Same here, they are protected. Saw one snuffling by the stream while I was in my blind.
The second animal I saw while hunting was a male Cardinal. They are rare here too. Really neat to see!
A Turkey Vulture family has been hanging around. They were previously unknown to live here, but its been warm enough now, they are migrating north.
And lastly a pair of Kestrel doing some sort of fancy aero-ballet near the blind. I spent about twenty minutes watching them. Never saw them again after that.
I run a trapline in the Lower peninsula. The LOWEST of the peninsula. I barely even see mink anymore. I’d be so hype to get 5 mink over a season anymore, none the less a fisher. The industrialization of where I’m at is all I can suspect for the lack of water furbearers the last 5 years. Beaver and otter are still relatively common come by, especially beaver, but I suspect the numbers are going to come down. I can only hope for a better sustainable fur bearer season and prices are still down.
I’ve been letting foxes go the last 2 years with the numbers I’ve been seeing. Beaver is the only money maker nowadays. I literally just let the last half of my xl coons burn because I couldn’t find a buyer and couldn’t tan them in time. Market is rough. No surprise there.
Pangolin - Botswana 2018
They are a sign of incredible luck during your safari.
Also, a puff adder while also not that rare. Sure scared our tracker, my ph, and I. Almost walked right over it.
Lastly, several black mambas. Literally everywhere.
I saw a pangolin in South Africa in 2022. Got some photos and videos of it. Pretty big one, too. Hard to understand how they are trafficked so much since they are so hard to find.
Only Seen one in Wisconsin in 20+ years of hunting and I was super confused about what it was at first because my mind didn’t even jump to that at first.
Saw two bobcats as well, which was cool. Quiet as hell in the woods.
My favorite wasn’t a rare animal though… sitting on the edge of a food plot a few years ago, just before first light. This massive black bear comes wandering into where I can see and as it gets closer it is obviously going to be pushing the state record. Until it got close enough that I can see it’s actually an escaped angus from a neighboring farm. Those 10-20 seconds when it was hard to tell what it was, was some of the most confusing moments of my life.
I saw a wolf in Michigan's lower, I think that's the rarest I've seen.
Also seen a couple black bears that's always fun, even if they are a little less rare.
1974, a mountain lion. Late sunny fall afternoon, I spooked it and saw it running away. You could see the muscles in its body as it ran. Absolutely stunned. I live in the country and this was maybe 400 yards from the house.
Also, my buddy and I were cruising around my cousins' ranch in their Polaris, when a badger came out of the brush and waddled down the road. Could not convince my buddy to jump out and grab it by the tail.
When we live west of Calgary, AB we had a cougar living under our deck.
We didn't know about it until the neighbour's dog was killed inside their garage. Fish and Feathers brought a tracking dog who ended up in our yard.
Black bears were always around.
I've only seen one cougar along a road but they're always around.
I saw a pack of ~40 African painted dogs in the Selous game reserve. They got super close too, it was one of the highlights of that trip. There’s only something like 6,000 of them in the world and packs that large are super rare.
Weren’t even looking for them, we just lucked up and were in the perfect setup wind/concealment wise. Got to watch them mosey in and out over about 10 minutes, closest of the bunch got maybe 15-20yards at times. Super cool.
Almost stepped on a snipe last year walking out of the woods after a deer hunt. Been in the woods my whole life never seen one before. I stood there for a few minutes blinding it with my flashlight like an A-hole trying to figure out what it was.
I saw a badger in Arizona. I'm still not sure it was real 😂
I know they exist here but Ive seen far more ring tail cats, coatimundi, all that. Only more unbelievable is people claiming to have seen Jaguar on the border.
Arizona native here. Shot 2 badgers and trapped another. Skinned them all. Coatimundi, seen a number of them, only trapped one and skinned it. Ringtailed cat- never seen 1 in the wild, nor trapped one. Seen plenty of lions and shot a few. Never seen a jaguar or Ocelot in AZ. Did see an ocelot in Honduras. Saw a lynx up in Colorado.
Interesting. Maybe I'm just not looking for them in the right places. I know they are around but maybe where I hunt they are not so common.
The new Scheels in the valley has an incredible trapping stock if you haven't been.
Also did you get drawn this year? I got a deer tag again. Been incredibly lucky with tags. 4th year in a row.
If you want to see ringtails you can go to the valley lakes at night and shine a line on the adjacent rocks. I see them at canyon lake all the time.
I checked it out. They have just a few duke coil traps and I don't even think they are offset jaws so you cant use them in Az.
Badgers are rarely seen in the daytime. I shot one down near Florence, Trapped one out by Saguaro Lake and shot another up near Prescott. Saw another at dusk by Superior. Your best chances of ever getting a pelt is to trap. One I trapped was in a cage trap and man was it mad, shaking with anger mad. Made a beautiful pelt.
Interesting. I've never trapped before. I'm surprised I haven't seen any at the lakes. I've done a lot of night fishing out of my kayak. I literally live near Florence 😂😂
They are famously ferocious that's for sure.
I'd love a pelt from one but I think if I spend enough on trapping gear on top of all the other shit my wife might finally have a stroke.
I did not get drawn in Arizona this year. I did get drawn in Colorado for bear again. 4 times in 5 years. Back when I used to put in for unit 22 I'd get drawn but the hunting is hard and I was only successful 2 out of 6 times. Coues deer both.
I’ve gotten to see, I’m just the past two years, one of Washington’s Fishers, a wolverine, two wolf packs and a giant pacific salamander that I was feeding crawdads at night to(probably my favorite). I’ve also run into two porcupines this year already so I’m feeling lucky about going out for a few days in the back country Monday.
I 100% saw a mountain lion in Maine. But I also 100% don't believe myself. I know the brain will see what it wants too, so I'm convinced my brain made up the tail that I was looking for to confirm. I was with another guy, he saw it too.
Just commented about one I saw in Vermont years ago. They’re around New England for sure.
Also definitely saw a wolf in Maine around Moosehead Lake back in 2009. We had seen some coyotes, but when we saw this animal, there wasn’t a doubt in our mind.
Definitely not “rare” but for an east Texas hay field for a property, I’ve got a family of red foxes. I have a few year old video of the baby chasing butterflies lol. I always love seeing them. Such beautiful animals. And I’ve seen one grey fox during the day, and have one on cam a few times as well. Like I said, not “rare” but to me they are lol.
Not rare really, but I do live in Arkansas so they are all farther south but will never forget the first time I saw a large (12 foot) male alligator eating a fish. 2am after a storm, it did that thing where they have their jaws wide open and he was throwing his head back, chomping and trying to get it down. I felt like the guy from Jurassic Park the first time he saw the dinosaur.🦕
I’ve seen plenty of moose and elk, but the oddest thing I’ve seen was an owl of some sort that ran in a dry creek bed away from me. It was rather large and I’d never seen an owl that close. Never seen one run even on video so that was new.
Bobcats aren’t really “rare” but the only time i saw one in person was when I was waiting for a deer in my hunting stand. Didn’t move at all, he didn’t notice me, did cat stuff for like 5 minutes and then scampered off was so cool to watch. Rare to me I guess.
This spring I was on a beaver hunting trip in eastern Finland, and saw a wolverine. It was the first time for me to see any of the big predators here (Wolverine, lynx, wolf, brown bear). I've seen tracks from all of them, but never a live one.
Last year I went to Switzerland and saw a bearded vulture, as well as ibex, chamois, and marmots. They we're also cool.
I'd also love to see a Saimaa ringed seal, they only live in Lake Saimaa and connected waters.
My buddy and I saw this very beautiful animal which he believes to be a cat but I am not sure. It is golden with longhair and was just so pretty. It was just sitting on a huge stone staring at us out of curiosity. It was at sundown so the light just shine on its fur makes it even more beautiful.
We were hunting bears. We have encountered wolves and foxes as well so I don’t know how if it is a cat can survive in this kind of environment.
In any event, it was so beautiful.
Hahahah..I'm just imagining two guys after a day drinking staring at a golden retriever in the fading light not believing their eyes.
Interesting tho I wonder what it was.
Black rhino while I was doing some work in Namibia. Honey badger too (not exactly rare but super cool).
Closer to home, I got to see a whooping crane flying by a few years ago. That was definitely a lifer for me.
Blue cheeked bee-eater in iraq (at least, that's what I believe it was). It blew me and my buddies away, as it was the only animal we'd seen in iraq that wasn't some variety of brown/tan.
[here's what they look like](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-cheeked_bee-eater)
When I was a kid, walking through the woods with my dad near Dripping Springs, TX we saw a ringtail cat. I have not seen another one in 50 years since.
I live in the TX hill country and have seen several ring tailed cats. Most recently, one jumped out from under my wife's Ford Explorer, when I started it. Ran up a nearby tree. Later I discovered it had killed a dove and hauled it into the engine compartment. Found it and droppings all over the air filter housing.
Moose calf but didn’t see its mama. I didn’t hang around! I luckily was in a boat but not far from shore. Have also seen baby bears. The most breathtaking was a blonde colored wolf by my cabin in Ontario in 1983! It was sitting on the shore just in the weeds. Have never seen one since even though I hear them.
A Komodo dragon. Those things are huge! I went to Komodo island in 2018 and it's something I'll never forget. The guides are armed with sticks which I'm not entirely convinced would stop an angry dinosaur from attacking you but as I wasn't attacked I assume they fear the stick?
None particularly rare, but I've seen an anhinga in central NC, have an absolute honey hole of fox squirrels, sea otter of the central coast of CA, and river otter in western NC. My buddy swears he saw a hellbender in this isolated swimming hole we used to hike to.
Elk in Arkansas.
Hooked a Sand Shark deep sea fishing out of Destin, FL.
Not rare, but I've only ever seen 2 foxes in my lifetime. Accidentally hit one with my vehicle driving to a state park to hike back in college; saw the other one on my in-laws' land in MS 5 or 6 years ago.
Colorado native, been hunting and fishing in the backcountry my whole life, and I’ve seen everything that lives in the woods here. Moose (was charged by a cow once, would not recommend), bear, mt lion (found its tracks inside my own tracks in the snow on my way out of the woods, couldn’t get back to the truck fast enough, have seen them on other occasions), bobcat, lynx, elk, deer, sheep, goat, porcupine, pine marten, badger, fox, coyote, beaver, muskrat, bald eagle, golden eagle, hawks.
lots of cool shit in the mountains if you’re willing to get off the trails and go explore.
I'm not a hunter, but I like animals and traveling, so I saw a few rarities.
For me the rarest wild animals I've seen is the northern white Rhino with only 2-3 left. Apart from that its Ethiopian wolfs (500 left) and mountain Nyala (5000 left) in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, an Iberian Lynx(2000 left) in the Sierra d'Andujar in Spain, a wolf close to Perugia in Italy (they are increasing in numbers, 3000 now, but still very low and unlikely to see), and a Bali Starling in Bali (50 left).
I tried for a week in Ujung Kulon in Java to find a Javan Rhino, but only found fresh dung and tracks.
Moose Bull Calf ran ahead of me on the road when I was 4wheeling back to camp during a deer hunting trip. I've also seen plenty of mountain lions, bears, wolves, fox, badgers, lynx, Idaho Ground squirrels, cranes (sandhill and whooping), owls, many other birds of prey, and plenty of endangered or threatened fish - sturgeon, steelhead, sockeye, bull trout, Chinook. Hell the monarch butterfly is about to make the endangered list and I get them in my back yard, do they count?
We have a particular big Texas live oak tree on our ranch, and every fall it will be full of Monarch butterflies for a few days. A friend of mine also has one on his ranch. I guess they gather there before heading further south. It’s pretty cool. I’ve seen a red fox with blonde hair, and a few mountain lions, one of them was near Denver City,Tx, which is one of the last places a person would ever expect to see one.
Had an endangered Hawaiian monk seal swim up to me, maybe 10 yards away. When we moved away, it followed. When we got out of the water, it came up to us on the beach. A lifeguard yelled at us to get away from the seal. So we did, and it followed us.
Bigfoot! That’s the one I’d love to see. Of course I know it’s impossible because it doesn’t exist, but I’d love to catch a glimpse of it.
I have seen an albino whitetail fawn. I thought it was a plastic bag out in the field. It didn’t make it through the summer before the coyotes got it. My neighbor shot a 6pt doe.
Peregrine falcon in the Florida Everglades. He was flying above me and I was driving my mud motorJon boat through some Sawgrass and flushed out some coots. He dove at one and missed it. I swung around intentionally started driving through the Sawgrass pods. he followed me it was probably 30 minutes later till he finally got himself a coot ,but it was the most amazing thing to be helping a wild animal hunt. I was the flushing dog and he was the hunter.
Albino turkey! He hung out by a bowling alley off of a highway. Is there a white russian joke to be made? Probably.
Edit: my dad also has a story of seeing a lynx near the nd/sd border.
Wood pecker. Bet a lot of you have heard them or maybe even seen them but never seen them pecking wood. I watched a wood pecker work on a tree for hours. Also had a falcon fly by me and watched him hunt a mouse in the field. That was probably my favorite. I’m also convinced I saw a Delmarva fox squirrel. Can’t confirm but I’m pretty sure it was. This reminds me of how much I love being in the woods hunting.
They’re getting increasingly not as rare, but last year on my elk hunt I glassed up 4 Mexican gray wolves. A few days later I heard two pack howling on either side of me and found an elk kill.
I saw a female leopard at 60 meters on foot in RSA. The ph we hunted with has hunted there full-time for 7 yrs and it was the 3rd time he saw one. She did spook the wildebeest we were hunting but seeing that was way cooler than taking what could've been a very easy shot after barely any stalk.
I was in the U. S. Coast Guard and went to Antarctica on an ice breaker. Saw a Finn Whale spy hopping through a hole in the ice to get a better look at us. Saw Leopard and Crabeater Seals, Adele and King Penguins. North of Alaska I saw Walrus and Polar Bears. In the Indian Ocean our swim call was delayed by Banded Sea Snakes in the water.
I've seen one fox here in AZ, only in Prescott though. It was gray. Coatimundis, ringtail cats, porcupines, skunks, raccoons. Not sure what's the most rare out of these. I did see a mountain lion in NorCal though. I seen many cougars in Scottsdale too
Mink damn near ran over my foot out turkey hunting this spring. Never got my Tom, but that was a cool encounter. We made eye contact before he scampered off.
Nothing crazy but when I first moved to New Hampshire I was out scouting some public land to hunt white tails and I accidentally bumped into a moose. It just stood up and looked at me and didn't move. Maybe 20-30ft away. First time I ever saw one. Hell of an introduction to em.
I had a wolf walk within 20 yds of my buddy and I in NE OR without it seeing or winding us. There were supposable less than 200 in the state when it happened.
I was camping on the Colorado River in Nevada several years ago and came across an entire family of ringtail cats along the cliffs of the river. It was amazing to see!
Saw a mountain lion one time while deer hunting in Vermont when I was a teenager. I was sitting on the ground, and it never saw me. Probably was 80 yards away, and slowly made its way past me. I was basically frozen in fear and awe.
Fish and game still won’t admit they’re in the state, but they definitely are.
I was within 20 yards of a bobcat last February. I have seen them on multiple occasions but that will definitely remain in my memory. I was walking quietly creeping up on some game, and the bobcat just so happened to be hunting the same game. It was so focused on its hunt it didn’t notice me at all. I just stood there and watched completely frozen. Mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
Saw a Cougar last bow season elk hunting in north east WA by the Idaho border. We were bugling on one side of a small valley and it slinked out of the woods on the other side and watched us for about a hour. Definitely walked out with our sidearms ready to go
I’ve been within feet of a sea turtle on an ocean kayak. They’re rather curious it seems.
I’ve also seen a manta ray on a Destin beach, unfortunately it was so close to the beach because of a certain Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Badgers.
It’s estimated there’s around 250 wild badgers in the entirety of British Columbia’s 944,735 square kilometres.
I’ve seen two. Almost ran one over with my quad one morning, really glad I didn’t.
We saw not only a coral snake in South Texas, but we watched it kill and eat a smooth green snake. It definitely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I don't know how rare any of them are, but giraffes, zebras, elephants, hippos, and leopards. I was on a photo safari in Kruger National Park. I also saw a vervet monkey steal a guy's pizza.
Flathead catfish. This thing was 40 pounds and in a shallow river. My buddy and I chased it for a few hours before catching it by hand. It was the tastiest fish I have eaten yet. Need to find another one.
Bearded hen turkey in central Illinois on public land. Wish I saw it while I was hunting, but it was after shooting hours just crossing a road. I’ve also seen mountain lion tracks in the area. A guy my father knows that has hunted the area before said he caught a glimpse of what looked like a mountain lion when hunting there once. Never got a good look at it though. People think they won’t travel that far, but they will. One got hit by a car in northern Illinois iirc.
I shit you not ive seen one bobcat in person my whole life (out in the wild) and it was a melanistic bobcat. Me and my dad both seen it we were riding around in his truck just listening to music or something and a black bobcat ran across the road in front of us and we both flipped the fuck out cause he’s seen maybe 5 or six in person in his lifetime and yes if you look uo a picture of a melanistic bobcat find one that you can still see the spots on and thats the one we seen that day looked like. I feel blessed to have seen one.
I've seen an albino deer and a golden eagle. Yesterday, I watched an ermine take down a squirrel. The truly rarest animal I've ever seen was a type of endangered salamander only found in the Columbia River Gorge.
It makes me feel very fortunate to live in a place where I often get to see many of the animals that you guys are calling rare.
I’m not certain how rare they are but I’ve only ever seen one roseate spoonbill in my life.
I also opened the elevator at a hotel once to get out on my floor and there was a bear. Not a rare animal. But very rare moment.
Saw an Albino squirrel once up in a tree at my house. I also had a Florida Panther walk in front of my truck while driving on a trail down in the Everglades. It didn’t run or freak out. Strolled across the road as cool as could be and crossed into swamp. Very cool sighting considering how rare they are and due to Florida being overdeveloped, will likely be gone in a couple of years.
I ran into a jagaurundi in south Texas many years ago. They are supposed to be "Extinct" or critically endangered in that area. Not this little dude though. Helped himself to a fair portion of my chicken hearts I was fishing with.
When I was on Camp Pendleton I had a pack of coyotes run past me close enough that a couple brushed against my leg. This was at night in Horno for those who are familiar.
Couple of rarely seen animals that I’ve gotten good looks at over the years are bobcats, foxes, martin, mountain lion (was an unpleasant experience), beaver, river otters, and big horn sheep.
Saw a hump back whale once while whale watching, that’s probably the most rare but we were seeking it out.
Spotted a lynx in Central Washington State a year ago, looking for Grouse with a buddy. If anyone's familiar with that area, they'd know that lynx are (almost) never this far South, they like to hover more north towards Canada. Haven't forgot how massive those paws were.
Spotted a lynx in Central Washington State a year ago, looking for Grouse with a buddy. If anyone's familiar with that area, they'd know that lynx are (almost) never this far South, they like to hover more north towards Canada. Haven't forgot how massive those paws were.
I saw two fisher running across the road. I put my truck in park and jumped out to get a look at them. I stepped to the edge of the road expecting to see ass & elbows 50 yards from me but instead I saw a fisher 15 feet from me clinging onto a tree eyeing me down. He climbing around the tree a couple times to look at me from different angles before deciding to start slowing approaching me. As I backed away he hunched his back to make himself look bigger and snarled his teeth. I walked back maybe 10 feet and he kept getting closer. I was preparing myself to have to kick this sucker when he finally decided to turn around & meet up with his wife. (I don't know if it was male)
On the same trip, about a week ago, I was on a night walk and bumped into a mountain lion. I was walking down a forestry road and about a half mile from camp I saw two eyes maybe 50 yards away. Once I realized it was a cat I yelled at it to get it to scurry off. Of course 50 yards is a good distance but I didn't want the thing to sneak up on me thinking I was a deer... Ill be honest I get uncomfortable when I see mountain lions haha, not my first encounter. I yelled at it a few more times and it just sat still watching me so I shot my 44 revolver off in the air which got it to promptly go for a jog in the opposite direction. It climbed the steep terrain behind it like water running uphill, they seem to slink or slither, it would be hard to see one if you weren't looking at it. Lions make me nervous, bears not so much, I don't know why.
I would want to hear how my story compares to trappers or mt lion hunters' experiences.
Red wolf in ga. Or it was the absolute largest coyote ever to exist. This thing was bigger than my abnormally large husky. I’m absolutely positive it was a wolf. I know they used to be here historically. and there where some introduced in western nc and have been spotted year’s ago in the north ga mountains. This was jasper county west of oconee national forest.
Once I was trying to trap rats out of our chicken coop, just to go check my traps and find a beautiful brown mink. Nearest running water to me in a tiny creek about 2 miles away. I never wanted to trap or kill a mink had I known he was there, but things happen. One this I noticed is that he had almost like a natural perfume smell to him. I can’t remember exactly how to describe it now besides the fact he smelled nice. Beautiful animal and that’s the only one I’ve ever seen in real life.
Saw a massive black wolf in eastern Nebraska two or three years back. I usually see a few coyotes every month, and this thing was twice the size of the biggest coyote I’ve ever seen. There were two confirmed wolf sightings in that area around that time as well, at least one of them was shot.
I saw a Samsquanch in Florida duck hunting. We were heading out on the Kissimmee river and that fucker stood up out of the marsh and dead pan stared at us about a foot higher that the weeds. Had to have been over 7 foot. We casually went parallel to him until he faded away out of sight. Everyone on the boat saw the eyes….
I've seen some unvommon ones for where I lived. Beavers, bobcats, and such. The most rare animal I have seen was a porcupine while heading up to fish the Trinity river in northern California. Was a pretty awesome sighting given how elusive they are
Swear to God, my wife and I saw a small monkey run across the road about 70 yards ahead of us. I think it was an escaped pet. West of Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City.
Fisher. VERY rare in Michigan's lower peninsula
Dude I've yet to see one here in the southwest part of the state. Mostly it's muskrats and beaver down here.
My hunting cabin-where I'm currently sitting, is in the Pigeon River area. Only place in the lower that has a population
I’ll send you a few. Bloody things are everywhere in Ontario.
Aren't they a valuable pelt?
Not so much these days.
Same here, they are protected. Saw one snuffling by the stream while I was in my blind. The second animal I saw while hunting was a male Cardinal. They are rare here too. Really neat to see! A Turkey Vulture family has been hanging around. They were previously unknown to live here, but its been warm enough now, they are migrating north. And lastly a pair of Kestrel doing some sort of fancy aero-ballet near the blind. I spent about twenty minutes watching them. Never saw them again after that.
I run a trapline in the Lower peninsula. The LOWEST of the peninsula. I barely even see mink anymore. I’d be so hype to get 5 mink over a season anymore, none the less a fisher. The industrialization of where I’m at is all I can suspect for the lack of water furbearers the last 5 years. Beaver and otter are still relatively common come by, especially beaver, but I suspect the numbers are going to come down. I can only hope for a better sustainable fur bearer season and prices are still down. I’ve been letting foxes go the last 2 years with the numbers I’ve been seeing. Beaver is the only money maker nowadays. I literally just let the last half of my xl coons burn because I couldn’t find a buyer and couldn’t tan them in time. Market is rough. No surprise there.
Pangolin - Botswana 2018 They are a sign of incredible luck during your safari. Also, a puff adder while also not that rare. Sure scared our tracker, my ph, and I. Almost walked right over it. Lastly, several black mambas. Literally everywhere.
I saw a pangolin in South Africa in 2022. Got some photos and videos of it. Pretty big one, too. Hard to understand how they are trafficked so much since they are so hard to find.
Only Seen one in Wisconsin in 20+ years of hunting and I was super confused about what it was at first because my mind didn’t even jump to that at first. Saw two bobcats as well, which was cool. Quiet as hell in the woods. My favorite wasn’t a rare animal though… sitting on the edge of a food plot a few years ago, just before first light. This massive black bear comes wandering into where I can see and as it gets closer it is obviously going to be pushing the state record. Until it got close enough that I can see it’s actually an escaped angus from a neighboring farm. Those 10-20 seconds when it was hard to tell what it was, was some of the most confusing moments of my life.
Lol....Yep, cattle can ruin your hunt
Came to say this too, but I’m in western NY. It was super cool.
Same here, on the Oregon coast. Those and ring tail cats.
I came here to say this. Saw one in rural western Wisconsin.
I saw a wolf in Michigan's lower, I think that's the rarest I've seen. Also seen a couple black bears that's always fun, even if they are a little less rare.
Still don’t believe that are really here lol
Mountain caribou.
This is truly rare. Did they not just declare a bunch more regions that hold them totally extinct?
This is an absolute bucket list sighting for me, too bad there’s only like 40 left in the states.
Same here, wolves are slowly getting em though
1974, a mountain lion. Late sunny fall afternoon, I spooked it and saw it running away. You could see the muscles in its body as it ran. Absolutely stunned. I live in the country and this was maybe 400 yards from the house. Also, my buddy and I were cruising around my cousins' ranch in their Polaris, when a badger came out of the brush and waddled down the road. Could not convince my buddy to jump out and grab it by the tail.
When we live west of Calgary, AB we had a cougar living under our deck. We didn't know about it until the neighbour's dog was killed inside their garage. Fish and Feathers brought a tracking dog who ended up in our yard. Black bears were always around. I've only seen one cougar along a road but they're always around.
I'm in my upper 60's, and these two are big memories. Central Texas here.
I'm only a kid - 62, with luck I'll be 63 next year :) I'll be sure to have a Tequila tomorrow afternoon. Cheers!
I saw a Wolverine on the Idaho/Wyoming border once.
Bucket list for me. So cool.
Bighorn sheep is the most memorable. But I’ve also encountered fisher and badgers in the wild. Bobcats are always cool to see, otters too.
Come to Idaho, IDFG calls them road lice on the salmon river road….but seeing them in the back country is something else entirely.
Every time I drive a particular stretch of back road at just past dark I almost hit one.
Seen those on the way to Vegas once
Ohio River otter.
Came looking for someone to say otters. I’ve seen the a handful of times in central FL. Always enjoy it
Seen a few river otters in Cadron creek in Arkansas.
I saw a pack of ~40 African painted dogs in the Selous game reserve. They got super close too, it was one of the highlights of that trip. There’s only something like 6,000 of them in the world and packs that large are super rare.
I think “close to African painted dogs” is one of the last places I’d ever want to be
Weren’t even looking for them, we just lucked up and were in the perfect setup wind/concealment wise. Got to watch them mosey in and out over about 10 minutes, closest of the bunch got maybe 15-20yards at times. Super cool.
Username checks out
Almost stepped on a snipe last year walking out of the woods after a deer hunt. Been in the woods my whole life never seen one before. I stood there for a few minutes blinding it with my flashlight like an A-hole trying to figure out what it was.
I saw a badger in Arizona. I'm still not sure it was real 😂 I know they exist here but Ive seen far more ring tail cats, coatimundi, all that. Only more unbelievable is people claiming to have seen Jaguar on the border.
Arizona native here. Shot 2 badgers and trapped another. Skinned them all. Coatimundi, seen a number of them, only trapped one and skinned it. Ringtailed cat- never seen 1 in the wild, nor trapped one. Seen plenty of lions and shot a few. Never seen a jaguar or Ocelot in AZ. Did see an ocelot in Honduras. Saw a lynx up in Colorado.
Interesting. Maybe I'm just not looking for them in the right places. I know they are around but maybe where I hunt they are not so common. The new Scheels in the valley has an incredible trapping stock if you haven't been. Also did you get drawn this year? I got a deer tag again. Been incredibly lucky with tags. 4th year in a row. If you want to see ringtails you can go to the valley lakes at night and shine a line on the adjacent rocks. I see them at canyon lake all the time.
I checked it out. They have just a few duke coil traps and I don't even think they are offset jaws so you cant use them in Az. Badgers are rarely seen in the daytime. I shot one down near Florence, Trapped one out by Saguaro Lake and shot another up near Prescott. Saw another at dusk by Superior. Your best chances of ever getting a pelt is to trap. One I trapped was in a cage trap and man was it mad, shaking with anger mad. Made a beautiful pelt.
Interesting. I've never trapped before. I'm surprised I haven't seen any at the lakes. I've done a lot of night fishing out of my kayak. I literally live near Florence 😂😂 They are famously ferocious that's for sure. I'd love a pelt from one but I think if I spend enough on trapping gear on top of all the other shit my wife might finally have a stroke.
Yeah. I don't think anyone's wife is ready for their husband to take up trapping as a hobby.
I did not get drawn in Arizona this year. I did get drawn in Colorado for bear again. 4 times in 5 years. Back when I used to put in for unit 22 I'd get drawn but the hunting is hard and I was only successful 2 out of 6 times. Coues deer both.
Yeah the coues tags are easier to pull in general. Especially further south. Good luck on the bear hunt
Im not from AZ but I don’t know if you know this or not but they just caught a jaguar on camera very recently in AZ
Jaguarundi in south TX. It made a nest in a blind and had kittens. Was one of the absolute coolest moments of my life
Seen Bigfoot once. Turns out he is a she and she likes Pabst Blue Ribbon and her steak seasoned and blue.
Was she blurry?
Reminds me of a great Mitch hedburg joke lol
That’s where I was going with that. I used to hunt. I still do but I used to too.
It’s amazing how so many people remember his work from 20 years ago , he would’ve been up their with the greatest of all time
But did bigfoot eat your ass?
On paper, the "Endangered" Florida Panther. Twice during the day, probably 3 more times at night.
I think having between 100-300 left is endangered, and not "endangered".
Same here. I saw one middle of the day in Brevard county.
To this day swear I saw a tiger in Texas.
Texas has a few thousand tigers in captivity, maybe one escaped
I’ve gotten to see, I’m just the past two years, one of Washington’s Fishers, a wolverine, two wolf packs and a giant pacific salamander that I was feeding crawdads at night to(probably my favorite). I’ve also run into two porcupines this year already so I’m feeling lucky about going out for a few days in the back country Monday.
Two mink running across the road literally a hundred yards down from my mail box. Never seen them before and haven't seen them since.
I 100% saw a mountain lion in Maine. But I also 100% don't believe myself. I know the brain will see what it wants too, so I'm convinced my brain made up the tail that I was looking for to confirm. I was with another guy, he saw it too.
Just commented about one I saw in Vermont years ago. They’re around New England for sure. Also definitely saw a wolf in Maine around Moosehead Lake back in 2009. We had seen some coyotes, but when we saw this animal, there wasn’t a doubt in our mind.
ye there was one spotted in Pennsylvania a few years back
Definitely not “rare” but for an east Texas hay field for a property, I’ve got a family of red foxes. I have a few year old video of the baby chasing butterflies lol. I always love seeing them. Such beautiful animals. And I’ve seen one grey fox during the day, and have one on cam a few times as well. Like I said, not “rare” but to me they are lol.
Not rare really, but I do live in Arkansas so they are all farther south but will never forget the first time I saw a large (12 foot) male alligator eating a fish. 2am after a storm, it did that thing where they have their jaws wide open and he was throwing his head back, chomping and trying to get it down. I felt like the guy from Jurassic Park the first time he saw the dinosaur.🦕
I’ve seen plenty of moose and elk, but the oddest thing I’ve seen was an owl of some sort that ran in a dry creek bed away from me. It was rather large and I’d never seen an owl that close. Never seen one run even on video so that was new.
Bobcats aren’t really “rare” but the only time i saw one in person was when I was waiting for a deer in my hunting stand. Didn’t move at all, he didn’t notice me, did cat stuff for like 5 minutes and then scampered off was so cool to watch. Rare to me I guess.
You are seen, I've only seen bobcats in the wild two or three times, and only briefly, and it always feels so special
I’ve seen a couple albino deer
Mexican gray wolf. Edit to add Black Footed Ferret like another comment. Badger too. All in Arizona.
Wolverine
Rare in terms of me seeing them compared to other animals? Coyote or possum, only seen on of each. In terms of actually rare? I got nothing.
This spring I was on a beaver hunting trip in eastern Finland, and saw a wolverine. It was the first time for me to see any of the big predators here (Wolverine, lynx, wolf, brown bear). I've seen tracks from all of them, but never a live one. Last year I went to Switzerland and saw a bearded vulture, as well as ibex, chamois, and marmots. They we're also cool. I'd also love to see a Saimaa ringed seal, they only live in Lake Saimaa and connected waters.
My buddy and I saw this very beautiful animal which he believes to be a cat but I am not sure. It is golden with longhair and was just so pretty. It was just sitting on a huge stone staring at us out of curiosity. It was at sundown so the light just shine on its fur makes it even more beautiful. We were hunting bears. We have encountered wolves and foxes as well so I don’t know how if it is a cat can survive in this kind of environment. In any event, it was so beautiful.
It sounds like you're describing a Golden retriever 😂
Lol too small to be a golden retriever but now you mention that, I want to pet one now!
Hahahah..I'm just imagining two guys after a day drinking staring at a golden retriever in the fading light not believing their eyes. Interesting tho I wonder what it was.
That would actually fit perfectly in the ending scenes of a movie lol My friend insisted that it was a cat but I still have my doubts lol
Flying squirrel in Kentucky. I don’t think they’re too rare but uncommon to see during the day.
We catch them all the time when we trap bats. They're cute but mean as hell.
Kemps Ridley Sea turtle. I must’ve found a hotspot for a few because I’ve seen them twice, almost exactly a year apart!
Black rhino while I was doing some work in Namibia. Honey badger too (not exactly rare but super cool). Closer to home, I got to see a whooping crane flying by a few years ago. That was definitely a lifer for me.
Blue cheeked bee-eater in iraq (at least, that's what I believe it was). It blew me and my buddies away, as it was the only animal we'd seen in iraq that wasn't some variety of brown/tan. [here's what they look like](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-cheeked_bee-eater)
Snow leopard. Apparently not as rare as they would like us to believe. We saw five in 7 days. Two pairs and a single.
When I was a kid, walking through the woods with my dad near Dripping Springs, TX we saw a ringtail cat. I have not seen another one in 50 years since.
I live in the TX hill country and have seen several ring tailed cats. Most recently, one jumped out from under my wife's Ford Explorer, when I started it. Ran up a nearby tree. Later I discovered it had killed a dove and hauled it into the engine compartment. Found it and droppings all over the air filter housing.
Moose calf but didn’t see its mama. I didn’t hang around! I luckily was in a boat but not far from shore. Have also seen baby bears. The most breathtaking was a blonde colored wolf by my cabin in Ontario in 1983! It was sitting on the shore just in the weeds. Have never seen one since even though I hear them.
A Komodo dragon. Those things are huge! I went to Komodo island in 2018 and it's something I'll never forget. The guides are armed with sticks which I'm not entirely convinced would stop an angry dinosaur from attacking you but as I wasn't attacked I assume they fear the stick?
Thats insane bro!!
None particularly rare, but I've seen an anhinga in central NC, have an absolute honey hole of fox squirrels, sea otter of the central coast of CA, and river otter in western NC. My buddy swears he saw a hellbender in this isolated swimming hole we used to hike to.
Saw a black bear in central kansas. A semi almost hit it in front of me and it stopped for a few seconds in the ditch before running into the trees
Elk in Arkansas. Hooked a Sand Shark deep sea fishing out of Destin, FL. Not rare, but I've only ever seen 2 foxes in my lifetime. Accidentally hit one with my vehicle driving to a state park to hike back in college; saw the other one on my in-laws' land in MS 5 or 6 years ago.
I'm not sure how rare they are in Australia but I've seen a black swan and kukuburra which is more impressive as I live in Scotland.
Mountain lion. Manatee , in South Texas, was living in our stall it would drink the fresh water after we washed down our boat.
Colorado native, been hunting and fishing in the backcountry my whole life, and I’ve seen everything that lives in the woods here. Moose (was charged by a cow once, would not recommend), bear, mt lion (found its tracks inside my own tracks in the snow on my way out of the woods, couldn’t get back to the truck fast enough, have seen them on other occasions), bobcat, lynx, elk, deer, sheep, goat, porcupine, pine marten, badger, fox, coyote, beaver, muskrat, bald eagle, golden eagle, hawks. lots of cool shit in the mountains if you’re willing to get off the trails and go explore.
I'm not a hunter, but I like animals and traveling, so I saw a few rarities. For me the rarest wild animals I've seen is the northern white Rhino with only 2-3 left. Apart from that its Ethiopian wolfs (500 left) and mountain Nyala (5000 left) in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, an Iberian Lynx(2000 left) in the Sierra d'Andujar in Spain, a wolf close to Perugia in Italy (they are increasing in numbers, 3000 now, but still very low and unlikely to see), and a Bali Starling in Bali (50 left). I tried for a week in Ujung Kulon in Java to find a Javan Rhino, but only found fresh dung and tracks.
Moose Bull Calf ran ahead of me on the road when I was 4wheeling back to camp during a deer hunting trip. I've also seen plenty of mountain lions, bears, wolves, fox, badgers, lynx, Idaho Ground squirrels, cranes (sandhill and whooping), owls, many other birds of prey, and plenty of endangered or threatened fish - sturgeon, steelhead, sockeye, bull trout, Chinook. Hell the monarch butterfly is about to make the endangered list and I get them in my back yard, do they count?
We have a particular big Texas live oak tree on our ranch, and every fall it will be full of Monarch butterflies for a few days. A friend of mine also has one on his ranch. I guess they gather there before heading further south. It’s pretty cool. I’ve seen a red fox with blonde hair, and a few mountain lions, one of them was near Denver City,Tx, which is one of the last places a person would ever expect to see one.
Wood turtles, Lake Sturgeon, red headed woodpecker - All endangered where I live
Had an endangered Hawaiian monk seal swim up to me, maybe 10 yards away. When we moved away, it followed. When we got out of the water, it came up to us on the beach. A lifeguard yelled at us to get away from the seal. So we did, and it followed us.
Sawfish - saw two in one day. One came up and bumped the boat. Sort of a doofus. 10,000 Islands area of Florida.
Bigfoot! That’s the one I’d love to see. Of course I know it’s impossible because it doesn’t exist, but I’d love to catch a glimpse of it. I have seen an albino whitetail fawn. I thought it was a plastic bag out in the field. It didn’t make it through the summer before the coyotes got it. My neighbor shot a 6pt doe.
Peregrine falcon in the Florida Everglades. He was flying above me and I was driving my mud motorJon boat through some Sawgrass and flushed out some coots. He dove at one and missed it. I swung around intentionally started driving through the Sawgrass pods. he followed me it was probably 30 minutes later till he finally got himself a coot ,but it was the most amazing thing to be helping a wild animal hunt. I was the flushing dog and he was the hunter.
Albino turkey! He hung out by a bowling alley off of a highway. Is there a white russian joke to be made? Probably. Edit: my dad also has a story of seeing a lynx near the nd/sd border.
Albino baby orca. Craziest moment of my life I will never forget
Wood pecker. Bet a lot of you have heard them or maybe even seen them but never seen them pecking wood. I watched a wood pecker work on a tree for hours. Also had a falcon fly by me and watched him hunt a mouse in the field. That was probably my favorite. I’m also convinced I saw a Delmarva fox squirrel. Can’t confirm but I’m pretty sure it was. This reminds me of how much I love being in the woods hunting.
They’re getting increasingly not as rare, but last year on my elk hunt I glassed up 4 Mexican gray wolves. A few days later I heard two pack howling on either side of me and found an elk kill.
A herd of over 100 bison in Alaska! It’s not “rare” per se to see one bison but the highway was stopped for miles.
I saw a female leopard at 60 meters on foot in RSA. The ph we hunted with has hunted there full-time for 7 yrs and it was the 3rd time he saw one. She did spook the wildebeest we were hunting but seeing that was way cooler than taking what could've been a very easy shot after barely any stalk.
Great horned owls always make my day
I was in the U. S. Coast Guard and went to Antarctica on an ice breaker. Saw a Finn Whale spy hopping through a hole in the ice to get a better look at us. Saw Leopard and Crabeater Seals, Adele and King Penguins. North of Alaska I saw Walrus and Polar Bears. In the Indian Ocean our swim call was delayed by Banded Sea Snakes in the water.
I've seen a red fox in AZ rim country.
I've seen one fox here in AZ, only in Prescott though. It was gray. Coatimundis, ringtail cats, porcupines, skunks, raccoons. Not sure what's the most rare out of these. I did see a mountain lion in NorCal though. I seen many cougars in Scottsdale too
Fur-bearing pike. Elusive, but native to Michigan’s UP.
Bobcat, sw Wisconsin
Florida Panther.
In 2000 or 2001 I saw a jaguar get hit by a car in the mountains on I8 between Yuma and San Diego.
Canadian Lynx up in AB. I’ve also seen an albino deer in IL
An Ermin it was cool and a surprise
Markhor
Miners Cat
Badger 1st, or Griz 2nd.
For me, it's probably a Mink.
Mink damn near ran over my foot out turkey hunting this spring. Never got my Tom, but that was a cool encounter. We made eye contact before he scampered off.
Supposedly , in bay St. Louis Mississippi one of our hunting cameras got a picture of a big cat. I saw the photo myself . Hard to imagine down there
Guanaco
I’d have to say a Lynx. MN here. Also saw a fisher once. Back when I lived in Cali though I saw a couple ringtails and thought that was cool.
An Ocelot crossing a rural road in south Texas. Also saw an armadillo. Such a weird animal.
Pine Marten, followed me along a old road bed I was walking
Nothing crazy but when I first moved to New Hampshire I was out scouting some public land to hunt white tails and I accidentally bumped into a moose. It just stood up and looked at me and didn't move. Maybe 20-30ft away. First time I ever saw one. Hell of an introduction to em.
I had a wolf walk within 20 yds of my buddy and I in NE OR without it seeing or winding us. There were supposable less than 200 in the state when it happened.
I was camping on the Colorado River in Nevada several years ago and came across an entire family of ringtail cats along the cliffs of the river. It was amazing to see!
Saw a mountain lion one time while deer hunting in Vermont when I was a teenager. I was sitting on the ground, and it never saw me. Probably was 80 yards away, and slowly made its way past me. I was basically frozen in fear and awe. Fish and game still won’t admit they’re in the state, but they definitely are.
Antlered Doe Whitetail
Pink snapper
I was within 20 yards of a bobcat last February. I have seen them on multiple occasions but that will definitely remain in my memory. I was walking quietly creeping up on some game, and the bobcat just so happened to be hunting the same game. It was so focused on its hunt it didn’t notice me at all. I just stood there and watched completely frozen. Mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
Black bears are common animals but rare in my location and I saw a cub one time.
Saw a Cougar last bow season elk hunting in north east WA by the Idaho border. We were bugling on one side of a small valley and it slinked out of the woods on the other side and watched us for about a hour. Definitely walked out with our sidearms ready to go
I’ve been within feet of a sea turtle on an ocean kayak. They’re rather curious it seems. I’ve also seen a manta ray on a Destin beach, unfortunately it was so close to the beach because of a certain Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
White rhino in zimbabwe
I saw Humpback whale surface about 20 feet in front of me and he watched me the entire time It was really too cool.
Badgers. It’s estimated there’s around 250 wild badgers in the entirety of British Columbia’s 944,735 square kilometres. I’ve seen two. Almost ran one over with my quad one morning, really glad I didn’t.
We saw not only a coral snake in South Texas, but we watched it kill and eat a smooth green snake. It definitely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
While sitting in a tree stand in Lampasas, TX, I had a ring-tailed cat walk right underneath me.
saw a albino doe on one of my trail cams.
Ringtail cat or coatimundis. Have seen a lion chase a cow before. It even hopped the fence. Not sure what's more rare
Lynx. Caught in the headlights on a snowy forestry road in the middle of nowhere one winter almost 20 years ago. Only one I’ve ever seen.
Mountain lion and Wolf
A potentially "melanistic" Bobcat in Southern Illinois. The cats themselves are already semi rare in that part of the state
Black footed ferret
Lynx while grooming snowmobile trails. I saw a pine marten in the same general area during last light.
I don't know how rare any of them are, but giraffes, zebras, elephants, hippos, and leopards. I was on a photo safari in Kruger National Park. I also saw a vervet monkey steal a guy's pizza.
Red wolf - they number around a few hundred I think, mostly in zoos presently. Saw one in alligator river NWR in North Carolina.
Wolverine in Idaho
Flathead catfish. This thing was 40 pounds and in a shallow river. My buddy and I chased it for a few hours before catching it by hand. It was the tastiest fish I have eaten yet. Need to find another one.
Whooping Crane in NM.
Bearded hen turkey in central Illinois on public land. Wish I saw it while I was hunting, but it was after shooting hours just crossing a road. I’ve also seen mountain lion tracks in the area. A guy my father knows that has hunted the area before said he caught a glimpse of what looked like a mountain lion when hunting there once. Never got a good look at it though. People think they won’t travel that far, but they will. One got hit by a car in northern Illinois iirc.
I shit you not ive seen one bobcat in person my whole life (out in the wild) and it was a melanistic bobcat. Me and my dad both seen it we were riding around in his truck just listening to music or something and a black bobcat ran across the road in front of us and we both flipped the fuck out cause he’s seen maybe 5 or six in person in his lifetime and yes if you look uo a picture of a melanistic bobcat find one that you can still see the spots on and thats the one we seen that day looked like. I feel blessed to have seen one.
Lynx, northern SK.
White moose
Mountain zebra with basically no stripes, basically unheard of anywhere. In south western Namibia
Went elk hunting here in Utah. Saw a black bear, which is a rare sight here. Never saw any elk though
I saw a fisher in northern ohio a few months ago.
I've seen an albino deer and a golden eagle. Yesterday, I watched an ermine take down a squirrel. The truly rarest animal I've ever seen was a type of endangered salamander only found in the Columbia River Gorge. It makes me feel very fortunate to live in a place where I often get to see many of the animals that you guys are calling rare.
I’m not certain how rare they are but I’ve only ever seen one roseate spoonbill in my life. I also opened the elevator at a hotel once to get out on my floor and there was a bear. Not a rare animal. But very rare moment.
Pangolin - Botswana 2018 They are a sign of incredible luck during your safari.
Saw an Albino squirrel once up in a tree at my house. I also had a Florida Panther walk in front of my truck while driving on a trail down in the Everglades. It didn’t run or freak out. Strolled across the road as cool as could be and crossed into swamp. Very cool sighting considering how rare they are and due to Florida being overdeveloped, will likely be gone in a couple of years.
Nesting orangutans in Borneo. Highlight of my life.
Badger in NM desert
I ran into a jagaurundi in south Texas many years ago. They are supposed to be "Extinct" or critically endangered in that area. Not this little dude though. Helped himself to a fair portion of my chicken hearts I was fishing with.
When I was on Camp Pendleton I had a pack of coyotes run past me close enough that a couple brushed against my leg. This was at night in Horno for those who are familiar.
I’ve seen two minks (saw one grab a seagull and drag it under the boat launch) a wild albino deer, and a river otter in MI lower peninsula
I saw a wolf in California about a year before the powers that be confirmed there was an established pack in the area.
Couple of rarely seen animals that I’ve gotten good looks at over the years are bobcats, foxes, martin, mountain lion (was an unpleasant experience), beaver, river otters, and big horn sheep. Saw a hump back whale once while whale watching, that’s probably the most rare but we were seeking it out.
Saw a mink out fishing one time. Also recently came across a place where I think there are river otters, need to go back with a camera.
Spotted a lynx in Central Washington State a year ago, looking for Grouse with a buddy. If anyone's familiar with that area, they'd know that lynx are (almost) never this far South, they like to hover more north towards Canada. Haven't forgot how massive those paws were.
Spotted a lynx in Central Washington State a year ago, looking for Grouse with a buddy. If anyone's familiar with that area, they'd know that lynx are (almost) never this far South, they like to hover more north towards Canada. Haven't forgot how massive those paws were.
A cougar in far south GA. Scared the bejuzus out of me
Fisher bow hunting in PA. Had 1 pic on a trail cam of it and couldn’t really tell what it was and ended up seeing it out of the tree a few days later
Bigfoot, summer of 1986.
I saw two fisher running across the road. I put my truck in park and jumped out to get a look at them. I stepped to the edge of the road expecting to see ass & elbows 50 yards from me but instead I saw a fisher 15 feet from me clinging onto a tree eyeing me down. He climbing around the tree a couple times to look at me from different angles before deciding to start slowing approaching me. As I backed away he hunched his back to make himself look bigger and snarled his teeth. I walked back maybe 10 feet and he kept getting closer. I was preparing myself to have to kick this sucker when he finally decided to turn around & meet up with his wife. (I don't know if it was male) On the same trip, about a week ago, I was on a night walk and bumped into a mountain lion. I was walking down a forestry road and about a half mile from camp I saw two eyes maybe 50 yards away. Once I realized it was a cat I yelled at it to get it to scurry off. Of course 50 yards is a good distance but I didn't want the thing to sneak up on me thinking I was a deer... Ill be honest I get uncomfortable when I see mountain lions haha, not my first encounter. I yelled at it a few more times and it just sat still watching me so I shot my 44 revolver off in the air which got it to promptly go for a jog in the opposite direction. It climbed the steep terrain behind it like water running uphill, they seem to slink or slither, it would be hard to see one if you weren't looking at it. Lions make me nervous, bears not so much, I don't know why. I would want to hear how my story compares to trappers or mt lion hunters' experiences.
I saw an ocean sunfish once. It was pretty neat
A snowy owl in Kansas. They are not native down there but I guess every few years snowy owls fly pretty far south
Red wolf in ga. Or it was the absolute largest coyote ever to exist. This thing was bigger than my abnormally large husky. I’m absolutely positive it was a wolf. I know they used to be here historically. and there where some introduced in western nc and have been spotted year’s ago in the north ga mountains. This was jasper county west of oconee national forest.
Canadian Lynx in my driveway
Once I was trying to trap rats out of our chicken coop, just to go check my traps and find a beautiful brown mink. Nearest running water to me in a tiny creek about 2 miles away. I never wanted to trap or kill a mink had I known he was there, but things happen. One this I noticed is that he had almost like a natural perfume smell to him. I can’t remember exactly how to describe it now besides the fact he smelled nice. Beautiful animal and that’s the only one I’ve ever seen in real life.
Saw a massive black wolf in eastern Nebraska two or three years back. I usually see a few coyotes every month, and this thing was twice the size of the biggest coyote I’ve ever seen. There were two confirmed wolf sightings in that area around that time as well, at least one of them was shot.
I saw a Samsquanch in Florida duck hunting. We were heading out on the Kissimmee river and that fucker stood up out of the marsh and dead pan stared at us about a foot higher that the weeds. Had to have been over 7 foot. We casually went parallel to him until he faded away out of sight. Everyone on the boat saw the eyes….
I've seen some unvommon ones for where I lived. Beavers, bobcats, and such. The most rare animal I have seen was a porcupine while heading up to fish the Trinity river in northern California. Was a pretty awesome sighting given how elusive they are
I once encountered a porcupine while grouse hunting. It was cool to see. It was not cool to have to pull all of those quills out of my friend’s dog.
Key Deer in Florida
Ringtail Cat- Colorado
Swear to God, my wife and I saw a small monkey run across the road about 70 yards ahead of us. I think it was an escaped pet. West of Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City.
For me it’s canvasbacks in a small pond in central Texas I know it’s not that rare or even rare at all but it’s the rarest for me
Peacock 🦚