favourite animal you've seen in the wild

Had an interesting sighting today. A wild turkey, at Eramosa Karst. For those not familiar with wild turkeys, they are known for being elusive.
 
Mark, i am jealous about the killer whale. That would have been spectacular[/QUOTE]

Boof, I was very surprised to see this, there was no sign of them before or after it appeared and so close, It look like a big bull.

There are two pods which work the east coast of Aust :cool:
 
Hmm, a though one; but I did spend a good few months working in Botswana and so my list is unashamedly African orientated; a few that REALLY stuck in my mind are as such;

1) Aardvark
2) Nyala
3) Leopard (that we accidentally walked into on a bush hike)
4) Klipspringer
5) Aardwolf

For the birds;

1) Ground Hornbill
2) Saddle-billed Stork
3) Pygmy Kingfisher (in The Gambia)
4) Palm Nut Vulture (in The Gambia)
5) Ostrich
 
I also have many favorites but I'll try to pare them down:
Tammar wallabies, Western grey kangaroos and an echidna on Kangaroo Island (koala too!) Dolphins off the Texas coast. Prettyface wallaby on the way to Lamington. Birds: osprey nesting near Jamestown, yellow-tail black cockatoo on KI, and the first bald eagle I ever saw was out the window of the lawyer's office during the reading of my father's will. I drove back to Indiana from Washington state and spotted another eagle when I got back to work--quite rare around here at the time. Spotted another a few weeks later at a church retreat. They're incredible birds. But I think my all-time favorite has to be the leatherback turtles in Costa Rica--What a magnificent animal!
 
Well I haven't bin out of Aus yet but I am next year.
Here is my list:

Mammal: Red kangaroo, I like the size of them, saw them also on camp.

Bird: Wedge-tailed Eagle, saw them in Queensland and on camp. (my reference of camp is in SA somewhere)

Reptile: SA Woma, my favourite Australian snake. Saw them on camp but i forgot where.

Amphibian:Brown Tree Frog, I just love these guys. Saw them in local wetlands.

Fish: Skate (at Middleton) they just swim past you without a care and keep going. I love them.
 
Also forgot to mention seeing flocks of Brown pelicans soaring in front of the golden gate bridge on a hot summers day (I really did see this one!)
 
You Australians don’t know how lucky you are – all my best animal spotting has been there.

Mammal – Numbat
Bird – osprey catching fish in Wilson’s inlet, WA
Reptile – swimming with green turtle in Hawaii
Fish – snorkelling with a Manta ray in Ningaloo, (just a couple of days too late for the big one, the whale shark:(). Did see a basking shark off Mull though, along with minke whales. Oh and stingrays in the shallows around Rottnest, but crikey I didn't upset the little fellers

In the UK I have seen golden and sea eagles, and badgers, but no otters yet
 
Unfortunately Canada doesn't have that much to see... at least where I've travelled! Everything I've seen here, as a city girl (unfortunately), has impressed me. Black bears, porcupines, elk, moose, white tail deer, wood frogs, boreal chorus frogs, tiger salamanders, skunks... I like them all!

As for overseas, I had never been out of the country until last month when we went to Costa Rica. I was in heaven! We saw a lot...including a neotropical river otter, agoutis, a crab eating raccoon, Ctenosaurs, Basiliscus basiliscus, bats (need help ID'ing them actually!), white faced capuchins, turkey and black vultures, scarlet macaws, variegated squirrels, american crocodiles, and so many little lizards...it was amazing!
 
I beg to differ.....

Unfortunately Canada doesn't have that much to see... at least where I've travelled!


I have been near your neck of the woods on a camping trip through BC and Alberta -- you do have alot of interesting wildlife in Canada . Just go for a quiet walk in the woods ........
 
I agree wholeheartedly with Nigel in terms of Canadian wildlife. Just looking at carnivores and omnivores there are black bears, grizzly bears, polar bears (up in the far north), lynx, bobcats, mountain lions, wolverines, fishers, martens, weasels, otters, mink, ferrets, wolves, coyotes, badgers, raccoons, and at least 5 different species of fox. Outside of North America many of those animals can never be found in worldwide zoos.

There are also wonderful opportunities to see hoofstock such as rocky mountain goats, bighorn sheep, dall sheep, bison, moose, muskox, pronghorn antelope, caribou, mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk. I've driven across most of Canada and have seen a large amount of amazing wildlife just from looking through the windshield.
 
@Chlidonias: great photo! Geckos are wonderful lizards...
 
I encountered a red fox in my backyard. I did gave him some food and he took it timidly. This was the largest carnivore I ever met in the wild. It was very special to me.
 
I've just spent a couple of weeks in north Queensland, round the Cairns/Atherton Tableland area with a quick sidetrip to Undara. None of the birds I saw managed to knock ground parrot off the top spot for "favourite bird seen" but some of the runners-up included Victoria's riflebird and spotted catbird (so now I've seen two species of bird-of-paradise and four of bowerbird), superb fruit dove, white-browed crake, black-necked stork, double-eyed fig parrot, brolga and sarus cranes, and 21 species of honeyeaters. The main misses were golden bowerbird and tooth-billed catbird, and cassowary (bad luck followed me everywhere in the search for a cassowary but its still embarrassing....I mean, what sort of birdwatcher can't find a six foot tall bird!?). I spotted 162 bird species in all so I'm not really complaining; it just means I'll have to go back and try again.

I saw 22 species of mammals which is a reasonable haul, considering most of them are nocturnal. I'd seen a few of the species before but most were new for me: platypus (7 of them); echidna; northern brown bandicoot; long-nosed bandicoot; musky rat-kangaroo; rufous bettong; red-legged pademelon; Mareeba rock wallaby; whiptail wallaby; agile wallaby; antilopine wallaroo; common wallaroo; eastern grey kangaroo; Lumholtz' tree kangaroo; common brushtail possum; coppery brushtail possum; green ringtail possum; yellow-footed antechinus; spectacled flying fox; eastern horseshoe bat; bush rat; fawn-footed melomys. Of the species I was particularly looking for the only ones I missed were Bennett's tree kangaroo and striped possum.
 
Were you out camping the entire time? Did you see a lot of snakes or reptiles?
 
not the best time of year for reptiles really, even in north Queensland:
saltwater crocodile
Kreft's turtle; saw-shelled turtle; green sea turtle
northern red-throated skink; straight-browed ctenotus; house gecko
eastern water dragon
lace monitor; spotted tree monitor
red-bellied black snake; common tree snake
cane toad; green-eyed tree frog; rocket frog; torrent frog
(plus some other frogs and skinks not identified yet)
 
For me it was a Jaguar in Mexico, and when I went to Hawaii I got to swim with green sea turtles. I also got to see a Black Bear while camping in Big Bear, California.
 
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I have had my share of animals as well.But the most memorable is the family of otters that live in the river behing our house.There are currently 8 and they've been living here about three years.The first year the arrived it was the adult pair which I named Marshall and Amanda.How they arrived is unknown to us but i was jsu teating supper on the deck with my sister one night when suddenly we saw the two in the river.They never left and had two pups in the fall named Erin and Gina.They have now given birth to two more litters.One was in summer 2006 which had three pups,Boise,Mina and Milo and then a singleton named Byron in April 2008.
 
Are town is very much rural so we have alot of animals coming through including deer,foxes,rabbits,raccoons,skunks,otters,muskrats,herons and lots more
 
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