Fishing were I do in the wilds of Maine and Vermont I have the luxury of seeing lots of wildlife. Black bear, deer, muskrat, mink, beaver, a family of 4 otters (they bark), bald eagles, bob cat, huge snapping turtles and moose. One of the more interesting days was when a peregrine falcon killed a pigeon mid air 10 feet from the boat. That was exciting. Poor pigeon disappeared in a big puff of feathers, some landed on the front deck of the boat. I think the rarest thing that has ever happened to me was back 14 years ago. I was fishing a river in Maine for some smallmouth and I caught a 29 1/4 inch 9 lb 4 oz Atlantic Salmon. Only 32 salmon were lifted over the dam that year. Some how I managed to catch that big female in one of that rivers tributaries. Caught  and released. I most likely will never catch another one. The Atlantic Salmon run in that river was 3 last year...

I had a family of beavers surround the boat. It was scary when they start growling and smacking the water. It was a very shallow cove and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

When I was in high school, I was fishing a pond in the woods behind my house with a friend of mine when I saw something...very strange. But before I go any further with this story, you need to know that I lived just outside Richmond, VA, and not the African desert.

 

So I'm fishing with my friend, and he says, in a very serious tone, 'is that a zebra?!' I just laughed at him, thinking he was screwing around. Then he said it again. To be honest, my first thought was that he'd taken acid without telling me (which wouldn't have been the first time). Then I looked up across the pond, and I couldn't believe it. I saw a zebra standing there, looking in my direction. It just didn't register. Then it walked off into the woods and I still wasn't sure if I'd really seen it or not. My eyes told me I did, but my brain told me there's no way in hell. 

 

I didn't tell my parents or anybody else that day, because I wasn't sure if I believed it myself. But later that night, I was watching the news with my mom and dad and there was a story about a local man who lived a few miles from our house. Apparently, he maintained a private zoo, and a handful of animals had escaped that day -- including a zebra.

 

So there you have it. A 'wild' zebra sighting while fishing in Virginia.

I heard a fisher cat scream whike out fishing 2 times. The first was a day before full moon , i went to my normal spot walked around into the brush, then i heard some gruesome scream about 15 yards away. About 2 mins later as i stood there not making a soubr, the wind picked up it was whipping silenced my footsteps and i booked it outta there.

Second time i was on the lake. Ive almost bumpe into. A doe fishing at night. Duri ng the day she feeds and walks uo right by you to eat. Not a afaid at all. Ill bring her a bucket cran apples from my house.

On the Hudson river you see deer swiming across and bald eagles fishing all the tine

Sorry about grammar. Big hands and little phone equal drunk stuper texting

I've seen mink and otters which is pretty unusual for TX.  Saw a bobcat once that was wading belly deep in a cove at Lake Fork.  Saw a manatee once down in the keys fishing from a dock for pinfish with Chad when he was about 8.

How about hunting in the wilds?

 

Heard tree knocks at 5am coming from two different directions. One was above us up on the mountain and the return sound was from deep in the forest. Since they can't call 1-800-collect you figure out the rest.

No matter what animals I see, I don't ever see enough fish.

I've run into a 00mod a few times. Woefully misunderstood but pretty cool feller

I’ve seen a few Bald Eagles. They really are quite majestic. It never gets old.

Its not unusual but it definitely caught my attention

was shore fishing in at a spot where no one was around and about 75 feet or more in the open water I see this thing moving side to side on top of the water. It was headed in my direction. I couldn't make out what it was until it got closer. Realize it was a snake so I reeled in my last cast for that area and took off. In the lakes & rivers I fish in there are rattle snakes...

unusual would have to be when I saw a bald eagle. Also at the lake out of no where I saw a deer about 20 to 30 feet away drinking water. A few people and I was able to get within 10 feet close to the deer.

The most unusual thing ive seen was two deer swimming across the middle of the lake. I think they seriously picked the widest part to swim across lol.

I watched a mink chase a chipmunk up a tree that extended over the lake a good ways. The chipmunk was at the end of the branch with the mink closing in and all of a sudden we here a big splash. The chipmunk jumped off the tree into the water and swam back to shore and got away. Also, in southeast Missouri at Council Bluff Lake last summer my fishing partner and I saw an alligator. It was maybe 3-4 ft long and we both did a double take and looked at each other thinking no way that was a gator in Missouri. I did some research, and apparently a guy had brought 50 baby gators to a county fair in Southeast Missouri and sold them all illegally to whoever. Well, apparently of those 50 gators only 4-5 were accounted for so I imagine there is a good chance someone in the area got tired of it as a pet and dumped it in the lake.

Humans that respect each other, and the water...I don't come across them too often. Couple times a season at best.

Chupacabra

Eagles, geese, and a beaver or two

My wife and I were fishing from a bank out in the brush of Ontario when she said, in a cute-cuddly voice "look at the beaver." Thinking nothing of it because beavers, deer, moose, bear, and coyotes are common for our area. I sent another cast into the water. The sound of claws slowly cracking loose stones on the path behind us made me turn. 15 feet away from me this animal stops, turns, and stairs directly at me. A Wolverine and a clean pair of shorts! 

 

He was walking along the path that was the only way out from the bank and he was big! About 50+ pounds. What really freaked me out were his claws. The sound of his nails crunching the gravel path still freaks me out to this day! They curled over his paws. Wonderful this cute-cuddly "beaver" is going to be my demise! We made as much noise as possible to scare it off. This fella looked at us and, like a Honey Bagger, he didn't give a, well you know... Slowly and casually, he walked into the brush.

 

 

Thanks for sharing !

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one who saw a Wolverine in the wild...

 

The one we spotted was 45 pounds or so and did not seem interested in us,,,

 

Looked very powerful and moved like it was on the trail of something ?...