Wildlife sighting.

[Doofy]

I just saw two moose.

I'm guessing male and female going by size.

Neither had antlers, but the biggest one was defenitly a good size.

They were standing in an open field.

I was able to pull up within a 100 yards, they just stoood and watched me then ambled off into the bush.

I really luv seeing wildlife. I've seen thousands of deer and antelope, but this makes 4 and 5 moose that I've seen outside a zoo.

It completely made my day.

[Xmasjoy]

One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen was ... many many years ago, whilst traveling in a Greyhound Bus, we passed a wooded area, and then a clearing. There was a grassy hill in view, and right at the very top, standing there like a carved statue, was an enormous stag (I believe) with huge antlers, his backdrop was just the sky, and he was Magnificent, the image has stayed with me all these years (about 45yrs). Nothing more beautiful than nature in the wild ... Joy.

[krisinluck]

A few springs back, a just waking from hibernation bear was rooting around in a not yet planted corn field south of town. The traffic was lined up both sides of the highway as people pulled over and watched. He/she was maybe 50 yards from the highway, and completely uninterested in the people watching and photographing her.

That was pretty cool.

[Kandi]

On 150, just coming from Missouri into the Leawood/Kansas area, there is a field under a bridge. You can often see deer there. Many deer. I love looking around to see them.

Many years ago, when Funny Face was 16 (she's 24 now) you could come down the road towards my house in Helena, AL and see a huge buck (12 point or better) standing on the side of the road. I always looked out for him when I turned off the main drag, just before my road. He was always standing on the right, grazing. Incredible buck. I always wonder if he's still alive. He should be as there are no hunting management areas near there. I still go down that road to see my son. I'll look for him next week.

[paleryder]

I just saw two moose.

How bout Sarah Pailin? She could have been nearby!

:1jester:

[kim]

- scary moose scarey moose thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening...!

:KaoC010:

[krisinluck]

Deer became normal for me when we moved here.

The house (where I no longer live) is along a state highway, set back off the road with tons of trees, including an apple tree near the highway. Before we got Oreo, we had deer in our yard year round. Sometimes, I could get within twenty feet of them before they would dart away.

But the coolest thing was the year the apple tree had an abundance of fruit. For about a week or more, we had deer around that tree all the time. It was just before the rut started. One evening during "rush" hour, we had six deer munching away at fallen apples, and two good sized bucks laying beneath the tree. It caused some slowdown on the highway! We didn't dare venture close enough to get photos; humans walking down the driveway would have sent them scattering - likely into the highway.

Once we got the dog, the deer pretty much stopped coming around. Before that, they used to come right up into the yard, almost to the house. One year we had a doe and her twins that practically lived in our yard. When rut started, we had a snow and the fawns were five feet from the front door, wandering around like "WTF and where is mom, anyway?"

Speaking of deer...tomorrow starts the gun season. Ten days of blaze orange and dead deer hanging out the tailgates of pickup trucks. Ugh.

[thebigkahooouna]

As tasteful as that may seem Kris,in all reality,if they werent hunted
a lot of them would starve to death :(

[krisinluck]

Oh, I know. I do know.

It just makes me sad when I get stuck behind a truck with that dead deer staring at me while the blood drips down the highway.

Hell, I say a little prayer when I pass road kill.

Speaking of which, I saw the saddest thing on Wednesday morning. I was headed up to Hinckley where I had a job, and as I went through the town just north of here I noticed something on the side of the road. First I thought it was rubber from a blown tire. It wasn't. It was a black dog, that had been hit, and another black dog, sleeping beside it. Absolutely trashed me for the day. I don't understand why people let their dogs run loose, even in these rural areas, especially if they live near a state highway. Broke my heart.

[Doofy]

I know exacly what your saying Kris.

Every farm here has at least one if not several dogs and they all run loose.

DW's family lost there dog that way. It would run down to meet the school bus, and one day it ran in front of the bus when it wasn't stopping.

They of course blame the bus driver, I always keep my mouth shut but I don't agree.

I see them all the time, dogs crouched in the ditch ready to spring up and chase cars. You know their time on this earth is limited, and you wonder why the owners don't do anything.

[krisinluck]

What got me so bad about this was the dead dog's buddy sleeping there. Like keeping watch. Broke my heart.

I see too many dead animals on the road here. And the ex can't figure out why I go batshit when I go by the house and see my dog off her lead. *head desk* I told him the next time, I'm calling the shelter and explaining the situation. I'd rather let her go to a new family who will take care of her than worry all the time I'm going to find her on the road.

[Kandi]

I never knew Rabbits will eat bird seed 'til recently. The wild ones living under the Tiki Hut have come out and eat at the ground feeders I put out for the birds. I'm also shocked that three female American Goldfinches are staying in the area for winter. All the other finches, males included, have left.

[mewsicmama]

- scary moose scarey moose thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening...!



You forgot the "Can you do the fandango part" .....

Very funny!

I am extremely protective of my animals. Especially now that I have a puppy in addition to the two adults. Picture this: a siberian husky/chihuahua mix. He's about 7 pounds, 4 months old and absolutely loved beyond belief.

[Doofy]

Picture this: a siberian husky/chihuahua mix.

Part of me is fearful for the poor chihuahua female being mounted by a huge male siberian, the other part is laughing at a male chihuahua standing on three phone books doing his best to service a siberian female.

Ever hear the monkey/elephant joke?

[toke]

How cool is this??? :) Didn't seem like it merited a new thread so stuck it here...

NY couple, trucker help injured butterfly migrate - AP

Nov 20th, 2008 | LAKE LUZERNE, N.Y. -- A monarch butterfly has a chance at completing its species' famed migration to central Mexico thanks to some tiny cardboard splints, a bit of contact cement and a trucker from Alabama.

The insect's broken wing was painstakingly splinted by an upstate New York couple who then helped it hitch a ride south after the weather in the southern Adirondacks turned cold.

About three weeks ago, Jeannette Brandt was out for a bike ride in rural Hadley when she spied the injured butterfly and took it home in her emptied water bottle.

She and her partner, Mike Parwana, fed it rotting pears and water mixed with honey from bees they keep. The butterfly fattened but the question remained: What about the broken wing?

A search of the Internet turned up a nine-minute video demonstration posted by the Live Monarch Foundation, a nonprofit group from Boca Raton, Fla., on how to fix a broken butterfly wing. A little contact cement on the wing, some tiny cardboard splints, and the bruised butterfly was back in business.

"It was still weak. It was another week or so before it would fly," Parwana told the Post-Star newspaper of Glens Falls.

On Sunday, the couple took the healed monarch in a shoebox to Scotty's, a popular and busy truck stop about 35 miles north of Albany. Anybody looking for company on the trip south?

"And all these truckers looked down at their shoes," Parwana told the newspaper. "If you ever want to feel strange, walk into Scotty's and just put it out there that you want them to take a box south."

Eventually, a trucker from Alabama, on his way to Florida, raised his hand.

On Tuesday, the trucker called: The butterfly was loose in Florida with its mended wing.

Salon provides breaking news articles from the Associated Press as a service to its readers, but does not edit the AP articles it publishes.