What wildlife do you see on your rides?

[Blueberry]

Ummmm...yours is THINNER! The vet told me I need to make her exercise. Yeah, right. She's not leash trained and when you start playing with her, she just lays on her back and bats at whatever you're dangling in front of her. It's perplexing to me as she used to be an outdoor-only, in-shape cat. I think she likes this indoor livin'! (And yes, she is on "light" cat food!)

Mine is just in a flattering pose

She looks just like she swallowed a bowling ball She has a heart murmur, so she can't exercise much (haven't figured out how you exercise a cat either - umm...kitty treadmill ). My other cat is the really overweight one - I tried to exercise him, but he bites the toy and hangs on. Chase that - who me?! He does beat up the 85 lb golden retriever year old "puppy" we have, though...

[CorsairMac]

Mine is just in a flattering pose

Love that line!! Next time someone wants to take my picture I'm gonna tell em Only if it's a flattering pose!!

let me see: quail, sandhill cranes, roadrunners, bald eagle, blue herons, geese, pheasant, ducks, snakes, various and sundry birds. that's all I can think of right now

[makbike]

CA in NC and Yellow have you tried a laser pointer? I have seven cats and it by far is their favorite toy and gets them moving! I'm sure your vets have given you the speech about obesity and the health issues (diabetes, heart disease, joint issues, etc) associated with it in cats and dogs so I will spare you (I'm not a vet but have worked as an assistant for over 10 years and have seen the effects first hand). Love your furry buddies for they are wonderful gifts which have been bestowed upon you.

Marcie

[makbike]

Okay, now for what I see and enjoy when I ride: Red Tail Hawks, Vultures, Red Fox, Bison (not wild but still very cool to ride past), beautiful horses (I live in horse country) lots of cows, goats, birds (warblers, thrushes, red wing blackbirds, meadow larks, etc), deer, turkey, chipmunks, gophers, snakes, lizards, frogs (typically don't see them but love to listen to them sing), lots of insects, and the list goes on and on.

[yellow]

CA in NC and Yellow have you tried a laser pointer?

Oh, yeah. "What's that? That's interesting."

The dog, however, goes absolutely batty over it. It's called "The Dot" and when you say those words...oh boy.

[makbike]

I will never forget the crazy dog that I encountered at the first clinic where I worked. You could not touch this dog without him going crazy unless his owner used his laser point. Once the red dot appeared on the wall the dog would hold a perfect point and we could do anything we needed. If the dot disappeared people moved pretty darn fast as did the dog. It was an amazing sight!

marcie

[SadieKate]

This being the land of fruit and nuts we have all kind of stuff out here. Ostrich, emu, peacock, llama, Somali Wild ***, etc. I miss the camel that used to live out by Lake Solano.

I've had finches roost on my hat when taking on nap on the bank and have also wakened to find a trio of pelican staring down their beaks at me from their perch on the log I was resting against (heh, naps in a fishing trip are a work of art ). Pelicans are HUGE when they're standing over your head.

But twice in the last few weeks, I have had a Red-Shouldered Hawk sweep over my head by only 10 ft or so. Bubba calls me Hawk Woman for the number of times he has seen this happen. I'm hoping this means good things for our Utah trip next week.

SK

[Aggie_Ama]

The wildlife in Austin, Texas is actually somewhat boring. We have seen a hawk, white-tail deer, snakes (grass and one rattler being eaten by the hawk), cardinals, grackels, pigeons. The non-wildlife we frequently encounter are donkeys, cows and yesterday we were sharing the road with a horse.

[Nokomis]

in addition to all the farm animals - deer, coyote, various birds (hawks, eagles, ring neck pheasant)...
but the worst is snakes, when they decide to sunbathe on the road. If they get startled by the first person to pass, they start moving erratically and are hard to swerve around I really don't want to run over a snake.

[bcipam]

The wildlife in Austin, Texas is actually somewhat boring. We have seen a hawk, white-tail deer, snakes (grass and one rattler being eaten by the hawk), cardinals, grackels, pigeons. The non-wildlife we frequently encounter are donkeys, cows and yesterday we were sharing the road with a horse.

I did "Hell Week" last year out of Fredericksburg. We saw just about every kind of exotic deer and antelope possible. Plus the everyday cows, horses etc. Also saw a strange herd of angora goats, lots of interesting wild birds, cool stuff. But then again I'm from California so it was all new ot me!

[Aint Doody]

Baby emus! Oh, and the parents, too.

[tulip]

The last two days I've rescued baby snapping turtles from the MUP on my way to work. They are too small to bite, and look like small, black dinosaurs. I put them back in the wooded area next to the river, which the trail runs along. Then I read that as soon as they hatch, they head for the water. The little ones that I saw must have gotten confused. If I see any more, I'll put them in the river.

[Lise]

The last two days I've rescued baby snapping turtles from the MUP on my way to work. They are too small to bite, and look like small, black dinosaurs. I put them back in the wooded area next to the river, which the trail runs along. Then I read that as soon as they hatch, they head for the water. The little ones that I saw must have gotten confused. If I see any more, I'll put them in the river.

Hi, tulip--what's the MUP? I was in your town last weekend--my bro lives in Adams Morgan. I spent Friday afternoon walking around the Phillips, then up Connecticut and across the zoo. I love our nation's capital! What a beautiful town. I always experience it as a delightful blend of urban and natural beauty. I had one of the worst allergy days I think I've ever had, though. I just kept taking more antihistamines and decongestants--went to bed still sneezing and snuffling. Once we started driving down to VA for the wedding, it all went away.

MP--I was clearly post-call to even imagine a 45' long snake. (Post-call: After an intense call shift, my thinking isn't the clearest) Still. 4-5'. Yikes. I love looking at llamas. I spent some time in Peru at age 17, as an exchange student. There's a little, fluffy toy llama on my desk even now, with a red and white ribbon around his neck, the colors of the Peruvian flag.

[kygrrlinco]

I typically see Canadian geese and some other wading-type bird...big, black, with red eyes (??)...ducks, a fox once, flickers (my favorite!), lizards running across the path, little green snakes (ran over one's tail the other day .

About a month ago there was a news story here (Denver) about a guy who was cruising down Left Hand Canyon, in the foothills, going about 40mph, when he crashed into a BEAR that had run out of the trees!!! I'm getting ready to do a fundraiser ride that heads up that canyon; I wouldn't mind SEEING a bear, but I'd prefer it be from a distance, not as I'm crashing into it!
Apparently both bear and rider were okay, with only some good road rash to report.

[Boise Birder]

I come back from time to time to read it.

I live in place where I see lots of wildlife. As a birder, I really watch. I did a team in training ride, kept a bird list during the training. The list was around 75.

Here's some favorites:

Badger, burrowing owl, curlew, white-headed woodpecker, pygmy nuthatch, prairie falcon, sandhill crane, cinnamon teal, bald eagle, golden eagle, willet, avocet, black-neck stilt, shoveler (a duck), gadwall, pileated woodpecker, swainson's hawk....

On and on - I love riding!