Most Awesomest Animal Sightings?

[SoCool]

So this one time, in northern Yukon Territory, I saw a large gray wolf, fairly close. He stared at me for a moment then vanished.

And recently, a very large (and scary) male mountain lion just ahead of our vehicle around midnight outside Yosemite National Park. Gave us a casual glance before disappearing into thin air.

Please tell us your tales!

[acpeterson11779]

Just was awoken by a little black bear while camping on Miners Creek Road outside of Frisco last week.. Came about 10 feet from the tent and then got scared away by me yelling. Definitely to close for comfort haha

[jrbren_vt]

Great thread ! That sounds exciting with the wolf sighting ! Yesterday out jogging locally around the Wachusett Reservoir (central MA) there was a Gray Fox or Coyote, I cannot swear which, just standing in an open field, not afraid of anyone. My best guess is Gray fox. I am very interested in the other thread here where the OP saw a possible Wolverine or Badger. More memorable long term was the herds of Red Deer we saw in Scotland last month. From one Ridge on a mountain called Beinn A Ghlo, we could sit an watch a herd of over 100 Red Deer down in the valley below. Unfortunately I did not bring a real camera, just my Iphone, which takes great pictures as long as I do not use the zoom lense. The deer were great to watch with the naked eye and binoculars, but pics did not come out at all.

[peter303]

I saw two large tortoises, about two feet wide, on the Platte River trail near C470 one morning run.
Rangers confirm they exist. One once in over a hundred visits

[wyyld]

Really cute redhead on Uncompahgre yesterday.

[pmeadco]

I saw a stoat running around when I was riding up a chairlift at Vail...

[TallGrass]

I did a double take when I saw an armadillo... in Kansas City. It was near the I-435 beltway. Not uncommon to see foxes or coyotes her, often jaywalking at night.

[summitseeker91]

This past weekend we were looking for a good campsite at dusk up in Eagle Nest Wilderness. I look up to see a large female moose and calf quickly bolt up stream 30 yards from my position. A few seconds later another calf came running along following the trail of the others. Finally, a large bull came in to view and followed the others but took several pauses to take a look at me and make a few steps my direction. A neat experience but would be fine not coming that close to moose again.

[Oman]

Best confirmed: Ross' gull. A small pinkish gull that usually lives above the Arctic Circle in Siberia, Alaska, and the Nunavut, one bird turned up at Cherry Creek Reservoir around Thanksgiving 2010. Three local birders couldn't believe what they were seeing far offshore, so they hired a walleye fisherman in a boat to bring them closer. Hundreds of birders from many states converged upon the reservoir that Thanksgiving holiday to see the bird, which stayed six days. There are only about two dozen confirmed sightings of this species in the lower 48.

Here is a Ross' gull -- this is not my picture:



Best unconfirmed was a wolverine four winters ago near Fraser. It crossed a dirt road in front of our car at night and stopped and glared at us about 10 seconds before sauntering off. I've never seen an animal that size act so unafraid of a car and headlights. Stupidly, I took no pictures. Two Division of Wildlife workers checked out the site the next day for sign, but an overnight dusting of snow obscured any prints. Besides the one wolverine sighting and awesome photo on Mount Bierstadt made famous on this website, DOW workers said there had been other solid reports of wolverines in the winter near Berthoud and Corona passes. It might have been this guy:
http://www.denverpost.com/2012/11/10/wo ... ed-status/

[cedica]

Gorgeous black bear in Delaware Water Gap, my guess is over 300 pounds and (fortunately for me) male. Glorious raven black long shiny fur, like he was using vitamin supplements and oils for whole his life. I was on the bike when he jumped on the road from bushes on the right side and I stopped on a dime not more than 30 feet from him. Damned well tuned bike and brake pads, he did not hear me at all. Then I started swinging on the bike from side to side trying not to fall, while he was leisurely crossing the road to allow me plenty of time to admire him (it felt like forever). Finally I had to unclip from one of the pedals to arrest the fall and choose the right side, hoping to put the bike between us and throw it at him if he charges (like that would have helped). As soon as he heard the click (more of the bang) of the cleat he turned his head toward me, roared like demon and bolted into the bushes across the road. I could hear crashing of branches and roaring for a while.
Since then I totally understand when people are talking about heightened awareness and mind speeding in moments of imminent life threat.

[rijaca]

My granddaughter and I saw this guy from the back porch of our condo in Snowmass a couple weeks ago....

Snowmass fox.small.jpg

[Vermont Mike]

Many, many wildlife encounters over the years, but perhaps my favorite was when I was followed by a pack of coatis in Chiricahua National Monument down in Arizona: