Rarest critter around here would be tree snakes.

Everyone looks at me in disbelief when I show them pics even the old-timers.

They are not aggressive at all.

 

This may sound crazy but when I was a little kid in the 60s I saw a wild turkey with my grandfather.   It was a big deal.  They were rare then, now they’re everywhere.

Not rare but last week my wife called me out to the kitchen.

 

She was looking at a baby bunny playing in the backyard. It was the cutest thing and I myself watched it for a couple of minutes.

 

Went back to the kitchen just 10 minutes later and a stray cat found our cute little baby bunny.

 

I cried out "NOOOOOOOOOO!" and ran out there.

 

The bunny was still alive but had a decent sized wound.

 

Wrapped it in an old shirt and placed it in a shoe box.

 

Treated the wound but it died sometime in the night.

 

HawkeyeSmallie was a little sad.   

Saw a stoat a few weeks ago 

7 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

This may sound crazy but when I was a little kid in the 60s I saw a wild turkey with my grandfather.   It was a big deal.  They were rare then now they’re everywhere.

Minnesota didn’t used to have any either. In 1973, Minnesota made a trade with Missouri. Half a dozen wild turkeys for a dozen ruffed grouse.

 

Each spring now, about 10,000 to 11,000 wild turkeys are harvested each spring during hunting season now and there are about 65,000 licensed hunters. They are an amazing success story and an an extremely adaptable bird.

@gim, sounds similar to Nebraska. 

 

G&P introduced 28 Merriam's to Pine Ridge area in 1959.

 

Growing up we drove 5 hours to hunt Turkeys. Now they are running through my village. 

A mountain lion has been spotted multiple times this week in Duluth.

 

It is a rogue male from western South Dakota (Black Hills) that has a tracking collar on it.

 

 

That’s quite the hike! That’ll teach him to stay out a little too late with the boys. 😂

On 8/5/2025 at 10:31 AM, Tennessee Boy said:

This may sound crazy but when I was a little kid in the 60s I saw a wild turkey with my grandfather.   It was a big deal.  They were rare then, now they’re everywhere.

The wild turkey is a great conservation success story!  Iowa had its first season in 1974.  I hunted for the first time in 1975 and I had a photo of a gobbler in my shirt pocket.  I figured that if I saw a turkey I could pull out the photo just to make sure because I'd never seen one! 😂

I fell in love with the bird and it's hunting!

I'll see Bald Eagles a few times a year in Canton, Plymouth, and Cape Cod.  I saw a mink the other day in Plymouth.

 

That's about it for rare animal sightings, unless you consider bass in November, which are pretty rare up here this time of year.

On 3/30/2017 at 6:22 PM, A-Jay said:

Admittedly natural predation on domestic pets this is pretty unreal to actually get on film

 

We have Coyotes in the city I live in.  The last cat we lost to them was caught on my front door camera going down our driveway after two of them.  Turns out there were three.  It didn't work out for Princess.  She was a tough old girl and would chase dogs off the property 😔.

I came around a corner of a canyon and surprised a flock(?) of turkey vultures.  I've never seen them in Washington before.   A call on Monday to the local Audubon Society confirmed that they do reside in parts this state.

17 hours ago, gim said:

A mountain lion has been spotted multiple times this week in Duluth.

 

It is a rogue male from western South Dakota (Black Hills) that has a tracking collar on it.

 

 

Several years ago, my wife and I were on vacation in Florida. While visiting the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, near Cape Canaveral, we saw a large animal on lying the side of the one lane road on the wildlife drive. It was dark in color and from a distance, I thought it was a deer. As we got closer, it stood up and began walking down the road moving away from us. I quickly realized it wasn’t a deer. The long tail told me it was a Florida panther. We slowly followed it for about 100 yards when it stopped, turned it’s head, looked at us the lept off the road into the dense vegetation. I enquired at the visitor center if there were any panthers known to be in the refuge but they weren’t aware of any. 

Armored Oppossum, Albino Squirrel, and a 40" Legless Lizard.

I’ve seen a number while hiking, wolf, buffalo, timber rattler, and mink and bald eagles while on the water, but only one I’ve gotten a picture of, which I may have shared here before.