Best Wildlife Experiences

[mikepam1013]

Great photos!

[ADKlvr]

Today in Syracuse

[stripperguy]

My buddy and I were both 19 years old, paddling from Old Forge to Tupper Lake. We were on the Raquette beween Buttermilk Falls and Long Lake when a black bear swam across the river, no more than 10 feet in front of us. It crossed a little island to the right, continued across the river and disappeared through the woods, heading south.

My wife, son, nephew and I were diddling around in the 1st bay on Little Tupper Lake, 3 otters, like synchronized swimmers, bobbed and drifted near us for 20 minutes.

On the little unnamed pond off Pink Pond near Long Pond, me and the kids watched 3 otters float on their backs and eat mussels.

On Long Pond, Josh and I watched for 20 minutes while an Osprey repeatedly dove for a Loon, the loon diving and hiding every time. All played out for us less than 100 yards away. Over and over and over.

Josh and I paddling on Henderson, followed along the shore by a Pine Martin. Had to look it up when we got home, never saw one before.

Had a moose cross the road directly in front of us on 28N between Vanderwacker and road to Tahawus.

''Surefooted as a mountain goat'' what a beautiful creature to see in the wild. Looncry

Originally Posted by stripperguy

My buddy and I were both 19 years old, paddling from Old Forge to Tupper Lake. We were on the Raquette beween Buttermilk Falls and Long Lake when a black bear swam across the river, no more than 10 feet in front of us. It crossed a little island to the right, continued across the river and disappeared through the woods, heading south.

My wife, son, nephew and I were diddling around in the 1st bay on Little Tupper Lake, 3 otters, like synchronized swimmers, bobbed and drifted near us for 20 minutes.

On the little unnamed pond off Pink Pond near Long Pond, me and the kids watched 3 otters float on their backs and eat mussels.

On Long Pond, Josh and I watched for 20 minutes while an Osprey repeatedly dove for a Loon, the loon diving and hiding every time. All played out for us less than 100 yards away. Over and over and over.

Josh and I paddling on Henderson, followed along the shore by a Pine Martin. Had to look it up when we got home, never saw one before.

Had a moose cross the road directly in front of us on 28N between Vanderwacker and road to Tahawus.

Lucky you Mike to see a moose....hoping to catch that one before the big black curtain comes down....I've seen their fresh tracks but never the real deal.....some day...........over the rainbow

[Peakbagr]

1. Sitting in the woods leaning against a tree. Rabbit running back and forth between the trees, up and over and back over stone fence. Eventually running right over my boots and disappearing. 5 min later an ermine, following exactly the same path the cottontail took, it too running over my boots.

2. Sitting on large fallen tree trunk and leanding against the base of the tree. Black bear jumps on the farthest out portion of the tree. Instead of it jumping down, walks the trunk toward me until he spots me about 5' away.

3. Back before bald eagles became common in NY, had an adult swoop out of a large white pine and pick up a small fish right in front of me and fly off. I was wade fishing.

4. Wade fishing in the same body of water as #3. Warm, foggy morning in Autumn. Could hear waterfowl in the fog all around me. Flock of Canadas came out of the fog flying straight at me, 3' off the water. They stopped honking, separated on either side of me, going by right next to me, the only sound their wings beating and disappeared into the fog behind me.

5. My dog, Bookah finding a fawn curled up in the ferns on a whack of Barkaboom Mt last spring. Twin fawn curled up 20' away, immobile during the commotion. The first fawn got up and curled itself around my legs, seeking protection from my barking Lab who was being pulled away by my friend.

6. Mountain Goats allowing us near them up high near Lake O'Hara in the Canadian Rockies.

7. Mother moose wading to cool off and get away from insects in a pond in Baxter St Park. We sat on the shore taking photos. In time, her two cubs waded over towards us, getting close enough to pet( we didn't) with Mom warily watching from 30' away.

8. Red tail hawk swooping down after a chipmunk that was playing around about 6' away from me in the Autumn woods. The chipmunk narrowly escaped death by diving into a hole just as the hawk went for him, talons extended.

Its been enjoyable reading the thread and bringing back to mind some of my best encounters.

[poconoron]

Amazing encounters and photos here. I couldn't resist - here's a few more of mine:

1. I have had probably 2 dozen or so black bear encounters in the woods(none of them in the High Peaks area). My son and I were hiking in the Poconos with his german shepherd and my miniature poodle. Suddenly his dog runs ahead chasing 2 cubs which we hadn't seen. Just as suddenly the mother black bear rears up and stands on 2 hind legs about 50 ft. away. We were able to see the 2 cubs make it to the safety of a nearby tree......meanwhile mama is not happy as she threatens us with these loud popping sounds and then suddenly charges. Meanwhile we are slowly backing up giving her space. The charge stops about 30 ft. away and then up on hind legs again. This time after about 20 seconds she apparently decides we are not a threat and takes off running to her cubs at the tree. Needless to say, we hightailed it out of there quick with the dogs in tow.

2. Another black bear encounter which stands out - I was going solo with my springer spaniel down a Pocono trail when I suddenly hear this furious scraping of claws on bark and looking over to my right, there is a mother bear literally sliding down a huge oak tree like a fireman would slide down a pole. When I first spotted her she was at least 35-40 ft. up and without exaggerating I believe she hit the ground in about 3 seconds (it seemed) - absolutely amazing. But while this was happening, I noticed 2 cubs near the base of that tree and all I could think was - I am in trouble.
But no sooner did she hit the ground that all 3 were running off away from me. Quite a scare though.......

3. One evening I spotted and then watched a bobcat (through binoculars)crossing the logging road ahead of me about 200 ft. away. That was the first bobcat I had seen and have seen only one since then.

4. While sitting on a huge boulder near the edge of a nice-sized clearing in the ADKs I had a big, beautiful coyote or wolf hybrid pace down the trail and sniff the air for awhile as he tested the air. I say hybrid since he was certainly bigger than coyotes I had seen - maybe 60 lbs. or so. I was able to watch him for perhaps 2 minutes before he didn't like what he scented and took off in a quick trot.

5. I had an interesting experience over North Creek in the southern ADKs in December 2009. Two LARGE birds were flying toward me, seemingly swooping or sweving in mid-air - one an immature bald eagle (although I didn't see any white coloration at all) or a golden eagle (I know- very rare in these parts), and the other a snow goose. The snow goose landed in a clearing near some woods and seemed to take refuge there until the next day when it flew off.

I'm still not sure if the eagle was a golden or immature bald - I did see it later soaring over my property and studied it for awhile through binoculars. It sure looked like a golden through the binoculars.

One time I was doing an October kayak by the entrance of Ramshorn Creek on the Hudson by the town of Catskill...A flock of snowgeese flew right over my head like I wasn't even there, headed south...

I had never seen a flock of "all white geese" before.....I'm used to the garden variety "Canada Guys".....it was quite a sight....they looked they flying in slow motion...it was beautiful.....

[Swamp Booger]

Here's some of mine:

1. A couple of years ago I was sitting in a tree stand behind my house and watched a fisher go by on the deer run I was 30 yards away from. About 15 minutes later, here comes another one, only noticeably larger. I figured the 1st was a female and 2nd a male trailing her.
2. When we arrived at our campsite at Lake Durant a few years ago, I walked down to the shoreline to scope it out and saw something on a large boulder about 50 yards out. Grabbing my binoculars, I was delighted to realize it was an otter sunning itself. It was there for about 20 minutes and then disappeared. We never saw again.
3. While sitting in a ladder stand, I had a doe walk right up and smell the bottom rungs of the stand! I was really wishing for a camera!
4. While the wife and I were paddling on Lake Kushaqua, a bald eagle few over us with something hanging from it's feet and landed in a tree not far from us. When I looked at it through my binoculars, I could see that it had a duck.
5. Fishing the Salmon River Reservoir one morning, I watched a mink making it's way along the shoreline.
6. Watched a pair of osprey catching fish and taking them back to the young in their nest while camped on Moose Pond.

[Swamp Booger]

Almost forgot about these guys who showed up in our backyard a few times a couple of summers ago. We never did see their mom.

[Swamp Booger]

And then there was these two young fox along the Sabbattis road last summer:

[Dunbar]

Forgot about this little guy. He visited me while camping in the Northern Presidentials in NH.

Always remember this ol' guy from last winter......

[rex66]

Last week in Cortland county I spotted a cougar while I was driving home in the afternoon. I did not report it because I know the DEC company line. "There are no breeding large cats....possibly an escaped one....most likely you saw a deer or a bobcat"....I only told 4 people about my sighting. I was pleased to find out over the weekend there was an article in the Auburn paper that 2 women spotted one in Cayuga county the same week. A truck driver that I work with every day informed me that another man spotted one in Cayuga county within the past 10 days.
When I first saw it I did think it was a deer until I saw the sleek stride and the unmistakably long tail. I felt a rush because I knew I may never see that again outside of a zoo.

[Chief]

I don't have many encounters that are worth sharing, but at least one certainly is. My wife and I were hiking in Banff NP on our honeymoon in September of '08. We were in Larch Valley, on our way back to Moraine Lake from Sentinel Pass. As we came around a bend in the trail, I saw a cat-like creature dart off the trail and into the shrubs. My first thought was that it was a lynx, and sure enough, it was. We looked in the direction the cat had gone as we moved up the trail and eventually were rewarded with a clear view of the beautiful creature. The lynx was sitting, still as can be, not more than 20 to 30 feet off the trail. Thankfully, I had my camera handy, so I was able to take a couple quick pictures. He (or she?) even stayed long enough for me to move to get a better shot.

Just as quickly as he came, he was gone, retreating to the cover of the woods. This moment was easily the wildlife highlight of my life. To see such a beautiful and elusive creature as clearly as we did was nothing short of awesome. It's something my wife and I will cherish forever.

[poconoron]

Fantastic shots of the lynx, Chief.

[bethfit]

Very Cool Chief!!!

Desktop fav for sure! Looncry

[Chief]

Thanks for the comments, although I really deserve very little credit. It was just an extraordinary combination of being in the right place at the right time and some incredible cooperation from an animal that is not known to cooperate (at least not in this sense of the word). Either way, I feel privileged to have had such an experience. I've never felt such a rush!

Also, thanks to everyone else for sharing their experiences. The sheer number (as well as the quantity) of wildlife encounters some of you have had makes me jealous. Oh well, just another reason to try to get out in the woods as often as possible!

[LeftRightLeft]

Originally Posted by paddlewheel

Saw this ol' boy sneaking up on my "blackberry brandy" one night by Whitney Lake.....haven't done much solo packin' after that.....

Wait, what is that?!?