Craziest/coolest Animal

[Tuckahoe Joe]

i know some of you guys are from some pretty rugged parts of the country. i was just curious about some of the other wildlife you've come upon (or has come upon you) while out fishing. ive seen a few beaver swimming by and a turtle that had to be the size of a trash can lid but nothing too uncommon or dangerous. here in MD we've got like 3 poisonous snake species but i haven't seen any. i know my story is kind of ho-hum but im sure some of you have had some interesting expieriences.

[Sam]

Beavers

Otters

Racoons

Turkeys

Eagles

Osprey

Deer

Water Mossicans

Water snakes

Copperheads

Ducks

Geese

Cormorants

Sea Gulls

Buzzards

All kinds of birds

Turtles

Snapping Turtles

Otters

Dogs

All I can think of at this time.

All have left me alone.

[Sam]

Interesting experiences:

Eagles - Mother eagle teaching her two young chicks to fly.

Water Moccasins - Striking the boat as we passed by but he did not try to get into the boat.

Osprey - In wind and rain mother Osprey was holding her chick next to a buoy sign in their nest.

Eagles - Dove into the water and snagged a fish but had to drop it when she could not clear some trees.

Water Snake - While in an empty boat house waiting for rain to stop, water snake swam by and about five minutes he swam by again with a sunfish in his mouth.

Copperhead - Big one sunning himself on a rock. We left him alone and he left us alone.

Deer - Swimming across the James River.

Racoon - Baby racoon laying in the grass waiting for his mother.

[kylek]

In a recent tournament we had a dead deer float by us across the lake. It was not on a huge lake and we could see something coming our way. It wasn't until it got really close that we realized what it was. That is by far the craziest thing I have seen.

[Bassin' gal]

Same as Sam except no otters, osprey or beavers so far. By far the coolest is seeing a bald eagle. It takes my breath every time.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

sam - sounds like you've seen a lot of cool stuff. im sure ill see more once ive spent some more time on the water.

kyle - definitly wasn't expecting to hear that when i posted this but i think 'dead deer floating by' takes the cake when it comes to crazy

bassin' gal - ive seen a bald eagle before but not while fishing. i was walking my dog on these trails by the gunpowder river in MD and it kinda swooped in front of us. it was awesome. i almost didn't believe it.

[A-Jay]

The north woods of Michigan is home to a decent collection of birds, reptiles, amphibians and furry mammals.

The only thing I don't want to bump into is a black bear, and there's a few around.

They are usually seeing you Way before you see them and they will avoid people at least around here.

Only came across one in the last 5 years but that was enough.

A Zero Dark Thirty meeting at boat ramp pretty far off the beaten path - I don't know who was more surprised, me or Yogi but I may have needed clean fishing pants.

A-Jay

[slonezp]

Beavers, otters, deer, fox, coyotes, eagles, herons and other birds, non poisonous snakes, we have a flock of pelicans every spirng I have no Idea what they are doing in northern IL. If you have never seen a swan up close, they are tremendous birds. Ran into moose and bear in Canada, and gators in FL and SC

[tomustang]

i know some of you guys are from some pretty rugged parts of the country. i was just curious about some of the other wildlife you've come upon (or has come upon you) while out fishing. ive seen a few beaver swimming by and a turtle that had to be the size of a trash can lid but nothing too uncommon or dangerous. here in MD we've got like 3 poisonous snake species but i haven't seen any. i know my story is kind of ho-hum but im sure some of you have had some interesting expieriences.

Other humans

[clayton86]

nothing out of the ordinary really but I did see a Raccoon and woodchuck(groundhog) have a battle royal one spring it was sweet the chuck kicked the raccoon arse.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Snakes, spiders, birds, we hooked a lake sturgeon a few months ago. That was the coolest fish/animal I had seen in a long while.

Seen all kinds of friendly furry forest creatures, when I've been out and about. Except chipmunks there is nothing friendly about those evil little rodents. Especially if you try to pet one.

[tipptruck1]

I have seen the basic woodland animals. Never seen a black bear or a wolf. A black bear from time to time will stroll in to town. I guess there is a whole lot of wolves in the state. Since the DNR is allowing a hunting season for them now.

Raider, Thanks for the laugh. I shoot all rodents on site. No way I would have gotten close enough to it to pet it.

[GoneFishi'n]

Me, my dad, and my brother had a deer swim across the swamp and get eaten by and alligator and 2 minutes later a huge black bear got in the water and stared at the alligator when it came back up. Posted pictures like 2 months ago. Just look at the fishing trip part of the forums and you will find them. Or just look at my posts.

[Jake P]

Nutria and ALOT of moccasins this spring right before it hit the hundreds.....1 Liger. Its pretty much my favorite animal.

[guitarkid]

Nutria and ALOT of moccasins this spring right before it hit the hundreds.....1 Liger. Its pretty much my favorite animal.

there what you did, I see

BTW did your crapperware ever come in?

back on topic: I bank fish mostly, so

alligater snapping turtles

geese (I HATE those things)

water snakes

-gk

[Tuckahoe Joe]

nice. all very cool. no bears around here. possibly in western MD but not sure. seen chipmunks before but never tried to pet one. sounds like a good way to get a small chunk taken out of your finger.

gone fishin' - all i can say is wow. thats nuts. checked out the pics. would have been awesome if you had some video.

packman - what are nutria? arent they like some kind of rat? i could be mistaken

guitar kid - my dad caught a big snapper on a trout line once when he was crabbing. he was dipping crabs and then all of a sudden up comes this huge snapping turtle. my dad just dipped it and flipped it up into the front of the boat. i was only like 5 or 6 so at the time i was completly amazed at a turtle that size.

[guitarkid]

I know what you mean, there is a HUGE alligater snapper in my pond.

-gk

[Fish Chris]

Alright.....

So say you are fishing in Cali, from the shore, right before dark...... when suddenly, you have one of these guys run up and bite you on the @$$ !

That might get your attention pretty quick, huh ? LOL

Got to watch out for the Mandrils

Peace,

Fish

[Jake P]

nice. all very cool. no bears around here. possibly in western MD but not sure. seen chipmunks before but never tried to pet one. sounds like a good way to get a small chunk taken out of your finger.

gone fishin' - all i can say is wow. thats nuts. checked out the pics. would have been awesome if you had some video.

packman - what are nutria? arent they like some kind of rat? i could be mistaken

guitar kid - my dad caught a big snapper on a trout line once when he was crabbing. he was dipping crabs and then all of a sudden up comes this huge snapping turtle. my dad just dipped it and flipped it up into the front of the boat. i was only like 5 or 6 so at the time i was completly amazed at a turtle that size.

Nutria is a beaver like rodent. Ugly as hell.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

fish chris - you are joking right? if not its a heck of a story. hope you got a rabies shot afterwards

[Bankbeater]

This happened to a friend of my Dad's a couple of years ago. They were out fishing from the bank when a fawn came up to my Dad's friend and started trying to get into his coat pocket. The only thing they could think of was that people had been feeding it, and the fawn was no longer afraid of people.

[Gatorbassman]

One day while wading a creek for trout in North Georgia I had about a 4 ft timber rattle snake swim between my legs. It still gives me chills to think about it.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Im sure it was neat for them to get that close to the fawn but it sucks that it was so unwary. Definitly sounds like people had been feeding it and thats never a good thing. Ive never seen any poisonous snakes. Mostly garter and ratsnakes. The only one i have to worry about is the copperhead. Timber rattler is primarily northwestern MD.

[Redlinerobert]

We saw a bobcat at the new place about a month ago on the driveway. About the size of a lab. The coolest thing I've seen was a jaguar swimming across the amazon on one of my trips south.

[J Francho]

Mountain lions.....