What has been your most interesting run-in with nature (wildlife) (Miami: living, fence)

[bavariantransplant]

Originally Posted by mystpete

~ I just love the outdoors here in Florida...but, it was your typical summer afternoon, hot & humid with the sun just coming out after one of our afternoon downpours. I was backing out of the garage with the windows rolled down & came alittle too close to the bushes on each side of my drive. I turned my head to see just how close & there was a nice black snake soaking up the summer sun on top of the bush. Not sure who screamed louder, but he was so startled, he made a nose dive right through my open window & landed smack between by legs in the front seat! Being so close to the bush, I couldn't get the driver's door open, so I lifted up just a little to try & put it in park, without driving back through the garage door & leaned over the console in an attempt to crawl out the passenger window. I guess I kind of squished him a bit & he tried his best to take a bite out of my back leg...thank goodness "he bite's like a girl", but finally I propelled myself out the passenger window, head first, landing on the concrete drive. Trying to catch my breath & thinking I was strokin out, not even able to form a complete sentence, tear's rollin' down my legs, I looked around to see if any neighbor's were home to help. Not a neighbor in sight, which may have been a good thing since this would have made a great Youtube moment & I'm saving my 15 minutes of Fame for something alittle flashier. Finally dialed up a friend who came right over & tried to remove the snake from my car & the darn thing darted up under the dash, even tried smoking him out with a mosquito fogger. Left the AC on for 2 hours with a covered heating pad on the floorboard...after holding me/my car hostage after 3 days, I summoned the courage to drive around the block, so with jeans tucked into my cowboy boots & tire iron in hand, I was on a mission. Still can't figure out how the darn thing escaped & so for the next 3 or 4 month's always carried my tire iron in my lap. Oh, I so love the outdoors & the wildlife here in sunny Florida, but someone up there sure has a great since of humor!

Awsome! That certainly cant happen twice so I am safe from that scenario.

[thethinktank]

I just opened the outer door to my home office and this little guy was resting on the side. I recently got a new macro lens (a close-up lens for the non-photographer), so I followed him around my back yard for a good photo. You could fit four of him on a dime, he was the smallest animal I think I have ever seen. I thought of this thread after sharing the photo on facebook, I figured you'd like to see this, OP. Grow up safe, little fella!

[vaughanwilliams]

Great shot, thinktank.

[Sunshinecc]

Oh wow, that really is a great shot. So professional looking. And what a cute little guy!!

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by thethinktank

I just opened the outer door to my home office and this little guy was resting on the side. I recently got a new macro lens (a close-up lens for the non-photographer), so I followed him around my back yard for a good photo. You could fit four of him on a dime, he was the smallest animal I think I have ever seen. I thought of this thread after sharing the photo on facebook, I figured you'd like to see this, OP. Grow up safe, little fella!

I think they stay small. The frog in the photo is full grown, I am pretty sure.

[Sunshinecc]

The last couple of beaches I've gone to, not counting the one I frequent, have been incredible as far as natural wildlife. One beach had an area roped off because it is protected for the migration of the Piping Plover and from what I've read, one of the areas they migrate from is Florida's coast. The bird itself is nothing spectacular...until you watch them fly. The ones I watched were pure white and flew in two's, one following the other. They were extremely quick and made the sharpest but coordinated turns. It was awesome to watch.

The beach I went to yesterday was the last bit of land, a tiny tiny peninsula that sticks out into the ocea, of RI before you hit CT. Part of that area was infested with tiny crustaceans (that wasn't the incredible part) which I first thought were tons of schools of tiny fish. I didn't think anything of it 'til one bit me and my friend. Being a male, he wasn't too crazy about staying in the water too long. We went further down and the water reminded me of FL, clear to the bottom, sand, green, then blue. I saw a fish about 2' long that was already dead floating in the water. I couldn't tell if there was a clean bite out of it or it got caught on a rudder but I kept an eye open for fins whle we were swimming, lol

[tampabaygal]

Great photo! Cute little frog.

I see a lot of tadpoles in the standing water here after it rains. O_o I wonder how many of them make it out alive.

[SassySpice]

A winter day 5AM when it's still pitch black outside my husband was leaving for work driving down a country rd for about 1 mile when he saw a dark shadow in the rd. He stopped & here it was a baby goat who then jumped on the hood then climbed onto the roof of his car. He was befuddled & said to himself how am I gonna get him off, there's wasn't anything too much he could do other than make aggressive moves toward him with the hope of scaring him off. It took a few minutes but he did. There's a farm who kept goats 1/2 mile from where this happened so I guess he'd gotten loose. When he came home he showed me the goat footprints on the car.

Another time my husband was looking out our patio door into our back yard when a pick-up truck came by, hubby was shocked someone would have the audacity to ride a truck thru our back yard so he went onto the deck to inform the driver this is private property, but when he stepped outside he saw the problem........there was a bull & cow directly underneath our kitchen bay windows. The owner was trying to corral them to get them back to his farm.

10 Yrs ago there were reports all over the area of a loose mountain lion. I know it was true in addition to the police finding his footprints in the snow because 1 night after midnight during the summer I had the bedroom windows open & in the still of night I heard this extremely loud scream, a sound unidentifiable to anything I've ever heard, & it was the most eerie scream you can imagine. We believe there was more than 1 mountain lion because his range was for miles. It was believed they migrated from WV cause we don't have mountain lions here.

Btw we are in Delaware.

[Wwanderer]

Originally Posted by craigtnelson

We have a large family of Moscovy ducks and turtles who live in the retention pond down the street. For several years, it's been the same crew. One of them has had 3 sets of ducklings in the past year. Some of the babies didn't make it, some left, some stayed. The neighborhood loves them to death and we take turns feeding them/watching out for them. It's funny to walk down there and see 50 turtle shells suddenly pop up out of the water and approach you.

We have a family of Muscovy's as well where we are in Dunedin, and they are hilarious to watch. No babies that we've seen in two winters, perhaps they breed in the summer. It's more of a harem than a family, one male with two females. Love them--my mom had a pair in her trailer park over in Daytona too.

My main run-in so far has been with fire ants. Don't let them bite you! Being a northerner, I didn't even know they existed until I happened to stand near one of their nests. I was bird-watching so didn't notice at first that ants were crawling over my feet. Terrible bites, awful, they are well-named, and they take weeks to heal. If it ever happens google immediately and find out how to treat the bites properly.

[StMarysRichard]

Originally Posted by Mike1306

Bit by a coral snake, interesting experience.

Would you care to elaborate and explain that experience please? We found a coral in the backyard last year. Actually one of my dachshunds was out tossing it up in the air. Once we checked the snake it was found to be dead. The dogs were only out for a few minutes before we discovered it. So do you believe that the Coral was already dead and had been dropped on the ground by a hawk or something? Or could the dog have killed it that fast?