Stuff you don't see everyday

[calmloki]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calico What a beauty! Certainly knew whose door to knock on. Many all-white cats with two blue eyes are deaf. Some all-white cats with one blue eye can be hard of hearing in the ear on the blue-eyed side.

If deaf on one side she compensates well - slight noise of door handle and she jumps from neighbor's roof to top of 5' fence to ground in a pretty fluid rush - hustles to the door and says, "why yes, I WILL have some pets and food"! Read that some of this breed are OK with swimming - haven't seen her in the pool, but she was just fine with getting a sink bath.

[38Chevy454]

Several of my neighbors have horses, so I see them fairly regularly. Also see coyotes infrequently in neighborhood.

Couple months ago at the grocery store my wife sees a couple horses tied up at a tree. Of course she has to go over to see them. Then the cowboy guy looks up and it is a friend of ours, Bruce. Packing open carry pistol in holster on his side, and the second horse loaded with several bags of grocery items in the saddlebags. He was just about to leave to go home. Said hi and wished him a good day. Minus the new store and cars in parking lot, the scene could have been 100 years ago with a guy going to the mercantile store.

[grasshopper]

A little story about wild and domestic animals. My 4 dogs were taking me for a walk one morning when they came across 2 bobcats. Well up a tree went the bobcats with the dogs just going nuts. I couldn't get the dogs to leave the 2 cats alone, until I gave them a command that is ingrained from the first day with our family. Leave the kitties alone it was as if they all had the same aha moment oh ya kitties . And off we went to finish our walk.

[EastWest Gal]

We live near a big creek. I was driving home from the grocery store and two great blue herons flew low over the road toward the creek. Last month a red fox crossed the road in front of us. The best was on July 4th a couple of years ago. We were having a barbecue by our pool, when a bald eagle flew directly over our yard, less than 50 feet off the ground. We don't have many bald eagles here.

[Winemaker]

There is a nesting pair of bald eagles near the coal preparation plant where I used to w@#k, near PA and WV border. I do not know where the fledglings put down roots.

[Christine]

My best story is one day I was enjoying my morning coffee in my RV - I had parked in a quietish street in Copenhagen - when a shadow brushed past the window behind me. I turned around and saw a large elephant walking past!

Couldn't have been more than an inch or two from my van! It continued down the street where it met a quiet fire engine and was startled and turned into a residential street and disappeared.

A few minutes later a couple of men hurried past looking for something and I opened the window and saw a great circus tent beeing erected nearby. I cooked my eggs & bacon and later when enjoying my second coffee the men came back with the elephant in tow.

[Meadbh]

I lived in Pittsburgh for a few years. One day I was walking along Fifth Avenue near Shadyside when I saw a monkey look left, look right, look left again, before calmly crossing the road. The evening news had a story about the monkey missing from the Zoo. His name was Alphie. He was on the loose for several months and made it to Ohio.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/ci...s/201211060176

[Major Tom]

Visiting family in England a few years ago, and was standing in their front garden when we heard the sound of a steam engine, and turned round to see this -

[kcowan]

We have a big ficus tree in the hillside behind our place (they grow like Banyan trees dwon south) and here were two chachalacas looking for a place to nest. What a racket! They decided on another home!

Of course we also see various exotic birds flying for tree to tree in the river valley and iguanas sunning themselves. The parakeets are green and yellow and fly around like sparrows.

[MRG]

Our home for 10 years was a small A-frame built in a grove of trees on a secluded 20 acres. Because of it's location and a great number of widows we were frequently hit by birds. DW is an animal lover and a real soft heart. Early on she discovered most birds died if she did nothing, even then for some you couldn't help if they had broken bones or internal bleeding. Many were just in shock and would come back if you held them in your hand to warm them. It was amazing how many could be saved and you had the opportunity to handle many different birds. Hummingbirds were our favorites, we held hundreds of them.

It was 2002 Christmas Eve and it was an odd Christmas, didn't feel like Christmas. Then in the night there's a loud thump on the window and a crash on the porch. I look outside and see:

http://www.audubon.org/sites/default...?itok=wB-Bmfm8

A screech owl knocked out on the porch! DW says grab it! I finally get some leather gloves on and pick it up. Neck and wings are good and no bleeding, so in it comes. After a few it seems more lifelike but still not conscious, DW decided to grab it in her bare hands to get it warmer. That works, we now have a very awake and frightened screech owl in our house in DW's bare hands! It does what a birds just waking up does, and craps on DW! As she's trying to clean up the owl get loose and is flying around the house! Our dog is pretty amused by the owl, but of no help. I remember it sat on top of the refrigerator and stared at me with those brilliant yellow eyes. That's when I realize we have no camera. He eventually tires and I am able to get a towel on him. We took him out front and he roosts on my bare index finger. His talons wrapped gently around the finger. Amazing those things could have shread my finger to pieces, I could feel the sharpness, it was very gentle.

We stood out in the darkness for a while. It just sat there, fully conscious. I eventually dropped my hand a few inches and off it flew. We thought Christmas was a lot better after the visit.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Our home for 10 years was a small A-frame built in a grove of trees on a secluded 20 acres. Because of it's location and a great number of widows we were frequently hit by birds.

What were the widows doing getting those birds to attack you? Hoping to take out your wife so one of them could replace her?

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG .....We thought Christmas was a lot better after the visit.

What a great Christmas story!

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar What a great Christmas story!

+1!

[Lsbcal]

New kids on the block (Spring 2016)

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut What were the widows doing getting those birds to attack you? Hoping to take out your wife so one of them could replace her?

Dog gone auto correct. I fixed the widows once.

[Ronstar]

Battle going on at our doorstep this morning. Don't know if these are wild turkeys or turkey buzzards.

[MissMolly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Battle going on at our doorstep this morning. Don't know if these are wild turkeys or turkey buzzards.

They are wild turkeys.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissMolly They are wild turkeys.

And female ones at that. Look a lot like our Northern California ones.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Battle going on at our doorstep this morning. Don't know if these are wild turkeys or turkey buzzards.

I once asked the raptor specialist at a local zoo about "turkey buzzards" in our area. I got a rather stern correction that "buzzard" is not the correct term for the North American bird of this type, they are called "turkey vultures". We have had a LOT of them in just the past few years, a dozen or more circling at a time, and I rarely saw them before.

And while those do look somewhat like turkey vultures, I'll go with the others who are saying wild turkeys.

-ERD50

[Bestwifeever]

Let's hope they are turkeys and not vultures waiting for a corpse.