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Old 01-18-2018, 05:13 AM
 
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As I've never been, I wanted to know - what wildlife do you all tend to see the most in Minnesota? I'm assuming probably not many animals in the city, but what about the outer lying suburbs or towns further away from the Twin Cities?

I've lived in Arizona pretty much my entire life so I've been used to plenty of birds, snakes, lizards, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, spiders, scorpions, coyotes, javelinas, etc. Most of which probably aren't even close to the types that are around Minnesota. Is any of the wildlife out there a big problem/dangerous? Are there good hunting opportunities?
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Old 01-18-2018, 06:27 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by viridianforest View Post
As I've never been, I wanted to know - what wildlife do you all tend to see the most in Minnesota? I'm assuming probably not many animals in the city, but what about the outer lying suburbs or towns further away from the Twin Cities?

I've lived in Arizona pretty much my entire life so I've been used to plenty of birds, snakes, lizards, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, spiders, scorpions, coyotes, javelinas, etc. Most of which probably aren't even close to the types that are around Minnesota. Is any of the wildlife out there a big problem/dangerous? Are there good hunting opportunities?
Of course depending on which zone you go into the hunting will be good, as there are many to choose from for hunting. In northern Minnesota there are a lot of deer, and some cities have city hunts to try to control the herd.

There are also many car deer collisions which can cause a lot of damage. And in some cases these may become dangerous. I myself have hit two deer over the years, and cannot count the many times that have had near misses. We here in the Duluth area, see deer probably everyday. Almost every night they come into the yard. They are seen all over town.

Moose are a common sight, although not as common as deer. The moose are seen more often a bit further north, though there are moose in the area here also. Moose weigh much more than deer, and can do a lot of damage if struck by a vehicle.

We have had many moose encounters, as we are up north quite often, it is always a blessing when we see one. We have had many close encounters as well, in the Superior National Forest, as well as in the BWCAW>and some exciting ones while mountain biking. I have had the good fortune to be able to take many photos of moose, and some with calves.

We see eagles almost everyday. These are beautiful. IT is exciting to watch and witness when an eagle is pinned down by crows and or blackbirds. The eagle is trapped in a tree top, while the black birds swoop down upon it harassing it until finally the eagle has had enough and tries to escape. We see this happen from time to time.

There are fox that run around also. A few years ago a fox family complete with kits had a home down on Park Point on someones property. The owners blocked off the area and put up no trespassing sings there in an attempt to help the fox family survive.

There is a long time eagle nest on the bay side of Park Point that has been continually occupied for many many years by a nesting pair of eagles. It is wonderful to see them, the nest is quite large.

We have Osprey around here also. Hawks are seen and it is neat to see them hunting over a field.

There are black bears, and we have had several bear encounters also. These animals are beautiful. A few years ago, on Caribou Lake in the BWCAW while on a 6 day solo trip I and our dog at the time had two bear encounters over a three day period.

The first one was at the first site across from the portage and a bear was in someones camp as I went past. There were two canoes out front of the camp fishing and they asked me if this was my camp, look at the bear there, and I turned too look and there it was as it was in the persons packs.

Two days later perhaps the same bear visited me in the site that we were on at the 5th site which was a 5 star site. I was able to take a lot of pictures and video of it, we were close to each other by a safe distance but close enough to see its hair and features.

Two hours later the bear returned, and took some more pictures through the tent doors, but could not get closer as the bear would not let me get near. This time I decided to leave that site for another beings I did not want to be there if the bear was going to keep returning.

We love bird watching, we have seen in our yard feeders many birds including fox sparrows and gold finches.

There are so many animals here. Skunks, so many to name. Otters, beavers, several different woodpeckers, bobcats, lynx.
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Old 01-18-2018, 07:06 AM
 
Location: 912 feet above sea level
2,264 posts, read 1,466,771 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by viridianforest View Post
As I've never been, I wanted to know - what wildlife do you all tend to see the most in Minnesota? I'm assuming probably not many animals in the city, but what about the outer lying suburbs or towns further away from the Twin Cities?

I've lived in Arizona pretty much my entire life so I've been used to plenty of birds, snakes, lizards, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, spiders, scorpions, coyotes, javelinas, etc. Most of which probably aren't even close to the types that are around Minnesota. Is any of the wildlife out there a big problem/dangerous? Are there good hunting opportunities?
No.

As far as attacks, there's wildlife that could be a problem if someone is a special combination of really stupid and exceptionally unlucky, but that's about it. Bear attacks are few and far between, and usually involved a hunter and the animal he has wounded, or someone inadvertently cornering an animal (there was a woman a few years back who entered her garage, unaware than a bear had wandered in through the open side door - it roughed her up slightly in its haste to get out of there). But I've never heard of a predatory attack. The only mountain lion attack of which I am aware turned out to be some fool's escaped/turned-loose pet. A wolf bit someone a year or so ago, but I think that was the first-ever wolf incident ever recorded in the state. And I've never heard of a rattlesnake biting anyone here (they only range in the very southeastern portion of the state, anyway).

The biggest 'threat' is deer, but not by attacking. Rather, by darting out into the road. Or, alternately, just standing there and not moving when you round that corner at night. A handful of Minnesotans are killed and dozens suffer serious injuries every year due to collisions with deer. You can slow down and be alert and that will reduce your odds of encountering one, but it won't eliminate it. It's happened to me and more people I know that I can recall.
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Old 01-18-2018, 09:24 AM
 
1,830 posts, read 1,341,713 times
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Do mosquitoes count?


Deer. Had our family car destroyed twice by hitting them on county roads. Fortunately for us no one was hurt, but unfortunately for the deer, it was killed. They'll dart out at dusk. And they are also carriers for Lyme disease, a genuine concern if out in the woods.
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Old 01-18-2018, 11:31 AM
 
Location: MN
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We have mountain lions now, Black Bears, I guess some rattle snakes in southern MN.
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Old 01-18-2018, 10:24 PM
 
2,561 posts, read 2,035,986 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by viridianforest View Post
As I've never been, I wanted to know - what wildlife do you all tend to see the most in Minnesota? I'm assuming probably not many animals in the city, but what about the outer lying suburbs or towns further away from the Twin Cities?

I've lived in Arizona pretty much my entire life so I've been used to plenty of birds, snakes, lizards, squirrels, rabbits, bugs, spiders, scorpions, coyotes, javelinas, etc. Most of which probably aren't even close to the types that are around Minnesota. Is any of the wildlife out there a big problem/dangerous? Are there good hunting opportunities?
In our home in Eagan, a second-ring surburb of MSP, we regularly had deer, foxes, owls, coyotes, larger snapping turtles (12-24 inches across) each spring to lay eggs, a variety of squirrels, chipmonks, occasional opossum, other things like those and rarely but still there were wolves in the city park half-a-block away and two or three times in seven years, black bears.

Now in Woodbury, in a newer development on former cropland in a suburb further out (but still part of the sprawl), coyotes are common, tons of rabbits, hawks, bald eagles (they have made a big comeback in the Twin Cities in the past decades, even downtown MPLS along the Mississippi) and starting to see squirrels.
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Old 01-18-2018, 11:42 PM
 
Location: Southern MN
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We have small red squirrels, grey squirrels and black squirrels in our yard. Wood turtles and snapping turtles. Harmless snakes, toads and frogs. People tell me we have tree frogs but I've never seen one.


Our bird feeders are visited in winter by a variety of sparrows, four kinds of woodpecker, cardinals, bluejays, juncos, sometimes a red-tailed hawk. In the summer we have purple finches, house wrens, purple martins, gold finches, swallows, an occasional bluebird or scarlet tanager.


There are a variety of ducks and long-legged wading birds, swans, hawks, turkey vultures, owls and some pheasants to be seen on country drives. Raccoon, muskrat, pocket gophers.


And here in South Central MN there are rumors of bobcats making a comeback.
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Old 01-18-2018, 11:58 PM
 
Location: Minnesota
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Don't forget turkeys, they have made a big comeback. Never saw any anywhere until the last 20 years or so. I live in a first ring subyof Minneapolis with a nature area near by and turkey got to such a problem they hired some professional to cull the flock.

Ducks. With a lot of lake and wetlands we have a lot of duck. My nephew does a lot of duck hunting. There are a bunch of different kind, I am only familiar with mallard for sports hunting duck. Canadian geese.

We love our loons, but we don't see them much. Definitely not in urban areas.

Porcupine, beavers, muskrat, craydads, salamanders, frogs, toads.

Pelicans are making a slight comeback.

Last edited by Izzie1213; 01-19-2018 at 12:12 AM..
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Old 01-19-2018, 01:41 AM
 
274 posts, read 290,096 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by demtion35 View Post
Of course depending on which zone you go into the hunting will be good, as there are many to choose from for hunting. In northern Minnesota there are a lot of deer, and some cities have city hunts to try to control the herd.

There are also many car deer collisions which can cause a lot of damage. And in some cases these may become dangerous. I myself have hit two deer over the years, and cannot count the many times that have had near misses. We here in the Duluth area, see deer probably everyday. Almost every night they come into the yard. They are seen all over town.

Moose are a common sight, although not as common as deer. The moose are seen more often a bit further north, though there are moose in the area here also. Moose weigh much more than deer, and can do a lot of damage if struck by a vehicle.

We have had many moose encounters, as we are up north quite often, it is always a blessing when we see one. We have had many close encounters as well, in the Superior National Forest, as well as in the BWCAW>and some exciting ones while mountain biking. I have had the good fortune to be able to take many photos of moose, and some with calves.

We see eagles almost everyday. These are beautiful. IT is exciting to watch and witness when an eagle is pinned down by crows and or blackbirds. The eagle is trapped in a tree top, while the black birds swoop down upon it harassing it until finally the eagle has had enough and tries to escape. We see this happen from time to time.

There are fox that run around also. A few years ago a fox family complete with kits had a home down on Park Point on someones property. The owners blocked off the area and put up no trespassing sings there in an attempt to help the fox family survive.

There is a long time eagle nest on the bay side of Park Point that has been continually occupied for many many years by a nesting pair of eagles. It is wonderful to see them, the nest is quite large.

We have Osprey around here also. Hawks are seen and it is neat to see them hunting over a field.

There are black bears, and we have had several bear encounters also. These animals are beautiful. A few years ago, on Caribou Lake in the BWCAW while on a 6 day solo trip I and our dog at the time had two bear encounters over a three day period.

The first one was at the first site across from the portage and a bear was in someones camp as I went past. There were two canoes out front of the camp fishing and they asked me if this was my camp, look at the bear there, and I turned too look and there it was as it was in the persons packs.

Two days later perhaps the same bear visited me in the site that we were on at the 5th site which was a 5 star site. I was able to take a lot of pictures and video of it, we were close to each other by a safe distance but close enough to see its hair and features.

Two hours later the bear returned, and took some more pictures through the tent doors, but could not get closer as the bear would not let me get near. This time I decided to leave that site for another beings I did not want to be there if the bear was going to keep returning.

We love bird watching, we have seen in our yard feeders many birds including fox sparrows and gold finches.

There are so many animals here. Skunks, so many to name. Otters, beavers, several different woodpeckers, bobcats, lynx.
Sounds like a lot of neat wildlife encounters! I love being in an area with plenty of wildlife if I can help it. They can be exciting to watch at a safe distance of course.

We have some of those animals here in Arizona, but definitely not all of them, of course =P

Thanks for taking the time to write down about the wildlife. The Duluth area is one we actually had been considering among a few others.
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Old 01-19-2018, 01:44 AM
 
274 posts, read 290,096 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hulsker 1856 View Post
No.

As far as attacks, there's wildlife that could be a problem if someone is a special combination of really stupid and exceptionally unlucky, but that's about it. Bear attacks are few and far between, and usually involved a hunter and the animal he has wounded, or someone inadvertently cornering an animal (there was a woman a few years back who entered her garage, unaware than a bear had wandered in through the open side door - it roughed her up slightly in its haste to get out of there). But I've never heard of a predatory attack. The only mountain lion attack of which I am aware turned out to be some fool's escaped/turned-loose pet. A wolf bit someone a year or so ago, but I think that was the first-ever wolf incident ever recorded in the state. And I've never heard of a rattlesnake biting anyone here (they only range in the very southeastern portion of the state, anyway).

The biggest 'threat' is deer, but not by attacking. Rather, by darting out into the road. Or, alternately, just standing there and not moving when you round that corner at night. A handful of Minnesotans are killed and dozens suffer serious injuries every year due to collisions with deer. You can slow down and be alert and that will reduce your odds of encountering one, but it won't eliminate it. It's happened to me and more people I know that I can recall.
This definitely makes sense. It's kind of nice the thought of things that aren't directly as deadly as some of the things we have around here.

I'm seeing a lot about the deer already, but I'm glad to know about them in the roads causing a hazard for drivers. Definitely a good thing to know.
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