Critter Question

OMG Cil!!!! You live out in the WILD!!! That is so awesome! Please take some pics for us!

BTW...I had a little green lizard...chameleon (?) on my kitchen counter yesterday and successfully got it back outside....I felt so good!!!

Sounds like the boondocks :funn:

How far is St. Vincent's Island? Don't let your dog out! Aren't there a lot of woods around there? On the boat near sunset, I thought I saw a big tree branch floating real fast and after getting closer it was a big buck swimming across the lake. If there are woods it probably is!

How far is St. Vincent's Island? Don't let your dog out! Aren't there a lot of woods around there? On the boat near sunset, I thought I saw a big tree branch floating real fast and after getting closer it was a big buck swimming across the lake. If there are woods it probably is!

Wow...this is like 'National Geographic'!!!!

The summer and fall of 2004, we kept hearing coyotes. Our neighbor saw them. We live in a somewhat rural area- but lots of new development so we are seeing lots of displaced wildlife. Anyway, when the boys were cleaning out the sailboat that had been stored upside down in our back field, they found the "evidence" that a coyote (or coyotes) had been living inside of it! Fortunately they had moved on- someone told me they "hunt out" and an area then move on.

Cil - yes we have coyotes. They have migrated from the west across many parts of the South. Turns out they are very successful scavengers and compete with coons and possums (you'll see many of these or at least evidence of them since they are nocturnal). Coyotes also eat small animals.

You will also encounter gators in your area and many snakes (mostly friendly). I saw a very big Black Bear near Indian Pass crossing Hwy 98 a couple of years ago.

Just wait 'til you see a heron flying with a snake hanging from it's mouth! That was pretty creepy the first time I saw that! And just wait 'til you go to pick oranges from your orange tree and find snakes in the tree!
I'm terrified of snakes and it always seemed as if I was discovering snakes everywhere when we lived in FL. (Even swimming in our pool a couple of times!)

Cil, consider yourself blessed.

Cil, consider yourself blessed.

But keep your eyes on your pets! Coyotes WILL eat small animals. Cats are especially tasty morsels. My sister lives in western Massachusetts and two of hers were snapped up (no pun intended ).

I'm envious of all the birds you see. They're such beautiful creatures.

Cil, consider yourself blessed.

Yes, how cool!!! Cil, you need to take up photography! We want to see pictures of all the wonderful critters you are discovering!

The hawks are also so beautiful but will snap up your small animals as well. We have seen several foxes in our area lately..very pretty.

Oh yeah, I forgot that I have lizards. And deer, twice. And a dead deer in the back of a pickup. And various dead, squished possums and 'coons.

We do live out in the boonies here. We are on 30A but we are only a mile or so from Franklin County. It's just temporary but it's been quite an experience.

I smelled fox one of our first nights here. I am very familiar with the smell because we saw and smelled them all the time in Denver. Saw (and heard) coyotes regularly there, as well.

I keep our cats inside, and I am not worried about coyotes messing with my mastiffs. The ones we saw in Denver kept their distance.
However, I don't feel comfortable just letting our dogs out unattended for very long.
Neighbors say that the gators here are small, but they are around, and rattlers and cottonmouths are around as well. Gators and rattlers and 'mouths, oh my!

OMG Cil!!!! You live out in the WILD!!! That is so awesome! Please take some pics for us!

BTW...I had a little green lizard...chameleon (?) on my kitchen counter yesterday and successfully got it back outside....I felt so good!!!

CIL, Your location sounds great! I'd love having most all those animals.

SS, Your green lizard is an anole - will be green when on plants and brown when on similar colors, but that's pretty much its color range.

CIL, Your location sounds great! I'd love having most all those animals.

SS, Your green lizard is an anole - will be green when on plants and brown when on similar colors, but that's pretty much its color range.

Thanks Rita...we always called them chameleons growing up. How do you say anole?

Critter spotting is great fun!

I live next to the Point Washington State Forest here in south Walton and have seen all of the animals listed in the previous messages.

Plus two notable sightings:

Wild boar - a family of 4 alongside Hwy 98 near Rosemary Beach

and

Bobcat -One fella went strolling across my backyard early one morning. Very cool!

Does anyone know aboat Panthers/Cougars left here in our area? I know that they were relatively common a few decades back. Some of my friends have claimed to see one and I would love to know if anyone has any information about these beautiful animals.

I have seen coyotes several times crossing 395 near 98 and also crossing 30A near Deer Lake. We moved here in '96 and saw foxes on at least a weekly basis. I hardly ever see one now. I think about that often and truly miss those encounters.

Critter spotting is great fun!

I live next to the Point Washington State Forest here in south Walton and have seen all of the animals listed in the previous messages.

Plus two notable sightings:

Wild boar - a family of 4 alongside Hwy 98 near Rosemary Beach

and

Bobcat -One fella went strolling across my backyard early one morning. Very cool!

Does anyone know aboat Panthers/Cougars left here in our area? I know that they were relatively common a few decades back. Some of my friends have claimed to see one and I would love to know if anyone has any information about these beautiful animals.

My neighborhood used to be called "howler's ridge" because of panthers calling at night. I thought I saw one once but they are very rare anymore. Apparently there are only a handful of Florida Panthers left.

Take a stroll out the boardwalk at Deer Lake State Park some morning to get an idea how many foxes and coyotes are about at night. Numerous tracks. We even saw a coyote sunning last winter on the street in Sand Cliffs.

The occaisional "wild bore" can also spotted at Bud and Alley's for Friday night happy hour.

Take a stroll out the boardwalk at Deer Lake State Park some morning to get an idea how many foxes and coyotes are about at night. Numerous tracks. We even saw a coyote sunning last winter on the street in Sand Cliffs.

The occaisional "wild bore" can also spotted at Bud and Alley's for Friday night happy hour.

Oh TreeFrog...that's a good one and a true one!!!!

A few years ago in Grayton we were driving back to the house from somewhere- and coming down the road in New Grayton that starts in the woods and ends up at the dunes, a gray fox ran in front of our car in the woods part. It was beautiful! Although the kids were hesistant to walk up that way in the dark after we saw Mr. Fox!

Sorry to say my recent Grayton wildlife experience was less pleasant...

September of last year I hit and killed a doe on 30A just after dark. She was crossing 30A at the state park, between the lake and 283. The traffic was so heavy I'd have never expected it. Still wondering if she was dodging a coyote or somebody's dog.

Our Deer Lake wildlife interaction experience involved a pygmy rattler in full angry snakie mode on the trail from the parking lot to the beach.

I really hate the coyotes. They're not native to the area, and have a reputation for killing cats and small dogs in my neighborhood, especially during pup season.

Despite their reputation, the wild boars are more of a threat to your landscaping than to other creatures. Not dangerous for the most part, but very, very messy.

Can't say just how many times I've nearly hit foxes when I've been driving home from work at night on the road between the little airport in Niceville and the Rocky Bayou CC. They'll show up during the day on occasion, including one funny time when I got to see one trotting across the putting green at the Bluewater golf course, body language suggesting that he owned the place.

The day before my biggest triathlon of the year this year, I nearly crashed when I had to slam on my bike brakes to avoid hitting a low-flying blue heron. I so did not want to have to end up recleaning the bike because I had to pick feathers out of my drive train.

And every time we're coming back from a hockey game in Pensacola, we seem to end up seeing a ton of mule deer hanging out near the shoulder on SR 85.


And I don't think the panthers are really around so much, but there's a sizeable black bear population on Eglin reservation. They mostly keep to themselves, but every so often one of them will aquire a taste for Crystal Burgers, start dumpster diving at the fast food places out by Santa Rosa Mall, and get his furry self tranked and relocated to another forest area in the Big Bend far from human foodstuffs. I've also seen road kill bear on FL 20 near Choctaw Beach.

Oh TreeFrog...that is so sad. Other than the poor deer, I hope no one was hurt. This past October, we saw two deer....one ran across our path on 30-A on the way to Cafe Tango one night. Happened so fast and luck was on our side that night. Saw another one of the side of 283 in the late afternoon. That was awesome.

Cil - yes we have coyotes. They have migrated from the west across many parts of the South. Turns out they are very successful scavengers and compete with coons and possums (you'll see many of these or at least evidence of them since they are nocturnal). Coyotes also eat small animals.

You will also encounter gators in your area and many snakes (mostly friendly). I saw a very big Black Bear near Indian Pass crossing Hwy 98 a couple of years ago.

Not too long ago I saw one dead on I-285 (The Perimeter) here in Atlanta.

you forgot the one little furry surprise that I always see then have to 'back away slowly and run' from

skunk!

also known as 'saddam (gas! gas! gas!) hussien'

a friend of mine, after we had safely made it to the house (the pre-Ivan one down there on the lagoon) after one scampered along the shore right where we were working on the boat - he actually locked the door behind us to 'keep him out'! we both howled about that later - but we were breathless at the time!