What are your favourite kind of non domestic animals? I like frogs. They

[applegrove]

brought me joy as a kid as they hopped along the dirt road in August. Road toads they were and they were so cute. My aunt pointed out that a healthy amount of road toads meant a healthy amount of gardner snakes the next year. Never thought of it that way...though I did save a road toad from a snake when I was a kid.

[hlthe2b]

1. Colorado has riches o wildlife... Outside my old office windows, I could frequently see elk, deer,

fox, the occasional coyote, turkey buzzards (unfortunate result of road kill) and of course rabbits, marmots, and the rare skunk.

It was a treat, though because the normal herds of elk came through that way in fall to mate (rut) and would be back with their young in the spring.

Where I am living now, I have wild cotton-tailed rabbits literally outside my door. Four adults regularly hop around content to stay within 6-8 feet of any errant humans or dogs. They are smart to do so, given the dogs pretty much ignore them and a few hundred yards away is a field that is frequently scoped out by fox (and probably the occasional coyote). Some people don't like the rabbits, fearing they'll eat all the bird food that is put out. Me, I'm figuring that if one rabbit's foot gives good luck, then surely 16 total on happy, fat, living bunnies will be phenomenal.

[ZenLefty]

24. Denver critters

We live in a fairly urban area. In our hustle-n-bustle city backyard, we have had

- foxes of all ages
- legions of racoons
- mass murders of crows
- the occasional owl
- bats (one inside our house)
- one damn coyote that scared me out of my skin one morning
- one hawk, perhaps the most amazing of them all

We seem to get the predatory critters around here. No rabbits or deer for us. The bat in our house was more drama than you could shake a stick at. The hawk - I caught a picture of it while it carried off its rather gory capture; I think it was a pigeon but couldn't really tell. Not for the squeamish, our critters.

[hlthe2b]

27. Mass murders of crows?

what?who was taking out the crows?

Neat having hawks around.... Years ago I lived near a pair were nesting and got to watch the progression of the young from nest building, to eggs, hatching and eventually all flying off. It was really fascinating.

Yes. We are lucky in Colorado. While I no longer get to see the variety I once saw nearly daily from my work window, even my daily rabbit watching leaves me feeling pretty good. (You can keep the bats though!)

[ZenLefty]

30. Well, our cat was trying to take out the crows

Except the crows are about as big as she is and outnumbered her a bit. If a murder of crows is the way to refer to a group of crows, then a 'mass murder of crows' is just a much larger group.

One early morning we awoke to the sound of them cawing. I go outside and there are crows everywhere. On every branch of every tree in sight, on every rooftop, every power wire, everywhere. The sky was gunmetal gray and the sun was just coming up. It was surreal. And up in the pear tree, 30 feet off the ground, is Inky, stalking them like a jaguar. They were furious.

I started counting the furious birds and stopped around 100. Seriously, I've never seen so many at once. With the morning sky and the leafless branches it was just surreal. Like a confluence of alfred hichkock and steven king.

After some coaxing Inky came down and came inside and the crows departed.

[hlthe2b]

33. Hitchcock, indeed.... That movie stayed with me for decades! LOL..... Inky's got game, I'd say.

LOL

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. Deer.

I cannot get over their expressive eyes. But eagles run a close second.

[sarge43]

3. Foxes

Clever, playful, elegant.

[KamaAina]

4. Dolphins!!!!!

[graywarrior]

5. Coyotes

[trof]

6. 1. Osprey. Close second: Great Bleu Heron. (more about that)

There's a heron that hangs out and hunts on our shoreline.
I think it's the same one every day.
They're territorial.

I saw one nab a mullet.
Flipped it up onto the bank.
Stabbed it with it's beak until it was dead.
Grabbed it again and flipped and tossed it in the air until it caught it in its beak head down.
Then swallowed it whole.
You could see the fish going down the egret's throat.
Cool!

[momto3]

28. We have a blue heron that hangs out in the pond behind our house.

Out neighbor put 20 goldfish in the pond about 4 years ago when he moved in. I do not know how many fish there are in the pond now, but when we go out to feed them bread, the entire pond boils with gold fish. My kids have named our heron "Melvin". It makes it very easy to see Melvin grab a fish and fly away.

[dimbear]

7. Gold plated unicorns with diamond studded hooves.

It's the only thing I have in common with Romney.

[Moondog]

8. Raccoons. Just like 'em.

[grilled onions]

9. Camels,Giraffes

I like the artistic side of Mother Nature. While the lines are extreme there is beauty there. Not everyone appreciates the homely side of the camel but there is poetry when a group of them travel in the dessert to a background of a sunset. Giraffes while also extreme have a pretty quality and a gentleness even when they lope across the land.

[pokerfan]

10. octopuses

They're quite intelligent...

[mucifer]

11. Moose!

Kinda dorky and vegetarian like me.

[Wait Wut]

13. Love Mooses!!!

Spent two week looking for one in the U.P., but never saw one.

[Wait Wut]

12. Men.

Oh, you said non-domestic. Actually, I've never known one to be completely domestic...or housebroken.

But, if you're going to be picky...wolves. I also love moths. Gypsy moths, especially. I used to love to let them crawl on me when I was little. Freaked out my mom.

[rurallib]

14. Otters I hear they are extrmemly soft and

ever so playful.

[RZM]

21. I've seen otters engaged in depraved sexual acts

True story

[femmocrat]

15. Giraffes and owls. n/t

[csziggy]

16. Birds - there are so many kinds, you can see them just about everywhere

And they are so colorful. Plus they have such interesting personalities if you really watch them.

[elana i am]

17. giraffes, elephants and dolphins

giraffes because they are gorgeous freaks of nature and i collect them like other people collect pigs and teddy bears.
elephants and dolphins because of their intelligence.

[clyrc]

18. Sloths

I'm a sloth woman all the way. Except, I love birds too. And most other animals. We have the cutest kangaroo mice where I live, but I don't see them very often anymore because I have cats.

[mysuzuki2]

19. squirrels.

[HeiressofBickworth]

20. I remember the magic

of lightening bugs when I was a kid in Indiana. Never saw another one after we moved to the west coast. Wonder if kids still sit under the umbrella of a weeping willow in the summer with lightening bugs flashing all around.

[RZM]

22. I thought about this the other day

I grew up in SW Ohio, so probably not that far from you I remember seeing lightening bugs every June. It's been a long time since I've seen one.

[HeiressofBickworth]

23. I grew up in northern Indiana

Do I understand you to say that you are still in Ohio and you haven't seen lightening bugs in your area of Ohio?

[RZM]

25. Can't remember seeing them in many years

I also haven't lived in Dayton in a while, though I'm not so far away now. But the last time I remember them was probably the 90s.

[HeiressofBickworth]

26. OOOOOOO

is this Rachel Carson's Silent Spring at work?

[momto3]

29. I love frogs and toads as well.

We have a pond behind our house which is filled with frogs and toads. I love the cacophony in spring. It is so loud, we can hear them with all of the windows closed and the house sealed tight. I am just beginning to hear them now. I hope this means spring will be here soon.

Along with the frogs, we have snakes (of course due to the endless food supply), turtles, gold fish (my neighbors idea) and a great blue heron that my kids have named Melvin.

[pipi_k]

31. Wolves and tigers...with

an honorable mention for pigs, who are sort of borderline domesticated, I guess, being farm animals and all.

[graywarrior]

32. Ducks

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. I've always liked turtles. I think they're cute.

[Turbineguy]

35. Goldfish

They don't scratch my speakers, bark or crap on the Bokara.

Oh, wait. Non-domestic. Pheasant. They're tasty.

[MissV]

36. Texas Horned Toads