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FishSeeker
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2015 05:29pm
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Reading through the different threads I've seen a lot of the answers I'm looking for so I thought I'd start a new one to put them in one place. One of the favorite things my wife and I enjoy when we are at our property is observing the wildlife. I like to hear what kinds of wildlife others see at theirs.
Our cabin is on the Cascade River in the North Cascades of western Washington. In the river and creek we have King and Coho salmon, Steelhead, Dolly Vardon, Rainbow trout and every odd year a huge run of Pink salmon (Humpies), one of the ugliest fish you'll see when they are in spawning stage. We see deer, coyotes, bald eagles, redtail hawks, turkey vultures, red wing blackbirds, stellar jays, red breasted sapsuckers, Douglas and Western Gray squirrels and many other small birds we haven't identified yet. We're in Black Bear country but I haven't seen any yet.
So we keep a couple different books handy of the wildlife in our area to help identify different species, especially the birds because there's so many different kinds. We keep a log of what we see and when we're seeing it. I also always have a camera handy which helps to compare pictures in the books and it's also fun to put a little photo album together for guests to look through when they're visiting. And I always put a camera in my pocket when we take a walk or I take a ride on the ATV out in the woods. Don't want to miss those shots.
I look forward to seeing what you all are seeing at your place. If you have photos that would be great to see. When I get time I'll edit this post with some of mine. Enjoy nature.
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neb
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2015 08:02pm
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Mule deer, whitetail deer, turkey, coyotes, bobcat, pheasants, all kinds of birds, red tail hawks, owls, bald/golden eagles, porcupines, fox, squirrels and grouse. I'm on the river so many kinds of fish. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2015 08:07pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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At my place near Lassen National Park in the Northern California Sierras I occasionally see what are either coyotes or grey foxes, probably both. Hard to tell apart. There is a covey of quail in the area that I have seen only once. There are two varieties of quail around here, the mountain quail is the less common. Not sure which they are. Tracks in the snow betray rabbits, coons, skonkers, rats, bobcats, lions and of course deer.
Every year I hear a pair of great horned owls, may be the same pair, I think they mate for life. Bald eagles are sighted around here frequently.
Pine Martins and Fishers used to be common this far south but are quite rare now. Some beaver in the higher lakes.
If you go swimming in the creek the crawdads will bite your toes either out of spite or curiosity.
I saw flock of over 50 wild turkeys once- bunched together as they ran across the ground, they looked like a river of feathers.
Though we do not get rain for 6 months, toads survive on my waterless parcel. They love it when I come and spill water for them in the summer.
Though the common red fox is far from endangered and present all over North America, here in the Lassen area a highly endangered sub species lives called the Sierra Red Fox. About the size of a house cat they live above 5000 feet all year round. There is a population in Lassen Park and a few elsewhere. They used to be so common that stranded travelers on the high mountain snow would eat them to survive. I think my place is too low but I'll keep my eye out.
Though mountain lions live thru most of the state, there are more up here. With the milder winters the deer are staying higher in altitude and the lions stay with them, so there have been more in my area thru the year than usual. Two years ago nine lions were killed by locals in one season as attacks on livestock have increased and someone's puppy was snatched off a porch. My neighbor has small kids and he's seen lion tracks in the snow 50 feet from his house, so he got a Great Pyrrenes sheepdog, a big nocturnal predator guard.
I've found bear poop on my place, they come for my neighbors fruit in fall, and one year one was shot 2 miles from my place for going after someone's sheep.
Then there's the Bigfoot sightings. Not sure what to do with that.
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AK Seabee
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:16pm
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Moose, black bear, porcupine, squirrel, shrews, marten, eagles, raven, grouse, hare, coyote, owls and two ermine living under the cabin. I have also observed brownbear tracks in the mud next to the cabin and lynx and wolf tracks in the snow. Twice a year we see caribou as they migrate although I have been told some stay all year.
Within easy distance there are chinook and sockeye salmon, lake trout, grayling and burbot. The kings and reds run in the rivers and spawn in nearby lakes.
On the trip to the cabin we sometimes see sheep as well. All in all and depending on the season ok wildlife viewing.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:48pm
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well we tried to sleep in this morning.
i heard a squirrel making so much noise over and over.i was like now i know why i want to shoot the little boogers.
then i saw the shadow of some big bird swoop down and i never heard mr.squirrel anymore.
we have had a bob cat on our house.
we have had a cougar running thru our woods.
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MtnManDan
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2015 08:15pm
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Our cabin is only 1/8 done...but weekend visits and camping trips we have seen Golden Eagle, Elk, Deer, Snowshoe Hare(Freaked us out running by) and various Colorado high altitude animal prints including Bobcat. Our main attraction (unseen) is a Black Bear that has a napping bed next to our creek not much more than 100 feet from cabin location. We see his/her prints, and the day bed has been altered. How long ago the bed was made we do not know...been there since we bought the land (1997).
Cannot wait to stay up on a more regular basis!
Bear_Bed.jpg
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BearBedAltered.jpg
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2015 08:19pm
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Moose, grizzlies, black bear, wolves, cougar, bobcat, white tail deer, mule deer, turkey, coyotes, grouse, and all the typical small varmints, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, bats etc.
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Bzzzzzt
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2015 09:18pm
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We see a lot of the stuff mentioned above at our cabin: Deer, Coyotes, Armadillos, Opossums, Racoons, Squirrels, Chipmunks, Crows, Owls, and other feathered creatures. We have seen 1 red fox, 1 turkey and 1 bobcat. Last year we put up a bat house and just last weekend we discovered guano underneath of it and saw that there were 2 bats in there hanging out. We're hoping to get a good colony in there to combat the evil flying menaces swarming around our cabin.
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rmak
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2015 10:17pm - Edited by: rmak
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Our barn is full of bats and there is mucho guano! Does that make good fertilizer?
We've always had deer run through our woods and across the field. The guy who dug out pond encouraged us to use wildlife grass to cover the banks so we hope to see what comes out of the woods this year.
The wild turkeys are coming back. The story is that the farmers in the area went to liquid fertilizer so the turkeys are not eating it and dying. Hope to see pheasant return as well, but nothing yet. The coyotes are numerous and loud. The farmers around here shoot them on site. I have yet to see one alive.
We put up bluebird houses on some of the old wooden fence posts and we do have some this year. Beautiful! Now my wife is starting to feed them with a special kind of worm. A bird feeder full of yellow worms is gross!
We have a male and female duck hanging around our new pond recently. My wife nicknamed the male Dr. Mallard (she's an NCIS fan). We have many frogs and I love the sound.
I had groundhogs burrowing under the cabin so I put a solar motion light low on a stump. Haven't seen them recently so I'm hoping the light spooked them away.
I've seen fox intermittently and lots of buzzards and red hawks. I found a big milk snake under my well cover. It freaked me out. I thought it was a rattler.
We are reforesting around our cabin, which is set in the corner of an old farm field about an eighth mile from our wood line. We put in about 50 fast growing trees so far and we will put in 30 spruce this month. I hope as we return it to a more primitive setting more creatures will return to us.
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old243
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2015 10:21pm
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We were at the camp till yesterday . Had a moose walked right past the camp and on out the trail. Likely part of his route .Also beaver , partridge . Had a good few days, snow finally gone.old243
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 1 May 2015 01:03pm
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My you tube channel has a sub channel of animals seen at our property...
Here is one i made last year of "Just the Bucks".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Wz7Qb3Y7U&index=2&list=PL5XClUR486m9zXrTeRcybmmpM51 lyn6AP
Enjoy
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 2 May 2015 08:36pm
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Made a video of the animals I caught on the game camera over the last 2 weeks...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaGy2v5KBCQ
Coyote, Raccoon, wild Turkey, Owl...
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