a muskrat friend, how cool
I have a coyote who uses my backyard as a cut through between woods and fields. He's been doing it for years now. We seem to have an unspoken agreement not to mess with each other. In the summer sometimes he jogs right past me while I'm sitting and reading.
@robingoodfellow Right on. And pretty much zero chance it would ever mess with you. That's not how they roll. They're amazing animals. And to toss it out there, if you ever hear them communicating you can kind of figure out what they're 'saying.' They have about a dozen distinct calls to each other and once you learn what they are it's pretty cool to listen in. If you ever heard what sounds like a big pack it's usually only a couple of them. They have the ability to change their vocals really fast to make it sound like there's more than there are. They're a trip.
I like to hunt and fish. I have seen or shot Deer, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, my neighbor’s bison and elk, and black buck. Rattlesnakes, cottonmouth, and copperheads. Black bears, eagles, hawks, owls, game birds, waterfowl, egrets and herons of various species, Bullfrogs, raccoons, Fox ( red and grey) possums, skunks, and ringtails
@HoraceGreenley it’s often when the rack goes through the windshield and impales them but I’ve never hit one that had the antlers on, they lose and regrow them
@Flenflyys I've heard of one couple that hit a moose broadside and the whole moose went through the windshield and landed in the back seat.
The moose not only kicked the couple but filled the car with moose shit.
SW-User
About 100 feet from a black bear on two separate occasions at my house in the yard. Sitting on the porch at night at the top of the steps and I thought my cat had came next to me for a pet and I started petting an opossum!! 🤭
I’ve seen crocs, lions, snakes, ostriches, impala.. different kinds of birds … the list goes on in SA and in England I’ve seen cats, dogs, squirrels, reindeer and robins lol 🙏🏼🙃
