# Today in nature I saw **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854 "2020-07-20T18:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/241 "2020-10-07T18:59:51Z")
I caught a hedgehog in my yard. He was pretty calm. I initially thought he must have been someone’s pet, so I took him inside to figure out what to do. After a little Googling, I realized they are common in the wild around here. He was just a normal feral hedgehog. How awesome is that! I gave him some food and sent him back on his way. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/242 "2020-10-07T19:02:09Z")
I was walking by the overgrown pond behind our subdivision when I saw a groundhog right at the edge of the water. He looked at me for a moment and turned and ran off surprisingly quickly. The pond also has quite a few red winged blackbirds who get stirred up when I walk past. They’re cool to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/243 "2020-10-07T20:51:01Z")
We’ve been in the New Forest and on the Solent for a couple of days, so this is “recently” rather than today. Saw lots of Little Egrets including - and this is a first - three perched in a tree. Now, Little Egrets are not uncommon - indeed, I’ve heard them jokingly referred to as the national bird of Cornwall - but they are an interesting story. Twenty odd years ago a few of them at a couple of locations in the south of England was Big News. Now, we see them all the time - there’s global warming for you. Library picture: ![TQ5804 :: Little Egret on ash tree, Polegate, near to Polegate, East Sussex, Great Britain by nick macneill](https://s3.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/82/03/2820319_c3cb38d2_120x120.jpg) j ETA - that’s come out rather odd - sorry 'bout that - here’s the original link: [Little Egret on ash tree, Polegate © nick macneill :: Geograph Britain and Ireland](https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2820319) ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/244 "2020-10-08T05:43:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A giant-ass planarian. > [https://youtu.be/b9Y1L6uRMRc](https://youtu.be/b9Y1L6uRMRc) That is easily 30 times larger than any planarian I have ever seen… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/245 "2020-10-08T08:42:43Z")
You ain’t lyin’ **Kron** that fucker was looooo o o oooong. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/246 "2020-10-08T12:28:35Z")
It reminded me of the Star Destroyer in the opening scene of Star Wars. I’m pretty sure it is one of these: > **[Bipalium kewense](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipalium_kewense)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Bipalium kewense is a species of large predatory land planarian with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is sometimes referred to as a "hammerhead flatworm" due to its half-moon-shaped head, but this name is also used to refer to other species in the subfamily Bipaliinae. > Bipalium kewense is a very long land planarian. Preserved specimens are up to 20 centimetres in length, and living specimens may be longer. [https://www.backyardnature.net/n/a/planaria.htm](https://www.backyardnature.net/n/a/planaria.htm) [https://www.americanscientist.org/article/invasion-of-the-flatworms](https://www.americanscientist.org/article/invasion-of-the-flatworms) I’ve seen five more in the same area since then. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/247 "2020-10-08T13:59:05Z")
Serious about what? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/248 "2020-10-08T14:41:15Z")
Pretty sure it was intended as “Are you serious? A wild creature eats from your hand? How cool!” Your chipmunk story! Chippy! ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/249 "2020-10-08T14:52:07Z")
I wasn’t being snarky! I just wasn’t sure which part Dung\_Beetle was asking about - the chipmunk eating from my hand or that we’ve had chipmunks for 40 years all named Chippy! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/250 "2020-10-08T15:05:23Z")
@purplehorseshoe got it. 🙂 I just can’t believe they actually come to you like that. We don’t have chipmunks in Florida and the ones I’ve seen in the wild are so fast and skittish I couldn’t even take a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/251 "2020-10-08T17:24:37Z")
One time I was hand-feeding a squirrel at a state park. But I just had a handful of trail mix or something in the palm of my hand. The squirrel got nervous reaching way into my hand and in a panic bit down on the end of a finger. I was taking photos at the time, my only regret was not getting a shot of it momentarily dangling from my hand as I lifted it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/252 "2020-10-08T17:43:47Z")
In the parking lot of the office building where I work, there were two [sandhill cranes](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/id) taking a stroll this afternoon. I’ve seen this pair before, but never so close…I walked within twenty feet of them as I came back from my car. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/253 "2020-10-08T17:45:26Z")
I’ve known 3 people who had squirrels outside that would eat from their hands. All three eventually stopped hand feeding after getting bitten. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/254 "2020-10-08T19:09:25Z")
I was just driving in to our cabin and an osprey flew overhead carrying a fish in its talons. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/255 "2020-10-08T19:22:04Z")
Two adult [coots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot) and two cootlings swimming around/waddling around the pond at the tiny park by my house. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/256 "2020-10-09T14:08:17Z")
It only took one evening to get him to come into my hand. He has mistaken my fingertip for a peanut a couple of times but he has never bitten hard. Sometimes when my husband is in the garage, Chippy will run up to him and sit like a dog begging! ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/257 "2020-10-09T14:10:30Z")
I saw a pair of sandhill cranes strutting around the side of the road when I was driving to my mom’s cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. I did a doubletake! I’d never seen a bird that big in our area. They didn’t even look real. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/258 "2020-10-09T14:25:11Z")
Saw a blue heron on my walk with the dog this morning ---
**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:** [October 9, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/259 "2020-10-09T14:38:07Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Saw a blue heron on my walk with the dog this morning. Great Blue Herons stop at our pond and eat some of our fish every so often. When they fly off, they look like prehistoric flying dinosaurs in the air. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/260 "2020-10-09T14:51:54Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Paging @burpo_the_wonder_mutt come in **burps** requesting status update. > > How is the spider doing? My hands are trembling from squick: Mama Banana Spider has spun **TWO** egg sacs in the corner between the house and the lanai. It was fast. They are each about 1" diameter and look very formidable; Sigourney Weaver and her flame thrower would have little impact. I may have to move. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=14)