Wild Animals in Oregon? (Portland, Eugene: housing, traffic, snow)

[The Dish]

What kinds of wild animals/critters are there in Oregon (specifically in the Eugene area)?

Where I live in Orange County, CA, we see coyotes, deer, rabbits, road runners, hawks, turkey vultures, skunks, raccoons, oppossums and mountain lions.

Oh -- and snakes!

If you go closer to the coast, you see little tiny dogs in purses.

What do I have to be afraid of in Oregon?

[Larry Caldwell]

The biggest things to be afraid of in Oregon are automobiles and trucks. They kill people almost daily. Hundreds of deaths each year are due to traffic accidents.

If you are over 40, you should also be terrified by heart disease.

[gnubler]

There are also huge packs of bushy-tailed urban tree-climbing squirrels roaming through Portland neighborhoods. They have been known to become extremely aggressive and territorial when confronted by strangers. Beware of falling nuts.

[bettydane48]

Originally Posted by gnubler

There are also huge packs of bushy-tailed urban tree-climbing squirrels roaming through Portland neighborhoods. They have been known to become extremely aggressive and territorial when confronted by strangers. Beware of falling nuts.

Lol, BEWARE OF SQUIRRELS, especially hiding under picic tables.
Crazy Californian drivers are to be feared in Oregon (lol, this is generalized of course).
Snakes and other animals are losing their habitat due to logging and population "progress" so it is expected that wild animal problems are going to occur, they may have nowhere else to go. Deer are will commonly eat up your garden in certain areas of Oregon.

[mdvaden]

Nothing scary is near Eugene.

Oregon is not too far different from CA.

You have bears, we have bears. You have mountain lions, we have them.

Most of what you named - we have.

But the big critters and rattlesnakes won't be anything to be concerned about near Eugene.

The big towns have rare sightings every so often - mostly on the edges. Some real, some imaginary.

I'm in southern Oregon and had to hike for 2 years to see a bear, which I was hoping to see. And I finally got a photo of one by hiking 4 times in an area where I saw tracks in the snow previously.

But that was 25 miles out of Medford too.

[karlsch]

I have one of these in my back yard. Very dangerous:

http://www.yankeeartifacts.com/Images/woodchuck.jpg

[The Dish]

Originally Posted by karlsch

I have one of these in my back yard. Very dangerous:

http://www.yankeeartifacts.com/Images/woodchuck.jpg

uh oh. he looks very anti-californian. LOL LOL

[Imperial1904]

Deer... they run rampant throughout the state.

[freedom]

We have cougars, rattle snakes, hobo & black widow spiders.
Coyotes
Bear
yellow jackets and bald face hornets (which have been known to drop a logger on his butt).

[furyu]

Originally Posted by The Dish

Where I live in Orange County, CA, we see coyotes, deer, rabbits, road runners, hawks, turkey vultures, skunks, raccoons, oppossums and mountain lions.

Oh -- and snakes!

If you go closer to the coast, you see little tiny dogs in purses.

When I lived in Orange County we had a family of bobcats living directly behind our home, in a so-called 'green belt' that separated two housing divisions. It was amazing. I have a photograph of one in my miniscule backyard checking out a dog carrier. For seven years I watched those bobcats come and go. One day three baby bobcats wobbled down the belt towards my backyard. I watched them grow up over the summer.

Here in Brookings, I've yet to see a bobcat. There are plenty of domesticated cats, some 'feral' and uncared for that I've been tending to (and adopting). A few squirrels. Lots of deer, racoons and birds, of course. And a skunk I've never seen but sure do smell some nights. We hear the sea lions barking sometimes but they are tucked under the cliff over 100-feet below, out of our view. We do spot migrating whales from our upper deck. And occasionally, rarely, a harmless garter snake will appear in my garden! A welcomed visitor, indeed.

The only thing to fear in Oregon (even in Eugene) are the homo sapien sapiens.