Wildlife

[::: :::]

direwolf, clearly

[TAFKALVS]

Thanks, I was thinking it was a pretty young bear, maybe first spring on his own? It would explain his inability to deal with the wolf (who is pretty old and probably more experienced with handling other predators).

Looks to be only 200 - 250lbs which is more Black Bear sized. I bet he's a youth.

[BmillsSkier]

One of my favorites from the spring this year, grizzly vs. wolf over an elk carcass:

Wow, what an awesome shot!

That wolf looks totally badass.

[BmillsSkier]

I'm no birder by any stretch but this week out back has been educational and very cool for me. I keep hearing this owl making very cool calls in the darkness while outside watching the baseball tonight (owls are Tribe fans apparently) and damn if the internet doesn't help me figure out what I'm hearing above the water in the darkness.

This guy:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id

play the call to get a load of what I've been hearing for the last hour.

[stuckathuntermtn]

that's cute.

And that bear vs wolf is bad ass. Where is that? I hope you had a zoom lens, because I wouldn't want to be within several hundred yards of that.

[FussyDutchman]

Wow, what an awesome shot!

That wolf looks totally badass.

Hell yeah, wild kingdom quality!

Badass indeed but pretty much a no win battle for him in this case. One swipe from that big paw and it's game over.

Bmills - If it's still hanging around in the future and you want to really get a reaction play the call on speaker...just be ready to take cover because if it's a male and thinks the call is another male you might get a closer look than you would like. Less likely this time of year but still a possibility since they are territorial.

I did this with a local sharp shinned that likes to stalk my feeder a few years ago and got buzzed a bit closer than I was prepared for.

[BmillsSkier]

Hell yeah, wild kingdom quality!

Badass indeed but pretty much a no win battle for him in this case. One swipe from that big paw and it's game over.

Bmills - If it's still hanging around in the future and you want to really get a reaction play the call on speaker...just be ready to take cover because if it's a male and thinks the call is another male you might get a closer look than you would like. Less likely this time of year but still a possibility.

I did this with a local sharp shinned that likes to stalk my feeder a few years ago and got buzzed a bit closer than I was prepared for.

Funny you mention. I didn't even think about an encounter. When I cut the internet feed to my ballgame to try and identify the hoots/owl I played it a few times. I got one call back but then my dog went nuts. Silent now, but I'll know for the future for sure!

[2bjenny]

Cool bear vs wolf pic!

There is a pair of great horned owls that hang around my house all the time. When they really get going calling to each other they remind me of the beginning of Herbie Hancock & the Head Hunter's Watermelon Man. Ocassionally I'll get buzzed by one of them which is startling since the wing span is around 5 feet.

[nutmegchoi]

I lived in Minnesota two years, been to North Dakota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming... Ontario, Quebec...you name it.
All I wanted was to see a moose.
It doesn't have to be a dominant male moose.
Just any moose (female, baby) would do.
But all I got to see was a red fox near Breckenridge downtown.
Can't a girl just see a moose???!!!

Now I have a moose head driver cover.
Moose became my spirit animal.

[Timberridge]

In our area of VT we're overpopulated with barred owls. They will drive you absolutely nuts in late winter/spring when you're trying to sleep. They mellow out a bit in the fall as mentioned earlier.

Not nearly as loud but they make even stranger noises are screech owls. We had one in a tree by the bedroom that would make a repetitive sound like a smoke detector beep when it gets a dead battery. The first night he did that, I couldn't locate the sound and was running all over the house at 2am looking for a bad smoke detector.

[BmillsSkier]

I lived in Minnesota two years, been to North Dakota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming... Ontario, Quebec...you name it.
All I wanted was to see a moose.
It doesn't have to be a dominant male moose.
Just any moose (female, baby) would do.
But all I got to see was a red fox near Breckenridge downtown.
Can't a girl just see a moose???!!!

Now I have a moose head driver cover.
Moose became my spirit animal.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]188289[/ATTACH]

Cross-post, here you go:

[skialpy]

Ribbit Ribbit. Toad found on a Cascades high route hike recently. Been trying to remove the resultant warts with mega doses of compound w. App is pixma, mosaic filter.

[BmillsSkier]

In our area of VT we're overpopulated with barred owls. They will drive you absolutely nuts in late winter/spring when you're trying to sleep. They mellow out a bit in the fall as mentioned earlier.

Not nearly as loud but they make even stranger noises are screech owls. We had one in a tree by the bedroom that would make a repetitive sound like a smoke detector beep when it gets a dead battery. The first night he did that, I couldn't locate the sound and was running all over the house at 2am looking for a bad smoke detector.

Ha! I've had one occasion like that where I was walking around the house with a lacrosse stick ready to smack the shit out of the offending smoke alarm beep. It went on for 2 days. I can't imagine what I'd do if I found out it was an owl.

Actually I can. I'd flail, swing wildly, fail, and likely hurt myself.

[refried]

Animals in the yard

[Buster Highmen]

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id

Who cooks for you.

We have a bunch of these guys around. Occasionally I'll see them early in the morning and usually they float off immediately. The other day we saw one up about 80 feet off the deck in a cottonwood tree. Owls are the baddest,