# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 489
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9764 "2024-01-31T18:12:03Z")
lol I’m not the only one who’s done that I guess > **[Ted-tailed Hawk - FeederWatch](https://feederwatch.org/community/participant-photo/ted-tailed-hawk/)** > > Red-tailed Hawk perched atop utility pole at Gavin’s Point Dam on the Lewis & Clark Recreation area west of Yankton, SD. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9765 "2024-01-31T18:32:53Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I was about 20 feet away from a massive elephant seal once. Cool, you get to knock off both elephant and seal with that one! > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’m going to list armadillos and hawks. Dang, armadillo would have been a good one to include. I purposely stayed away from birds. mmm ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9766 "2024-01-31T18:34:10Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > > Bobcat! How awesome. > > Come to think of it, the Whatever I saw through a window just about dawn some years ago was probably only about 100 feet away. > > I can’t list it, though, because I don’t know what it was. It was in my neighbor’s backyard, and i saw it through the window. At first i thought it was a loose dog, but then it moved, and it was obviously a cat. And when it turned so i saw the face, that was also clearly cat. The coloration looked more like “mountain lion” than “bobcat” or “lynx” to me, but i spoke with our animal control officer, who assured me it was a bobcat, and that we have ones that look like that. It, also, had more tail than i expected in a bobcat, but the size looked right for a bobcat. (When i see red foxes, i often think “housecat” until they move. They are so much smaller than my mental image is. I saw a gray fox, once, which was larger.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9767 "2024-01-31T18:39:17Z")
That reminds me, i saw a fisher in my neighbor’s back yard once, too. It was quite close to me, on the tree my birdfeeder is on. (The trunk is in the neighbor’s yard.) Possibly within 20 feet. I’d have to measure to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9768 "2024-01-31T18:43:02Z")
Oh, good one. I had one make that noise near me at night, though I didn’t see it. Probably because I gave a shriek of terror and it wisely hid. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9769 "2024-01-31T19:23:57Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It was in my neighbor’s backyard, and i saw it through the window. At first i thought it was a loose dog, but then it moved, and it was obviously a cat. And when it turned so i saw the face, that was also clearly cat. The coloration looked more like “mountain lion” than “bobcat” or “lynx” to me, but i spoke with our animal control officer, who assured me it was a bobcat, and that we have ones that look like that. It, also, had more tail than i expected in a bobcat, but the size looked right for a bobcat. I saw it in profile – it was south of me, and headed west. It wasn’t full light yet, so hard to be sure of the coloration, and coloration apparently does vary on all three species. If I’m wrong about the tail it might have been a large bobcat; and apparently they run larger in the north than in the south. Lynx are also supposed to be extinct here, but apparently some were released in the Adirondacks in the 90’s and travelled quite some distance including into other states, but they didn’t think any of them set up a breeding population in NY. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9770 "2024-01-31T20:37:24Z")
Just in our backyard we get- squirrels, skunks, rats, mice, hawks, owls, possums, foxes, lizards, snakes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9771 "2024-01-31T21:26:29Z")
I don’t usually find silence uncomfortable. I have a friend who apparently does. She comes to visit for several days about once a year, and she seems to feel that any time we’re in the same room or even in the next room over there ought to be conversation so she has to start talking about something. I find it tiring. She’s a good friend, though, so I try not to tell her so. (I do want some conversation, especially with a friend who I see IRL once a year! But I don’t want it continuously; after the first couple of hours when you can’t shut me up I want pauses.) ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9772 "2024-01-31T22:21:54Z")
It kind of depends, for me, on why it’s an uncomfortable silence. If it’s uncomfortable because the air needs to be cleared, I’m fine with speaking up. I’m perfectly happy to sit in silence if everyone seems content, but I can do chitchat with the best of them if someone seems unhappy about not talking. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9773 "2024-01-31T23:15:28Z")
I don’t really understand “uncomfortable” silence. I’m totally cool with silence. It doesn’t become uncomfortable unless there’s something else going on that creates tension. I prefer silence to blathering. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9774 "2024-01-31T23:24:58Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Yes. American Crocodiles are rare, but they’re there. > > I _don’t_ think they’re found outside of Florida. They are, all the way thru Central America and the western Caribbean. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9775 "2024-02-01T01:51:05Z")
I guess it depends on what you mean by in the wild when it comes to camels. For all intensive porpoises they aren’t in the wild. The only feral dromedaries are in Australia which wasn’t their natural habitat. Bactrians are apparently wild in China but there are less than 1,000 left. I’ve been within 100 feet of camels owned by Bedouins which is as close to their natural habitat that you will find. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9776 "2024-02-01T02:30:03Z")
Ah yes, there are other places outside of the US. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9777 "2024-02-01T02:54:26Z")
I’ve ridden a camel owned by Beduin, but didn’t count that as that doesn’t seem very “wild” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9778 "2024-02-01T03:06:40Z")
Other: Richard Ford, author of _The Sportswriter._ ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9779 "2024-02-01T04:09:08Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve ridden a camel owned by Beduin, but didn’t count that as that doesn’t seem very “wild” to me. The question is almost (but not quite) like “Have you ever seen any cows in the wild?” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9780 "2024-02-01T04:13:00Z")
Oh, heck, I forgot wild horses. We went up to the Pryor Center in Wyoming, were ferried for 2 1/2 hours by pick-up up a mountain, and then very, very carefully stood among them in a thicket, and at a larger distance from them in a meadow. [![](https://i.imgur.com/Jdc0gnl.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Jdc0gnl.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9781 "2024-02-01T15:48:55Z")
The favorite wild animal poll was very difficult. I settled on otter because there has been a river otter hanging out in front of our house for the past few months and I’m enjoying watching him. But there were probably 5 or 6 other animals that could also be considered my “favorite.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9782 "2024-02-01T15:54:18Z")
Otters, man. They’re so cute, but oh do they have a dark side. I chose bears because, well, they’re bears. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9783 "2024-02-01T16:26:41Z")
Capybara are my favorite animal. When the National Zoo still had capybaras, they were in a little pen behind a short wall next to the elephants. They probably could have escaped if they really wanted to, but they were so docile they just stayed in there. They were friendly. You could pet them. Zoo staff didn’t really want you to touch them, of course, but they rarely said anything if you did. I was very sad when they were removed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=488) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=490)