Whats The Rarest Animal You Have Ever Seen In The Wild?

[nedbal]

in a preserve a few miles east of JFK in NYC I saw a Osprey family , the young just starting to try their wings

[Jamastiene]

1. red cockaded woodpecker

In my backyard at the old house where we used to live. Haven't seen any since we moved down the road a bit. There were more old pine trees there. It was huge. I thought it was a tiny thing from the picture, but when I double checked the field guide, sure enough that was a red cockaded woodpecker.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

38. We had a piliated that lived behind our house...

We moved. Couldn't convince him to go with us. It used to make my day to see him hanging around the back yard.

[pokerfan]

2. Probably a cougar while canoeing in B.C.

They aren't that rare, but very elusive.

OTOH, I've seen Grizzlies several times and they are considered threatened and/or endangered.

Ospreys and bald eagles are pretty common out here as well.

[Guava Jelly]

3. An informed republican

Wait... no that was a liberal.:D

[siouxsiecreamcheese]

43. That title made me spit out my cheerios

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

103. No kidding..that was my first thought too.

uh oh :)

[TZ]

4. a western grebe ( a duck like bird)

in NEW JERSEY. They aren't supposed to be east of the Mississipi.

[ForrestGump]

5. A few candidates that I can think of

Dugong

Manatee

Saltwater crocodile

Collette's blenny (only found in one tropical South Pacific lagoon)

A lot of fishes that may be rare or just perhaps rarely-seen: pygmy seahorses, mandarinfish, sea moth, Napoleon wrasse, Goliath grouper, manta ray and mobula, various tilefishes, pearlfish, etc

Two sharks that are less common than many -- though most shark species are experiencing marked decline: great hammerheads (one 20') and silvertips.

Some endangered darters and suckers in rivers in Georgia and NC

Desert bighorn sheep

Various marine turtles

Redlined sea cucumber

Gray whale

[AlGore-08.com]

6. Stellar Sea Lion (also called the Northern Sea Lion)

http://stellersealions.noaa.gov/



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_sea_lion

[sniffa]

7. i went hunting for snipes once

but i never did find one. they're crafty LittLe things.

[formerrepuke]

32. I thought snipes weren't real.. until I saw one, and I've only seen one of them:

[Tyler Durden]

8. Red Wolf in the Smoky Mountains.

Backpacking in the Smoky Mountains National Park in I heard a wolf howl one evening. Next morning we decided that we would stray off the trail into an area of semi-alpine pine and fir. Not ten minutes later we heard the rustling of underbrush, and about 30 yards off we saw two of them: a re-introduced mated pair; just a fleeting look.

I don't know if they took; I've been told they didn't. If not, a very bittersweet memory. I hear their howl still.

[TommyO]

9. An albino deer at the corporate campus that I worked at many years ago.

[mainegreen]

10. A turkey back when there really were none in the wild.

Now, though, the blasted things are as common as pidgins.

[Inchworm]

11. Mountain Lion in California

They are probably common, but I'm not from there so it was very cool to see.

:)

[BarenakedLady]

21. Congrats on 100 posts!

:woohoo:

:bounce: :bounce:

:toast:

Be sure to check the Milestones thread (today or tomorrow) for your name if they catch it.

[Inchworm]

22. Oh dear! 100?

I guess I have been posting quite often. Fun Fun

:woohoo:

[XemaSab]

26. They're fairly common, but VERY rarely seen

Congratulations on a good sighting. :D

[Xithras]

48. Only because most people don't venture into their territory.

Mountain lions generally avoid developed areas, so spotting them requires us to get out of the cities and away from the roads. I've probably spotted a dozen of them in my years hiking in the Sierra's and the gold country, but in every case I was off the well traveled path, hiking in some remote ravine or valley.

[Inchworm]

65. I was in Sierras - shotgun in an 18 wheeler

I chose the route to, hmm, seems like San Jose. I remember a sign that said, "steep grade next 30 miles." It was 15 straight up and 15 straight down. We went from shorts to snow and were both ready to jump out of truck the whole time. We also blew 2 trailer tires in a hairpin curve.

I was no longer allowed to choose the routes, but I did get to see a mountain lion laying in a low branch.

:silly:

[Xithras]

66. San Jose? Through the Sierras?

Your description sounds almost exactly like Del Puerto Canyon Road (State Highway 130), running between I-5 and San Jose. The CHP doesn't recommend any large vehicles on that road, and recommends that it be completely avoided in bad weather. Even on a clear summer day that's an adventure drive.

The problem is, Highway 130 is in the Diablo Mountains, not the Sierras (both have copious numbers of mountain lions). Were you east or west of the Central Valley? Did you come off the 5?

[Inchworm]

79. It was years ago- I looked at Google Earth

The best I remember it was a trip from El Paso to San Jose via Las Vegas. We weren't overweight or anything, but California DoT were a bear at the time. It seems like the scales were in Bakersfield. I aimed for Merced.

Best guess now from Vegas was; (NV) US95 to (NV) US6, US6 to (CA) US395, US395 to CA120.

As I look I am pretty sure this was the route; because I remember the beautiful lake we just passed as we got on the 120. Dad and I still would be laughing about the supper about my choice of roads.

Wow! I now know I've been through Yosemite National Park. Voila! That is where I saw the mountain lion.

:blush:

:)

[Xithras]

86. Oh wow!

On two fronts. First, big wow that you saw a cat in Yosemite. It is extremely rare to see them anywhere near the highways. They're normally only spotted in the backcountry in the extreme northern and western edges of the park, neither of which is along 120.

Second wow is that you took a freaking tractor trailer over the Tioga Pass and down Priest Grade. That's a nasty stretch of road, and it's very uncommon to see any trucks on it. In fact, I don't even know that trucks are allowed on that highway anymore. Even tour busses were banned from that route until the rockslide screwed up highway 40 last year. I live about 90 minutes from the park, and 120 happens to be the way I get in when I go (Merced is a bit out of my way). I've seen guys in motorhomes struggle with some of the hairpin turns on that highway, so I can't imagine driving a 50+ foot long truck up there.

[BlueIris]

12. Bald eagle.

1984.

[geardaddy]

50. Bald eagles are pretty common here

even in the city.

[GumboYaYa]

104. We had two soaring over our house in St. Louis

last Saturday. They were gorgeous.

[sarge43]

13. A wolverine

near the road. This was in Michigan many years ago. I was happy to be in a car. Wolverines are up there with honey badgers and Tasmanian devils when it comes to bad 'tudes.

[Fox Mulder]

14. I saw a peregrin falcon when I was up in Ontario a couple of years ago.

[mopinko]

28. i have seen a couple of the perigrines that live in chicago

i think we are up to 3 or 4 pairs now. one pair is about 2 miles from my house, but they hunt up this far and i have seen them in my yard.
also saw and indigo bunting in my yard, eating dandelion seeds.
(not my pic)

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. A sober Boston Scootering Matcom

[LynneSin]

20. Did you get pictures of this rare siting

:shrug:

[Richard Steele]

42. The pic was posted here a while back:

[fight4my3sons]

16. bald eagle

flying above my house - we moved to Maine 2 1/2 yrs ago and I am not used to seeing bald eagles or ospreys. It took my breath away.

[slj0101]

17. A black bear. Not rare in terms of endangerment,

but a pretty rare sight for a suburban kid to see. I saw it on a camping trip once. It was hanging out on the roadside.

[BarenakedLady]

18. Black squirrels

I guess not as rare as they once were. There are a couple colonies around here. And saw a bunch in Toronto.

[nedbal]

59. Blacks are taking over here (NYC area) slowly, much as the greys almost wiped out the reds in the UK

[DeepBlueC]

91. Interesting. In TO there are ONLY black squirrels

I come from New England where gray squirrels are very common, but when I came to Toronto I discovered that there are none here. The parks and backyards are populated by black squirrels(and at least one colony of albino squirrels). I have one that comes up to my roof and stashes the nuts he steals from Kensington Market in my rooftop container garden. He does well I guess because there are always some left over when I do my spring planting.

[My Good Babushka]

19. groundhog

I just helped "shoo" one out of my neighbor's yard.

[doc03]

57. Groundhogs are rare? We have millions of them

in Ohio, be happy to let you have some more.

[LeftyMom]

23. a pacific harbor seal pup

[bif]

24. Eurasian Tree Sparrow

In the U.S. they're only found in St. Louis. I saw them on a trip down to Texas.

[XemaSab]

25. Three condors

On a random hill in LA county.

I almost drove off the road. :D

[Arugula Latte]

27. Quetzal birds (about five of them) in the Costa Rican rainforest.

They were gorgeous! (and I'm by no means a birder or a bird person)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

85. Ooooo!

I want to see one!

[cobalt1999]

29. Kiwi in New Zealand.

They are nocturnal and most New Zealanders haven't seen one in the wild.

[jpak]

36. I saw Takahe in NZ (and kiwis too)

The Takahe is a large flightless rail that was thought to be extinct but rediscovered in 1948.



There are about 200 in existence - I saw 6 on Kapati Island.

The Hihi (a very endangered honeycreeper) has been reestablished on Kapiti as well and only a few dozen still exist. I saw them at DOC feeding stations on the island.



Saw Saddlebacks too - and endangered indigenous "wattle bird"...



I saw Yellow-eyed penguins (world's rarest) on the South Island too.



Also saw a Short-tailed Albatross in the Eastern Pacific - one of the most endangered seabirds on the planet - maybe 1000 left in the wild.



The rarest mammals I've seen is the Eastern Bowhead Whale (there are ~200 left in the eastern Canadian Arctic), Hector's Dolphins in New Zealand and Ross Seals in Antarctica...

[cobalt1999]

39. wow, and I thought I got around.

You may be the only person in the world to have seen all of those.

[jpak]

44. I've seen some (rare and) endangered US birds too

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Attwater's Prairie Chicken

Whooping Crane

Mississippi Sandhill Crane

Piping Plover

Hawaiian Birds...

I'iwi



Nene



Hawaiian Coot and Stilt too..

[electron_blue]

30. Coatimundi -outside Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona

Actually, I don't know if those were any rarer than the mountain lion I saw up there, but certainly more exotic-looking to me.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

31. A liberal Republican.

[flvegan]

33. This past weekend I believe I saw a cayman (croc)

But since I'm not positive, my alternative would be several humpback whales.

[Mendocino]

34. The rarest-Pine Marten in Maine

Other seldom seen species:

Eastern Panther-Florida
River Otter-Michigan
Sea Otter-California
Lynx-Ontario
Arctic Char-Quebec
Woodland Caribou-Ontario
Kestrel-Ohio
Pika-Wyoming
Mountain Goat-Alberta

[bikebloke]

35. Desert lion & cubs

In the Negev desert. They crossed the road in front of the tractor I was driving.

[momophile]

37. maybe the nene in Hawai'i

We saw what we thought were nene on Moloka'i but Wikipedia says they are only found on Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island so now I'm not sure.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. A cougar, southern oregon.

Almost hit it with the car. I don't know who was more surprised.

[Richard Steele]

41. Bald Eagle (twice) while working in the Blackwater refuge.

One was several hundred yards off, sitting in a tree,
and some nice canoeists let us borrow their binoculars
to look at him.

Then 2 days later we surprised one in a field- it popped up
about 30 yards away, struggling to carry a HUGE dead branch.

Also saw THIS guy in the wilds of my front yard last year:


He's not "unknown" anymore; I discovered he's called a "saddleback caterpillar"
after I compiled that pic.

[TZ]

81. I love Blackwater Refuge.....

You must have worked there a long time ago. Seeing Bald Eagles (many) is pretty much a sure thing there these days. Once I went there with a college birding group and some saw a Golden Eagle there. That's pretty rare.
Cool caterpiller by the way. Thats one I have never seen.

[DrDan]

45. a cobra

lions, baboons, elephants, hippos, rhinos

In a car in a game park in Kenya. The cobra was crossing the road . . and saw the car coming . . . and stopped and raised its head and spread it's hood . . . really frightened our driver . . .

[Xithras]

46. California Riparian Brush Rabbit

Rarest rabbit in the world. The only remaining native population is in Caswell State Park, a tiny speck along the Stanislaus River a couple miles from my house. There are only a few dozen of these little guys left, and they are facing a very real extinction risk despite an intensive captive breeding effort. Their native environment, comprised of undisturbed riverside forest above the floodline, simply doesn't exist any more.

[Beausoleil]

47. Many - don't know which is rarest

Bald eagle
Brown bear
Sea otter
Stellar sea lion
Humpback whale
Fin whale
Beluga whale
Dwarf minke whale
Orca
Caribou
Salmon shark
Great white shark
Puffin
Dall sheep
Albatross

All in the wild.

[geardaddy]

49. Moose in the the BWCA

[SmokingJacket]

53. I saw a moose too, a little close for comfort.

We climbed up a bank from a hot springs in Idaho -- there he was, five feet away. Yow!

[GumboYaYa]

105. We were hiking in Teton National Park in the Alsaka Basin

and rounded a bend to find a Momma Moose with her baby. She threatened to charge and we hauled ass behind the closest trees. Are Moose that rare? I have seen them on several occasions when hiking.

[Roon]

51. A black bear

I don't know how rare they really are, but we have one that lives by our cabin. I see him every other year or so.

[greendog]

52. Bleached Earless Lizard

Only found in the White Sands area of New Mexico.

Kaibab Squirrel:
Only found on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

[AWESOM-O]

54. I saw an esquilax once.

[Squatch]

75. The mythical beast with the head of a rabbit and the body of a rabbit?

[Squatch]

76. .

[femmocrat]

55. An albino robin in our yard.

I followed him around with a video camera for a few days, then found him dead. :cry:

[Nikia]

56. Bald eagle, 2 different times and locations

3 years ago in Ohio.
2 years ago in Wisconsin.

[doc03]

58. I would say an Osprey too, we have a nest of them on

a light tower in our plant parking lot. We have a lot of albino squirrels here also I saw a flying squirrel in my yard a couple years ago I never saw one around here before. One rare creature around here was coyote a few years ago now they are fairly common.

[ironflange]

60. Whooping Crane

In Texas at Xmas time. It tasted a lot like Bald Eagle, but not as fishy.

[ChoralScholar]

61. I once saw a LIVE armadillo. EOM

[Louis Cipher]

62. Humpback whale in Virginia beach.

[HuffleClaw]

63. a star-nosed mole!

i found one day while walking along a hiking path.

[texas1928]

64. Black Panther.

[Blue-Jay]

67. There's a dodo in my backyard.

[eleny]

68. A moose in a Montana forest

I was walking down a path picking huckleberries and saw a moose crossing the path in the distance.

Also, one dawn when I was driving along the Skyline Drive in Virginia, a bobcat ran across the road in front of the car.

[Zookeeper]

69. Bald eagle, moose, black bear, pileated woodpecker....

fox, osprey, peregrine falcons.

Not necessarily rare, but I was pretty excited to see them.

On edit: We also have albino squirrels in our neighborhood.

[Zookeeper]

100. I just thought of a few more....

Wild pigs, seals, wild turkeys (in my backyard!), quail, grouse, voles, beavers, muskrats, blue herons, egrets, wild white swans, grebes and loons.

Again, not that these are rare critters, but a city-born kid like me is pretty excited to see them.

[kwassa]

70. A rat party in an alley in DC; at least a dozen frolicing rats

I could see them from my restaurant table

[Blue-Jay]

72. I would TOTALLY go to a rat party!

[SteppingRazor]

71. Florida Panther.

Saw one out in the Everglades. Supposedly, there's about 90 of them left in the world.

[pdx_prog]

73. White squirrels....

[jody]

74. A black-footed ferret in Wyoming. n/t

[Squatch]

77. Sasquatch aka Bigfoot

I shit thee not

[Lochloosa]

78. Right Whale and her calf off the coast of N. Florida

They hung around the boat for 20 mins. Beautiful animals!

[Javaman]

80. A republican that leaves a tip.

:rofl:

[kwassa]

82. Jackalope

[TZ]

83. I was wondering when someone would post that one....

:)

[kwassa]

84. saw one in my backyard last night ...

:toast:

[NC_Nurse]

87. Bobcat

He was cool looking....:)

[Xipe Totec]

88. I have seen a siren

http://www.zo.utexas.edu/research/txherps/salamanders/siren.int.texana.html

[Deja Q]

89. Some people call me an animal...

:spray:

[QMPMom]

90. Humpback Whales in the Inside Passage of Alaska.

[DainBramaged]

92. I have a Golden Eagle munching on rodents in my neighborhood

He sometimes is waiting in my trees in the morning but silly me, too tired and drowsy to remember camera.


Since the eagle eats my squirrels ( I had more than a dozen last winter, two this year) will P.E.T.A. come to picket him? I'll bake cookies.

[TroubleMan]

93. Florida panther.

Also, I've seen a few bald eagles when I was at Quanitico, VA.

[LSK]

94. Alligator, Sting Ray, Fox, Mountain Goat, Big Horn Sheep

[Ediacara]

95. Not rare in an absolute sense, but rare in its area

A striped seaperch in Puget Sound

[NV Whino]

96. Lots, but then I live in the sticks

bobcat
signs of cougar and bear
bald eagle
golden eagle
wild turkeys (with babies)
peregrine falcons
sandhill cranes
rattlesnakes
cotton mouths
pilated woodpecker
various whales, seals, sealions
otters
beavers

But probably the most interesting was a shrew... if kitty presents count as animals in the wild.

[leftofthedial]

97. once, in a downtown office building

I saw an intelligent republican

never saw one before or since

[MnFats]

98. Timber rattlesnake.

i knew it was a snake as i saw it slip into the tall grass. never occurred to me that it might be venomous.....in my part of mn. they're not totally unheard of but rare. being a lover of creatures i had to have a closer look...
i couldn't see the snake because it was in the tall grass but i could see grass moving and i was able to follow it...i was about 10 feet away when it decided it had had enough of me. i still wasn't sure what it was....then..
the rattling tail came up. it showed its head and then drew it into a striking position. we stared at each other a while....me having backed up a couple feet to be well out of its striking distance.
in a few minutes it turned and continued on its way.
it was exhilarating, believe me...

[Solon]

99. How about this, a Pelican, in January, in Missouri of all places...

I know they aren't rare, but I imagine they are around here, a few months ago one flew over our car, near a mall, and flying low. I know birds, and it was definitely a pelican, flabby pouch under bill and all.

[BikeWriter]

101. Ermine in Alaska.

[krispos42]

102. Buffalo

Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They run wild there. It's tens of thousands of acres.

I saw pronghorn antelope there as well. An entire herd.

[tyedyeto]

106. Trap-door spider in his 'house'

Not sure how rare it is but it was cool sighting.

[LibertyLover]

107. A bongo - aka ghost of the forest

in Kenya while on safari.

[Throd]

108. A giant mola mola a few miles off Bodega Bay

[Ramsey]

109. An albino peacock

Yes, all white! My grandfather had one on his farm for years.

[NJCher]

110. well, it wasn't in the wild, but...

It was Easter morning and I was six-years old. I woke up, looked down the hallway, and saw the Easter bunny delivering my basket. Only problem was that the Easter bunny wasn't a bunny: it was a kangaroo.

Just remember that: the Easter bunny is really a kangaroo.




Cher