Missouri, USA, in the southeastern, Ozark Mountains portion:
Birds: Besides the routine and mundane (sparrows, crows, robins, ducks, geese, doves, pigeons, etc.) I occasionally see a bald eagle (about 10 or so per year). This is a Big Deal for me, because, in elementary school in the 1970’s, one of my science textbooks predicted that the bald eagle would be extinct by the time I was an adult. Hawks, vultures, and other types of birds are a routine occurrence too.
Mammals: Whitetail deer are always jumping out in front of my car, and I’m also always dodging squirrels, rabbits, and opossums. Last fall I tore up a beaver (the mammal, not the … other interpretation), and I’ve seen the odd otter here and there. About twice per year I’ll see a fox (they’re elusive critters who prefer not to be seen), and though I hear them every night, I think I’ve seen, with my eyes, maybe 10 coyotes over the course of my life. I see bats every now and again as well, same with armadillos (which only arrived in Missouri within the past couple of decades, I’m told). The Missouri Department of Cute Critters tells me there are bears near me (I live comfortably inside the dark green in that map); I’ve never seen one and don’t care to. Ditto bobcats. A couple of counties over there are wild horses (I’ve never seen one) and re-introduced elk (never seen one).
Other critters: I couldn’t identify one species of amphibian or reptile from another, but my cats have killed lizards of various types, and I hear peep frogs whenever it’s about to rain, though I rarely see frogs. We’re awash with non-venomous (and a couple of venomous) snakes in these mountains, I see maybe one per year, which is quite enough.
Commonly seen: Mule deer, turkeys, raccoons, skunks, vultures, red-tail hawks, great blue herons, cattle egrets, Canada geese, and crows. Millions and millions of Canada geese and crows.
Somewhat commonly seen: Bald eagles, white pelicans, possums, wild boars, grey foxes, coyotes, jackrabbits, and bobcats.
Yes, across Puget Sound from Seattle. We see Orcas from our house, but rarely. Less than once per year. Last week, though, we heard them breathing and swimming by, but it was too dark to see them. Still pretty cool.
Squirrels starting to see more black ones, opposom, racoon, lots and lots of deer. Chipmunks, woodchucks (muskrats), mice, shrew, I hear bull frogs, turtles that if possible I get out of the car and move, except for snapping turtles 'cause I like my fingers. I’ve seen on wolf some years ago, a couple of fox, and a cyote at least once. Birds, geese, sparrows, crows, ravens, cow birds, blue Jays, occasionally cardinals, lots of red wing black birds, ducks, turkey, swans, pheasant, blue herron, Robin. Garder snakes, blue racers. That all I can think of. I’m in lp western Michigan.
Ok, Birds: I saw a damn buzzard in the middle of town just chillen on the side of the road. Hawks, lots of hawks. mourning doves and pigeons.
Everything indigenous creature here I’ve seen, some more than others.
I see way way too many feral hog.
They destroy any place they inhabit and should not be here anyway.
We’re in the eradication area. The state has pit traps all around our property. My husband doesn’t want one on the property. As yet he’s resisted, altho’ it’s recommended.
I saw a feral hog carcass on the side of the road, the scavengers had gotten to it pretty good but sill, that creature was YUGE and looked like he could have been quite formiddable before he met a truck or bullet or whatever killed him. We have a bad feral hog problem here in Missouri, and our government’s attitude towards the problem is basically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A few years ago it was Open Season on those beasts, until it was discovered that various jackasses were breeding them and releasing them just for the hunt, so the Department of Cute Critters put an end to that, without putting a better plan in place.
Maryland (just north of DC but surrounded by nice woodland and creeks, you’d think it was somewhere more remote)
Lots of Turkey Vultures, quite a lot of red Tailed Hawks, some Herons, Pileated Wood Peckers (they are huge!) very occasionally (maybe one or twice in the years I’ve lived here) a bald Eagle
Absolute shed load of squirrels, loads of deer. Raccoons and possums are around but don’t see them that often (we know they are there if we don’t close our trash cans properly). Occasionally I’ll see a fox. And there are a few beavers further south on the Anacostia they will occasionally come round here.
Lots of turtles of various kinds in the creeks. Also some crayfish. And a variety of snakes, including often swimming in the creek which I’d never seen before I moved here.
Finger Lakes NY, as it says in my avatar. Deer, mice, squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks all very common. My eyes aren’t good enough to identify birds well but hawks, geese, barn swallows, occasional hummingbirds, occasional turkey or duck, and a lot of miscellaneous but I think in fewer numbers than there used to be. Bats sometimes. Chipmunks, voles, opossum, raccoon. Assorted snakes, also, mostly garter or similar. Wildly assorted insects, spiders, etc. and worms. I rarely see coyote but I sure hear them a lot. An occasional bear gets reported in the general area but I’ve never seen one here, though a friend of mine some distance southwest of here does. I once saw a Big Cat, briefly, in dim light but I’m 98%sure it was feline and 100% sure it wasn’t a house cat. I didn’t get a picture of the cat but I did of their footprints in snow; I eventually sent the photo to someone who said probably a bobcat. I think there was too much tail for a bobcat but I was looking mostly at the head shape, and he might have been right; bobcat are very rare around here but the Cat of Many Names has supposedly been extinct in this area for a century.
Oh, and my neighbor says he sees fisher on the trail cameras he’s got set up in my woods. And I’m sure I’m leaving somebody out.
I have a collection of animals I claim as “mine” since they regularly show up to be fed.
I have a deer herd of two bucks, two does and four yearlings at present that show up for my apples and carrots. I could feed them by hand but I don’t.
About 8 regular squirrels show up to feed on walnuts, pecans and almonds that I throw on the ground to keep them n out of the bird feeder.
I have cardinals, blue jays, wood peckers, finches, sparrows and numerous other fine feathered friends.
Spotted a coyote the other night, seen Hawks feeding off the rabbits, wild turkeys on my back deck, ducks, geese, wood chucks, Skunk, opossum and cranes.
And I live in town, just happen to have a backyard that over looks a flood plane.
We have at least one coyote that lives nearby and rabbits use our backyard as a highway so I would classify those as “mundane” in our neighbourhood. On the other hand, I have never seen a wild turkey in Toronto and blue jays seem much less common than cardinals or red-winged blackbirds (not to mention starlings or sparrows, or ducks/geese/swans in areas near water). I have only seen foxes a handful of times, personally. Turtles, frogs and garter snakes are relatively common to spot in certain Toronto parks and once in a while I see a groundhog.
We had an opossum that would occasionally wander into our backyard until I blocked the gap in our fence that it was using to enter.
Southwest Chicago suburbia: In my yard and neighborhood, it’s gray squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, skunks, eastern cottontail rabbits, white-tail deer, red fox and coyotes for mammals. Plus evidence of various moles, voles, field mice and other small critters I rarely see actually out and about. Birds are mainly robins, house finches, goldfinches, chickadees, doves, redtail hawks, turkey vultures, redwing blackbirds, cardinals, crows, Canada geese, blue herons, the occasional blue jay, flicker and woodpecker and, unfortunately, a bunch of house sparrows and starlings. Winter time sees dark-eyed juncos in my arborvitae bushes, always a welcome sight. I’ve spotted bald eagles along the river but I wouldn’t call it routine.
We don’t really have raccoons in my neighborhood which I assume is because the opossums and skunks are already filling the same niche. They definitely live in the region and previous houses had them in the trash containers so I don’t really miss them here. Locally there’s muskrats, beaver and supposedly otters but none of those are in my neighborhood (see plenty of muskrat mounds in the local ponds though). Out in the preserves I could find garter snakes, black snakes, toads and other similar critters but, again, I don’t see them in my yard. The books and websites would claim there’s badgers in the area but I haven’t seen one out in the wild.
It’s the city, so besides the standard ferals (cats and pigeons) and invasive species (mynas and parakeets), there isn’t much here. I see a hoopoe every now and then, which is nice - they’re cool birds. Probably the biggest wild animal around is the golden jackal, which have been moving freely around the city lately. You mostly hear them howl at night, but I’ll seen them strolling around the block. They look like coyotes, only bulkier, and they leave people and pets alone.
NW Oregon, about 12 miles inland from the ocean. Clatsop County. I live in a rural area, 5 houses on the road but they are all 5 acre lots or more and several 100 yards apart. The ‘Hills’ a couple miles away are the Coast Mountains, forest, forest, forest. Timber logging is still a big part of local industry.
I have a resident herd of 30 or 40 Roosevelt Elk that pass through my yard. They are bigger than Rocky Mountain Elk most people are familiar with. They come through every few days and trample the yard, stand on their hind legs eating my apple trees, leaving coffee can size holes in the ground. In summer they come to eat the green lawn grass.
Also 4 or 5 Black Tail Deer that just hang around. They do not travel in herds.
I have a year round creek running through the property and a beaver. He is reclusive and I only see his tracks.I had a nice pear tree that must have tasted good because one day it was just gone. 4 inches thick and every bit of that tree was gone, not a stick left.
The usual migratory birds. I had a young black bear who came through a couple years ago but haven’t seen him lately. The local area is over-run with Cougars but I only see tracks and smell their piss when they spray.
A sportsman’s paradise, near the Columbia River. There is alway a salmon run coming through, guys are getting ready for Springers, upriver bright Chinooks of the highest quality. Smelt are running right now and we have a limited fishery for them. Duck and goose hunting. You could not keep up with harvesting them all, you wouldn’t have time.
