In Aus, I’ve seen plenty of 'roos, echidnas, koalas and wombats. But only ONCE have I ever spied an antechinus in the wild.
Granted, it was pretty sick and probably on its last legs (no pun intended). We were driving down a rough country road when one of my kids YELLED that he’d spotted it! Of course, I thought it was just a common mouse at first…
To be able to actually SEE one in its natural habitat was tres cool.
Ignorance Fought. I’ve leaned that “Desert Pupfish” is a distinct species of Pupfish; the population I’ve observed (as described in my first post) were in fact a different species of Pupfish. Same genus, rare, and endangered.
Not sure what counts here, I’ve been lucky enough to see things like whale sharks and sunfish in the wild.
Probably the most unusual would have been the Namaqualand Rainfrog (before they went viral).
Probably the rarest would be the Table Mountain ghost frog or the Cape micro frog.
When I was a kid, I found a tile-horned prionus. Had never seen one before, haven’t seen one since.
If rare = endangered, my favorite beach is actually a wild life refuge dedicated to protect piping plovers, so I’ve seen them bunches of times.
If we mean things we’ve only seen once or twice in the wild despite their globally non-threatened populations: indigo bunting, ermine, golden eagle (I’ve seen conflicting info about its status), scarlet tanager. I’ve only seen our state bird - the purple martin - once.
I have lived in New Hampshire for 2/3rds of my life and I’ve never seen a live moose. I’ve only seen bears a couple of times too.
And I’m unsure if I’ve ever seen an american three‐toed woodpecker - they are threatened status here, and the females look a lot like one of our more plentiful woodpeckers. I’m certain I’ve never seen a male as the yellow feathers would be a dead giveaway.
The little fish that only live in the “Devils Hole National Monument”
Since I have no picture, the 4 winged duck can be disbelieved at will.
I’ve seen a pair of Oryx in New Mexico, just outside White Sands Missile Range. They are not native but they are wild - they were introduced to the are by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish in the 70s for people to hunt.
Way cool.
If a fella did not know that they were brought in and wakes up after a drinking night, he could get a bit cornfused if one of those wanders through camp.
One job I had, my cube was next to a window that overlooked the back of the property the building was on. The property backed up to a creek with a small wild(ish) area (trees, undergrowth, etc.).
One morning, I looked out the window to see a bobcat strolling the lawn that abutted the creek/woods. While bobcats are not what I would call “unusual,” it was certainly unusual to see one in an area that I considered “city.”
I would say that “unusual” is defined by something you don’t normally see. Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park are common as grass, but I haven’t seen them elsewhere. I’ve never seen a bobcat in the wild, so that would certainly be unusual for me, and I suspect for most people.
The other night I saw a fox run out from Camp Randall (the Badgers football stadium) and then turn around and run back in. Fox – not so unusual. One living in a football stadium downtown – pretty fucking unusual.
Nothing all that rare, but for unusual, my top sighting is a Roseate Spoonbill, which I saw on a swamp tour in Louisiana last summer.
Also, egrets, I saw a few…
But then again, too few to mention.
you saw this?
Cool!
The rarest thing I’ve seen recently was a bluebird. First one I’ve ever seen in my neighborhood in forty years. That made me happy a couple days ago.
I’ve seen lotsa wildlife but none of it was rare for the locale. Including our neighborhood cougar.
Rarest local animal I ever saw was a Tiger Salamander. Before seeing it I had no idea any salamanders even lived around here. It was a cool, rainy autumn night and it was outside the front door in some wet leaves. I’ve never even heard anyone around here mention seeing one.
Rarest local animal I’ve seen was a California Giant Salamander, long ago on a rainy hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not only was this creature maybe 10 - 11" long, but it was in the middle of eating a California Banana Slug (which are common here) nearly as large as that. A red letter day, that was.
I just came back from a trip where I saw about a dozen Channel Island Fox, on Santa Cruz Island. Each island has its own subspecies.
A fox is so fun to watch… Glad you saw it.
Mountain lion, on the trail just 20 yards in front of me while hiking in the hills not far from my home. They aren’t terribly rare, but not many people have seen one in the wild. It took me over a month to hike those trails without looking over my shoulders from time to time (I hike there a few times a week).