Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Local native critters

One of the things that I enjoy on this forum is reading posts describing local critters from all the different areas. I would like to hear of more or any unique/rare visitors. I spend my week days working in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Among some of the noteables here are, cougar, black and grizzly bears, wolverines,Lynx and bobcats, tons of moose, elk, mule and whitetails. Migratory birds: Bald and golden eagles, white pelicans, snowy owls, tons of songbirds, hummingbirds, cormorants,great blue herons. No reptiles, only amphibians are frogs

Dang, I envy you.

Our most unusual and exciting visitor is one that is mostly rumor, and that's the mountain lion. Nebraska has only recently been known to have some of these creatures. I haven't seen one in person, but there's been some fairly convincing evidence that they're around.

We've already seen bobcats and bald eagles for sure.

I never know when I'll look out into one of the fields and see the Granville (Ohio) Lion (or one of the mentally and natural history challenged individuals who dreamed it up). This fierce creature roamed the woodlands and fields near me for 2-3 years, terrorizing local residents. It was finally caught on film about a year ago.


But seriously, we do have the occasional bobcat joining their temporarily liberated domestic brethren here.

Is that a cat?

Guv, I thought that by now, at least, you would have registered a Sasquatch sighting after finishing the book you were reading.

I might have a porcupine, but I ain't got no armadillo.

Dave I thought you would have posted the following:

Eric, those are important parts of DD's diet. Take, for example, the Hurst & Bowie 7 Course dinner - an armadillo and a 6-pack of Lone Star.

Road Kill Chili. No place but Texas.

Here are a couple of things you may run across fishin in La. lakes and bayous. The gator is always fun to play with on a hook and bobber.

Yummm! Our WV version of Armadillo without the armor.

For once, and only this time, I am speechless and have no retort.

I'm thinkin, I'm thinkin.....

Here are a few from my neighborhood

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Sunil, my game cameras haven't caught a Sasquatch yet. However, there are newspaper accounts of sightings of some kind of big hairy monster (no bull from me here) about 50 miles to the East of my place. Most of the, as usual, unconfirmed sightings have been in remote heavily wooded areas around Lake Texoma. However, that's where Lusk abodes so it might have been an honest mistake. Or, then, it might not have been an honest mistake at all if Mike Otto was involved.

Rad,

Mongoose, monitor, and coconut macaque?

I love to watch those monkeys in action. Amazing how they can detect the ripe coconuts.

I have turtles, snakes, and birds galore. No aquatic mammals yet, thank goodness.

My brother saw a mountain lion in his neck of the woods a couple of years ago at very close range. The sighting was unconfirmed by the G & P as it rained hard shortly after "they" saw it, this included my brothers friend who is a local vetrenarian. My brother actually walked into the grass patch it disappeared into an jumped it up along a fence line from a distance of 20-30ft.

Hey Bruce, have I ever mentioned the "Big White Hairy thing" that a number of my friends claim they saw below the dam a Yankee Hill one night while fishing after dark on a full moon. I was there at the time but was still in the parking lot while they headed down to the lake, all three of them came back very quickly looking white as ghost. This was twenty years ago, to this day they swear up and down the "big white hairy thing" was 7ft tall and walking on two legs. Just so everyone knows, Yankee Hill Lake is near Denton, not far from the Condello BG ranch.

Did the big white hairy thing have really long arms?

Yes! I hear long arms are great for taking fish pictures. Now who do I know that has really long arms?

Bobad,
The monkeys are a lot of fun to watch, the monitor was between 5 and 6 feet long and if found by any of my neighbors, is dinner.
We had a hog badger, but I was not been able to get any pictures. Strange looking animal.

hey wood, i agree.

although, i could bore you guys to tears w/ stories of all the critters we get, most are "common" but we have many "commonly seen" resident dwellers in and around the house that keep most folks living in the suburbs.

anybody who comes to visit, check yer clothes in the morning BEFORE you put them on. i actually do check, and i actually shook a scorpion out of my pants one day, and one time a full grown tarantula out of my boots in the garage. just three days ago it took me an hour to dig out all my tools along one wall of the garage to get to the rattler that had crawled in. between late june and early august, walking out and about alone at night is ill advised due to our resident cougars.

beau, those look like giant wood rats?

very cool to see yer critters from thailand rad....rikki tikki tavi

Dave, that's a nutria.

D.I.E.D.
I shake out my shoes as well.

Yeah a nutria rat. Some folks around here call that good eatin. I tried it and didn't care for it. Nasty little critters.

Rad do you have the cobras, kraits and sea snakes as well and are they a local delicacy ? I guess you have to be quick to live on the edge.

Yesterday I was driving through my CRP field and I heard what sounded like crying--sort of like little children would if they were in danger. I drove round and round and finally found the source of the noise. It was a little patch of unmowed weeks. As I investigated further I found the long tail of a bullsnake sticking out. I parted the weeds a little bit, and found that he was raiding a rabbit's nest. Not a pretty sight. The bullsnake coiled up and hissed at me like he thought for all the world he was a rattler!! He even took a couple of good thrusts at me.