I love where I live

[Leon]

As I was just sitting in my home office looking at what Topps to price next, I saw a bobcat running in our front yard with a squirrel dangling in his mouth. He was just trotting along.
I love seeing wildlife and wish there were more. As for the squirrel, we have a huge overpopulation of them so thinning them out helps them. We also have an abundance of rabbits and my guess is they taste better than the squirrels so the bobcats get them too. Another cool morning....

[RichardSimon]

I love where I live too.
But I do take at least one nice trip every year and seeing wildlife is usually one of my goals on these trips. From Maine to Alaska to Vancouver BC I have seen a lot.
But I still would not want to live anywhere but NYC.
We even have whale watching here now.

[bnorth]

Squirrels and rabbits are both good on the grill.

I also really like where I live. The small town out in the middle of nowhere is very nice. Have lived/worked all over the US but always seem to come back here.

Now though we are considering moving out to the Oregon coast because of the weather. We are getting older the extremes are getting pretty old. Can easily be 100 in the summer and -20 in the winter. Those difference seem to be coming and going a lot faster now.

[rjackson44]

leon I have a big place ,deer ,bear ,foxes,you name it .I sit on my deck in the morning with my dog its real cool man .

[grainsley]

Agree, it is much nicer to look at than traffic. Here in Powell River, B.C., the wilderness is literally our back yard... only 10 blocks away. Consequently we gets lots of deer trimming our gardens, and a couple of mornings ago a relatively large black bear moseyed up the street....has been a tough couple of years for them, so they have come into town looking for garbage to survive on. Unfortunately many people are stupid and leave their garbage out, so the bears get used to people as a food source. As a result, quite a number get shot by Conservation Officers when they become TOO brave. Get the odd cougar venturing into town as well. We look at the ocean, so see orcas. humpbacks, and dolphins quite regularly.......and sea lions and seals every day.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

I love where I live too.
But I do take at least one nice trip every year and seeing wildlife is usually one of my goals on these trips. From Maine to Alaska to Vancouver BC I have seen a lot.
But I still would not want to live anywhere but NYC.
We even have whale watching here now.

I wish I'd known about the whale watching when I lived there. I did see a coyote running down 42nd Street as I walked to Grand Central one evening.

[bbcard1]

Checking in from Virginia's Blue Ridge along the Appalachian Trail. I don't think I'd trade it. I live in the suburbs of a nice sized town with plenty of arts and culture, but still often see a deer on my morning walk. Rumor has it there's a bear in the neighborhood these days.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

I wish I'd known about the whale watching when I lived there. I did see a coyote running down 42nd Street as I walked to Grand Central one evening.

Whale watching started in NY in 2013.
I go several times a year.
Departing from Riis Landing, Breezy Point in Rockaway, NY

[familytoad]

My home away from home is Mt St Helens (yes the one who blew up
My camera is full of pictures from my weekend getaway.
I'll be there again in about 42 hours , but who's counting...
The mountain is less than an hour away, but I stare at it from my upstairs windows every day.

The attached was actually taken in mid February this year, a mild winter !

[irv]

Was just woken up a couple weeks ago to a very strong smell of skunk urine!!

It was just after mid-night and the smell was overwhelming!

I went outside and immediately heard what I thought was a raccoon climbing my fence and my neighbors shed.
It startled me so I reached back inside and turned on the outside light to see a huge owl (great horned I believe?) fly up to my neighbor's eave trough.

It was dark so I wasn't able to see the skunk innards until the morning, but there they were, just sitting there waiting to be picked up! (Yuck!!)

On my way back into the house with the gut bag in hand, out of the corner of my right eye, I see a skunk laying in my wife's flower bed! It looked like it dived bombed in there as no flowers were flattened? I retrieved a shovel as I wasn't entirely sure it was dead, but sure enough it was.
I then grabbed the tail and pulled it only to see the head completely missing??

The rest of the skunk was all there, only the head was missing so I guess Mr Owl got 2 that night, which would explain the overwhelming skunk smell.


I took these pics a couple years ago ( I live in the city but close to some woods) and I snowmobile in the country which is only about 15-20 minutes away.
First is a large, unidentified bird/hawk which landed in our neighbor's tree. Any idea what kind of bird this is?

This deer pic was taken just off a snowmobile trail I frequent that is owned by the man (Bill Lishman) based on the movie "Fly away home" (Great movie, especially for the kids) in Port Perry Ontario.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui9th4nhvoY

I love the country and being outdoors. Just wish I actually lived there instead of the city!.

[herbc]

Originally Posted by irv

I took these pics a couple years ago ( I live in the city but close to some woods) and I snowmobile in the country which is only about 15-20 minutes away.
First is a large, unidentified bird/hawk which landed in our neighbor's tree. Any idea what kind of bird this is?

It looks like a Red-Tailed Hawk.
I live in New York City, but I do have visitors who like to peek in my window.
Picture taken late Winter/early Spring, through my Living Room window.

[RichardSimon]

Nice pic Herb, those red tailed hawks are great.
I have had some close encounters with them in Central Park, always a great sight.

[bnorth]

We have Red Tailed Hawks here also. A few yeas ago I was out playing a round of golf by myself. I sat down on the bench at hole 6 to take a smoke break and watch the gophers play near the back of the tee box. Then all of a sudden they took off for their holes and a hawk grabbed one just as it went into a hole. I just sat and watched from about 10 yards as the hawk struggled for about 5 minutes before it got the gopher pulled out of the hole. I thought it was very cool to watch.

[irv]

Originally Posted by herbc

It looks like a Red-Tailed Hawk.
I live in New York City, but I do have visitors who like to peek in my window.
Picture taken late Winter/early Spring, through my Living Room window.

Thanks!

What I was thinking as well but being mostly white, I wasn't sure?

Great pic of the one outside your window!

Originally Posted by bnorth

We have Red Tailed Hawks here also. A few yeas ago I was out playing a round of golf by myself. I sat down on the bench at hole 6 to take a smoke break and watch the gophers play near the back of the tee box. Then all of a sudden they took off for their holes and a hawk grabbed one just as it went into a hole. I just sat and watched from about 10 yards as the hawk struggled for about 5 minutes before it got the gopher pulled out of the hole. I thought it was very cool to watch.

With that owl hanging around, I am now more than paranoid to let my cat out in the morning!

Great Horned Owls love skunks I read, but they will also take down raccoons and porcupines so my cat would be no trouble for it.
I am usually up and out around 5:30am but I won't let my cat outside until I have my coffee in hand. I make some coughing noise, shuffle the lawn chair around etc when I do go out in hopes, if he is still hanging around, he will buzz off!
They mostly hunt around midnight so that is reassuring, but I think if they are hungry enough, they will hunt until they are fed.

I haven't seen it since and I did see another skunk the other morning, so hopefully he has flown the coop?!?!

Kittitas County, Washington - Probably the best kept secret in the lower 48. From the Cascade Mountains to the Columbia River the entire county is very rural, five minutes in any direction and you are in the middle of nowhere. My home is in Ellensburg, but during the summers I spend the majority of time at the families dry cabin in Teanaway. Winter and summer activities are plentiful; hunting, hiking, fishing, snowmobiling, X-country skiing. Lots of wildlife; the Teanaway Wolf Pack, cougars, brown bears, deer, elk, trout, bass, and salmon. Gorgeous flora; from temperate rain forest to shrub steppe, a personal favorite is berry-picking blackberries, salmon berries, and huckleberries. The beauty is only surpassed by the diversity. Far more trails than roads.

[familytoad]

Ty,
I agree that Kittitas is amazing!

I just spent the week on the road, heading to the Grand Coulee Dam area, but first went to Okanogan, via Ellensburg (only time to stop for gas there, not a visit)
Some great scenery in that county, I'd love to enjoy it further some day soon!

Overall, for those of you who haven't explored the NW...you are missing more than you could ever imagine. Give it a try and you just might not want to leave!

[the 'stache]

I'm with you, Leon. You're in Plano, iirc. I'm in Flower Mound, so about twenty minutes away from ya. While our city is nearing, what, 75k now, there's still plenty of incredible wildlife close by. We had a bobcat in our backyard about a month ago. We have pretty tall fences, and he leapt from the grass to the top of the fence like it was nothing. Pretty impressive. Occasionally, we'll have a coyote running down the street. It's the damnest thing. Then again, we are being invaded by bunnies right now. They're everywhere. I've been going out late at night/early morning for walks, trying to make my knee stronger, and I see at least 15-20 bunnies every time I go out.

The best part about living here, though, are the birds. Our backyard is Eden. Lots of robins (which I missed after moving from Wisconsin. Such sociable little birds), cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds...all varieties of birds. Plenty of geese and ducks, too.

Originally Posted by Leon

As I was just sitting in my home office looking at what Topps to price next, I saw a bobcat running in our front yard with a squirrel dangling in his mouth. He was just trotting along.
I love seeing wildlife and wish there were more. As for the squirrel, we have a huge overpopulation of them so thinning them out helps them. We also have an abundance of rabbits and my guess is they taste better than the squirrels so the bobcats get them too. Another cool morning....

[clydepepper]

I'm very jealous of all you gentlemen, especially those who can whale watch!

I got ducks, squirrels and carp - and the first two just do not care where they crap!