Wild Animals You Have Seen in North America
 

We'll keep this dialed into North America since there's a broad scope beyond our shores.

The rules are that you must have seen the animal in the wild while you were not in a closed vehicle or a house. The sighting must have taken place in North America.

No sightings in zoos, no sightings in nature parks where the animal is more or less a display animal.

National park sightings count as long as you meet the other requirements above.

Poll coming. Keep your eyes peeled and be alert.

Squirrel
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I almost got jumped by a pack of Raccoons once. I was like, "yo, it's cool guys. Take the trash...i don't want any problems".

Uhmmm...i've seen mostly your basic stuff. Rattle Snakes (cooked one) and Dolphins. Uhh...saw a deer once at 5th grade camp. Red tailed Hawk.

Your mom.

Probably the most unusual one was a moose in Flagstaff. Right in town too!

Oh and getting to see a bald eagle flying along the Colorado river at the bottom of the Grand Canyon was so beyond cool! Too bad we didn't have a camera (before cell phones).

Strangest wild animal sighting I've had was an otter. It was swimming in a small body of water just outside my apartment complex.

I thought that was so bizarre. I told everyone I knew (no one gave a shit).

Alligator or crocodile more than 8 feet long – Our resort in Mexico had lots of crocodiles. There was a lagoon across the road (outside the resort fence) that was visible from the balcony by the stairs. It had some MASSIVE crocodiles.

American bison – Wichita Mountains state park in Oklahoma has a herd of bison that roam the park.

Bear (black) – I’ve seen these many times in New Mexico and we saw one in Canada.

Beaver – A frequent site when fly fishing.

Bighorrn sheep – We saw them far off on an opposite slope while hiking Wheeler Peak in New Mexico.

Black widow spider – These are all over the place in Texas. I can probably go outside and find one within 5 minutes. Their hiding spots are very easy to find. They build their webs in upside down corners.

Bobcat (the animal, not the backhoe) – I’ve seen them a couple of times in the early morning while driving to work.

Brown recluse spider – Who hasn’t seen one of these? They are a common household pest.

Coyote – These are a common site early in the morning as well.

Eagle (Any type) – I saw a ton of Bald Eagles on Vancouver Island. Also, we saw one in the road eating a roadkill turtle in Salem, MO.

Elk – I’ve seen them crossing the road in New Mexico.

Otter – We saw sea otters floating on their backs and eating urchins on a whale watching tour in Canada.

Pronghorn – I’ve seen many in the prairies immediately east of the Rocky Mountains.

Rattlesnake – We have lots of Massasauga in my area.

Scorpion – I’ve found them while camping.

Tarantula – Here in North Texas, they are common in the spring and early summer. They are easy to see just wandering across the yard.

Water moccasin/cottonmouth or copperhead – Cottonmouths are a common sight when fishing.

Whale (any species other than orca) – We saw gray whales on a whale watching tour in Canada.

OPOSSUM

BTW, if you say yes to bearded lizard you are most likely full of shit. They are native to AUSTRALIA.
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My only beaver sighting was in the middle of Denver. It was industriously preparing to build a dam that would have flooded a rather expensive part of town. I think it probably got relocated or shot pretty quickly.

I saw all the following while I was at work: Coyote, porcupine, bobcat, snake>10ft, badger.
Our plant is ~5 miles outside the city.
The badger dug a burrow ~3 ft outside an office window and had a litter. The guy whose office window looked out on it had more visitors than the previous 10 years combined.

Seriously, if you discount things seen from my house, car or in a zoo, it's nothing. Squirrels, skunks, chipmunks, raccoons, and a bunch of unexciting birds.

Only interesting thing is a red tailed hawk. One sat on the peak of my roof one day a few summers ago. Big MoFo. Oh, and some eagles during a kayaking thing I did in Maine.

Other than that, pretty much zip. Boston and its environs has been civilized for too long. We had alot of excitement up here a few years ago when a bear swam across the Cape Cod canal and was wandering around down there. Reportedly the first bear on the Cape since 1837.

https://blog.mass.gov/greatoutdoors/...pe-black-bear/

I'm shocked at the number of porcupine sightings. I saw one several years back at a very remote state park, and I was agog. It was huge. I figured porcupine sightings were rare.

Oh, dang. I marked it, but I was in a car at the time. I can't count it.

If bears land at Plymouth Rock, we should remember our history and not teach them how to grow corn.