Wildlife Experiences while Travelling (camping, cruise, bridge, France)

[Trimac20]

What are some of your memorable wildlife-related travel stories? Close encounter with a tiger in India, penguins in Antarctica, vast herds of animals on the Serengeti?

I'm not very well travelled...I guess some that stick out, but that aren't very spectacular:

Australia

1. Seeing humpback whales on two occasions, on a boat off the coast here in Western Australia, and again off the beach at Portland, Victoria.

2. Seeing the penguins at Philip Island, Victoria. It's become a big tourist attraction now. You wait quietly in the sand-dunes, and just after sunrise hundreds of little penguins emerge from the ocean after a hard day's fishing. It's quite a spectacle.

3. Seeing a crocodile on the bank on the Daintree River, Queensland.

4. Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania. Going on a night safari, saw countless wombats, wallabies, pademelons, possums. I've never seen so much wildlife in one place.

5. Seeing the rainforest birdlife in the sub-tropical rainforests of NSW and Queensland.

6. Swimming with Manta Rays at Ningaloo Reef, Coral Bay, Western Australia.

7. Swimming with crocodiles (freshwater crocodiles) in the tepid waters of Lake Argyle, Kimberley, WA.

8. Swimming with the bottlenose dolphins (tame ones, but in the wild) at Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, WA.

9. Snorkelling in the coral reefs at both Ningaloo and the Great Barrier Reef (at the Whitsundays). Seeing goannas and a snake on the islands in the Whitsundays.

10. Driving through the remote outback - deserts.etc, seeing red kangaroos, dingos, emus. Seeing a dead camel by the highway while crossing the vast Nullabor Plain.

11. Almost stepping on a deadly dugite where I used to live! Another 'snake' episode was seeing a swimming legless lizard in a waterhole down in the gorge at Karijini National Park, Pilbara, Western Australia.

12. Seeing huge flocks of cockatoos in several parts of Victoria. Also seeing a colony of sea lions at Portland, Victoria.


United States

1. Seeing a deer in the forrest at the Grand Canyon.

2. Getting close and personal with an 18 foot alligator at Honey Island Swamp, Slidell, Louisiana. The big male was so close I could have touched it. Our guide was feeding it sausages, lol. Saw at least two other crocs, and a variety of birdlife including egrets.

New Zealand

1. Seeing keas (endangered flightless parrot) at 2000 metres above sea-level in the snow at Mount Hutt.

Malaysia

Walking through the primeval environment of Taman Negara National Park, the world's oldest rainforest, especially at night. The most we saw was a deer, mouse deer owl and a civet cat but it was still a pretty special experience. Also seeing some of the glow in the dark plant life and insects.

Seeing the orang utans at a sanctuary in Borneo, and also visiting Bako National Park to see the Proboscis Monkeys playing around. The mud-crabs were pretty cool as well.

Getting up and close to monkeys in various parts of Malaysia.

Thailand

Not in the wild, but almost being strangled by a baby elephant was kind of interesting...well not really, but I was afraid of that when the cute little thing put it's trunk around my neck!

More monkeys...

China

Didn't see much more than birds, for the most part, but got to see some beautiful scenery.



SOME THINGS I HOPE TO DO IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

See the vast flocks of Flamingoes in the lakes of the Great Rift Valley, Africa.

Go on safari somewhere in Africa to see the vast herds of animals and the 'Big Five.'

See a tiger in the wild somewhere in the jungle. Even more exciting to see it hunt.

See a blue whale.

Go to Antarctica...see the penguins, albatrosses etc.

Kakadu in the Wet Season...a profusion of life

Go to the Amazon to experience the environment, also see Anacondas, Jaguars etc.

See the 'snow monkeys' - the Japanese Macaques - having a bath in the hot springs in the snowy mountains of Japan.

See a polar bear in the Arctic.

[Jezer]

Booze Cruise to France.

More wildlife than I care to remember.

[phxgreenfire]

Hmm... sea lions in San Francisco; humpback whales, sea lions and dolphins in San Diego's waters; elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goats in Colorado; snakes, coyotes and scorpions in the Phoenix area; deer, raccoons, opossums, skunks, lizards, geckos and snakes in Norman, Oklahoma, plus water moccasins, catfish, perch and crayfish in lakes/streams in other parts of the state; pelicans, alligators and nutrias in Louisiana; giant snails in Germany; some kind of antelope, cobras, apes and storks in Morocco; elephants and crocodiles in Thailand; kookaburras, flying foxes and ibises in Sydney; capuchin monkeys, a coati and some sort of vulture or condor in Rio.

Those are all I can think of off the top of my head. Aside from urban animals like feral dogs/cats, pigeons, rats, etc. I haven't seen much wildlife in my travels.

[2KidsforMe]

Years ago my husband and I were hiking in Wyoming. We parked our car at the trail head lot. We came back several hours later, and our car was literally surrounded by Bison! We had to wait about half an hour for the big guys to clear out. I will never forget it.

[stillkit]

A pod of killer whales going up the Santa Barbara Channel.

Big whales breaking the surface off Malibu.

A mountain lion streaking across I-20 near Tyler, TX one night.

Coming face to face with a herd of Moose standing in the middle US-191 north of West Yellowstone, MT.

A Sliver-tipped Grizzly Bear standing in the road west of Chama, NM. I really didn't know they could go THAT FAST from a dead stop!

A huge, Great Snowy Owl drifting across the road in northern Minnesota. Its wingspan was as wide as my Peterbilt windshield.

A snake at least 16 ft long crossing I-20 between Monroe and Calhoun, LA. It was twice the width of the paved shoulder. Locals said it was probably a rattlesnake.

A rattlesnake lying in the road west of Chanute, KS with a head so large that the truck actually bounced a little when I hit it and it "popped" loud enough for me to hear.

A Black Bear wandering through the tire yard at a recap shop in Kittaning, PA where I was waiting to unload. I spotted it just AFTER I'd gotten out to take a leak.

A swarm of some kind of black beetles which I ran into near Milan, NM on I-40. They were so thick they literally covered my windshield in goo in a matter of seconds. I had to stick my head out the window to see where I was going. Naturally, I got covered in goo too.

An apparently injured Gooney Bird I hit near Mt. Vernon, MO on I-44. Yes, that's right...a Gooney Bird in Missouri. No, I hadn't been drinking and, yes, I know what Gooney Birds look like. I have no idea what it was doing there.

But, the best off all was some kind of lizard I hit on TX-123 near Kenedy, TX one afternoon. I have no idea what it was, but it was about 6 or 7 feet long, stood 3 or 4 inches off the road surface and looked very much like a Komodo Dragon. They don't have those in South Texas, so I assume it was an Iguana.

[intelfan11315]

Was on an Island in India and got surrounded by a group of monkeys

[StealthRabbit]

Having a monsterous Grey Whale breach beside our 30' saliboat in the middle of the fog was exciting, so was coming upon a Trident Submarine in the same Pea soup fog.

As many as 30 seals would follow our canoes and kayaks daily while living in the Gulf Islands of BC. They would hang around our cabin untill we took our daliy paddle, then they followed like a parade. The kids had a great time with them.

Moose (between Mom and Calf..). while rafting on the Snake River in Tetons. (Near the 'bridge' in Spencer's Mtn.)

Lot and lots of elk while 'stealth' camping in the National Elk Refuge Wyo (There were a few hundred surrounding our tent one night...)

Walking across the backs of Salmon in a river in AK.

Pestering Monkeys in Malaysia (and Thailand) Ugh, and BIG snakes...

The most fear might have come from encountering a HUGE domestic bull in 'Free Range' WY, while traveling at 90 mph in the dark.

A HUGE buffalo romping down I-90 west of Spokane.

Bear, cougar, deer, Bobcats, eagles, vultures... a daily occurance at home. I can tell the threat by how 'cautious' the dog gets (much smarter / attentive than I)

[Trimac20]

^ How could I forget the run in with a roo? Was driving on a gravel road through the woods, pitch black, when a trio of kangaroos saunter across the road. Slam on the brakes (was distracted talking to buddy, and rushing a bit because we were late for something) and made contact with one of the larger roos. The roo literally bounced/glanced off the bonnet (hood) of the car and jumped away, apparently without injury. It did leave a dent in the car. I'm glad the roo wasn't hurt but it was an accident that didn't need to happen.

Advice to anyone coming to Oz who rents a drive and drives out bush. Be very careful of kangaroos on the road - a bit like your deer, but they can leap higher than you would believe. Be especially vigilant at dusk, dawn and at night-time, especially in heavily forested areas. In some forest stretches you're bound to have to slow down to avoid them - if you're not tuned in to what's going on, the results can be nasty. Don't underestimate how much damage a large roo can do, people have been killed.

[slackjaw]

Wow in this forum we have members who have seen a near world record sized alligator and a rattlesnake that was twice as large as any ever recorded.

I've got nothing so exceptional, my greatest animal feats in the wild were:

1. Coral snake while hiking near El Valle, Panama. Was kinda exciting doing the "red on yellow" rhyme and realizing what it was.

2. A california condor in Northern Arizona. It had a plastic clip on its wing with a number big enough to read from the ground, it glided around for awhile then got chased away by two crows 1/4 its size.

3. Some sort of desert antelope while camping West of Phoenix AZ. Was quite surprised as I didn't even know they had those around here, and they were fairly large.

[new jersey mike]

Way back when, in an Atlanta bar came across one of the first local cougars :-)

Actually, in Joshua Tree National Park, identifying the specific type of cactus that the humming birds were nesting in.