Local critters (Pittsburgh, Washington, Penn: house, live, legally)

[Caladium]

Just wondering what sort of critters are common in Pittsburgh. Deer? Bobcats? Raccoons? Mice? Eagles? Crows? Etc. Also, any funny encounters with wildlife? Do bears wander down from the hills and sit in outdoor hot tubs? Do raccoons get into packages left on a doorstep?

[BrianTH]

Turkeys! You can see wild turkeys in many parts of the central area, including in the city parks and along the busways.

[Mugatu]

Most common are groundhogs, deer, rabbits, raccoon and yes, wild turkeys! If you visit South Park you can often see a flock of wild turkeys chillin' with the buffalo. lol And there's plenty of turkey in the city too.

When I jog on the Montour Trail I almost always see at least one groundhog, several rabbits and the occasional deer. The oddest place I've seen critters is a herd of deer wandering around the Settlers Ridge parking lot, and wild turkey along the riverfront trail near the Strip District.

[CrispyCritter]

Deer, turkey, groundhogs, racoons, rabbits, rats, chipmunks. In the fall you can see tons of crows flying in the sky. It gives me the creeps!

[raubre]

Deer, rabbits, turkies, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, groundhogs.

Do bears wander down from the hills and sit in outdoor hot tubs?

LOL! Only the Burgh Bears do that (Pittsburgh gays will know who they are ) But seriously, not so much bears, but in recent years the news have had bear sightings in the South Hills and in the city parks.

[Jay_F]

In the Pittsburgh area, everything you mention exists. I live about 18 miles east of the city in a rural setting, and daily see rabbits and groundhogs in my yard (and garden), deer nearly daily, once a week turkey (at times in flocks of 25+), crows all the time, and even eagles have flown over. Buzzards and hawks are nearly a daily sight as well. Lots of snakes, toads, salamanders, beaver, muskrats, bats...

Next door neighbor had a bear come up to their home and poke around their deck, and we are overrun with raccoons an opossums. Never have seen a bobcat, but fox are fairly common, and can be heard at night. Owls are fairly common, and you will see heron, and other waterfowl in the sky. As for mice; where aren't they!

Tons of common house mice, deer mice, white footed mice, chipmunks, red/fox/gray squirrels, voles, shrews, moles... For me it is a never ending battle to stop mice from filling my vehicles vent conduit and air filter box with nesting material, so much so that I have to leave traps under the hood to stop them.

Might check out these sites, to gain a little information about what critters are all around you:

List of mammals of Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pennsylvania Wildlife - Welcome to Pennsylvania Wildlife

We are very lucky in these parts ho have a very diverse range of critters to see and study.

[South Range Family]

Filthy Canadian geese are everywhere.

[I_Like_Spam]

The Rock Dove is the dominant bird in Pittsburgh, with a large flock in Market Square as well as other locations throughout the city.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

Filthy Canadian geese are everywhere.

I've often wondered whether or not they are here legally. One has to wonder if they've gone through the appropriate channels to emigrate here from Canada.

[ditchdigger]

Never seen a bobcat locally, but, yes to everything else mentioned above, although it may be surprising to some that I've seen beavers in the Allegheny River as close to downtown as Washington's Landing, and just before sunrise, I've seen a fox running across the undeveloped portion of Summerset at Frick park.

Do raccoons get into packages left on a doorstep?

A couple of years ago, one got into my garage, unbeknownst to me, and couldn't get out once I'd closed the door. The next morning I found the garbage chewed up, and a good sized hole (maybe 4 inches wide, and 2 inches deep), scratched into the concrete at the door, where there had only been a crack the day before. It wasn't big enough for the critter to get out though, because the next morning it was a little bigger, and the garbage had been chewed up again. I found him hiding up on a shelf, and chased him back and forth with a broom, across the top of the raised garage door about five times before he finally figured out that he could get out the door. The next week, I was out late in the evening, and looked towards the garage, just in time to see him going towards the door. That week, I borrowed a humane trap from a friend that owns a farm, and trapped him. I let him loose in the couty park about fifteen miles away from here.