a lot of squirrels...

The wildlife here in Europe is absolutely tragic... I saw two deer from a great distance once. And one time last year, I was walking through the park, and I caught a glimpse of a squirrel. Mostly we see foxes (I've seen three or four in the four years I've lived here) running across the road in the evening/night. That's really it, though. I rarely see anything but birds and farm animals. And pets, of course...

What color of squirrels do you usually see? Red ones? Grey ones? Black ones? The ones here are kind of a standard greyish brown, like the ones I saw in the States, though they're generally not as pudgy. :O

Actually, I take that back... Switzerland is worse than France. The college campus I lived on there had a fair number of black squirrels. Way more squirrels then we have here. And believe me, I look for wildlife almost constantly... And there is a farm right next door to us, and a forest up the hill from us, so it's not that I'm far away from nature!

Oh, and I totally forgot... We were picnicking at the edge of a sort of nature preserve thingie on the river, and we totally saw a beaver! Which was funny, because the week before, we'd been to a beaver preserve, and we didn't see a single beaver. :O

OMG I actually have some good ones lately!!!

so I saw my first ever pelican about 5 years ago and it was like a scary cryptid sighting. I grew up by Lake Michigan but the white pelicans prefer more shallow water, I think bc of how they fish

but anyway they are HUGE and apparently their population around here has just been booming the last few years because there are hundreds now, and sometimes I see dozens of them at a time when I leave the house. they're about the size of a small airplane, it's terrifying, lmao. (average windspan is around 10 feet. the only other North American bird that beats it for size is the California Condor)

also not super recent but this past fall I heard screech owls right outside my apartment. fun fact: they don't actually screech. they sound like tiny ghost horses.

I also saw a bald eagle about 2 days ago which was kinda noteworthy, I see those every once in a while but it's been a couple of years since the last one.

pelicans! That's so cool! I grew up off lake Erie and had no idea pelicans lived around that part of the country. Always wanted to visit lake Michigan just to look for Petoskey stones.

I used to know the names of every common animal in my neighborhood, but now that I've moved im totally unfamiliar with these new animals. I see arctic terns hovering over the water and making head dives. It's mesmerizing.

Yeah I didn't either! I guess the Green Bay, WI area has always been a popular roosting area for them for years (as well as Horicon Marsh towards the middle of the state) but I had no idea until they started migrating thru our town. I only live about an hour/hour and a half from Lake Michigan where I am now so it's pretty close!!

And petoskey stones are so beautiful!!! I found the coolest one about the size of my palm two years ago in my hometown in Mich. and it's one of my most prized possessions.

To stay on topic a little more: I also saw 2 more bald eagles within the last 2 weeks??? I know they're not technically really rare or anything but every time you see one it's still kinda :0 lol

There's a small pond near a stretch of the river that runs through my city. And there's a pair of moorhens nesting on it. They have chicks. Soooo cute! >w<

The cathedral here has a peregrine nest on the spire, and I think I saw one of the birds circling the spire a few days ago.

And a couple of weeks ago I was heading into the city with my mum. She mentioned that she hadn't seen house martins in years. THEN WE SAW HOUSE MARTINS. xD

Though mostly gone I've seen many solitary bees when spring began. Maybe if it rains enough the frogs could come out of hibernation and sing at night.

A couple of little squirrels playing outside the window of a restaurant. I think they were red squirrels and had the pointy tufted ears.

Have a mouse friend living in the building I work in, if that counts..

We have a bird feeder, so we usually see about five different species of birds everyday, and there's a bunny that likes to eat some the corn in the bird mix (we throw it onto the grass sometimes because of the pair of mallards that come).

We also tried to rescue a baby gull yesterday (care for it overnight until we could get it a bird rehab centre in the morning) but unfortunately, it didn't survive the night. We knew it was a bad sign that a baby bird was completely silent but we still tried to feed it and keep it warm. It just wasn't enough.

We're like that with Bluejays and Northern Cardinals. We see them a lot, especially the bluejays since we have perhaps two or three that come to our houses everyday for sunflower seeds, but we get exited every time because they're so pretty.

I went tent camping nearby town for the first time about two weeks ago and I kid you not.... Black bears!!! Broke into our tent and ate the rest of our food when we had left it alone. We saw them running by later, a mama and cub... It sounds like a lot of sticks breaking when they come near. Kinda terrifying and what an embarrassing experience.

I take walks very late at night, the later the better usually around midnight and i get to see a lot. I see plenty of bunnies, raccoons, possums, skunks, coyotes, and just recently bats fly in my flashlight beam. I also dont take pictures of this, but i pass by a string of trees by some ponds by my house, and the later it gets, the more stunning the trees get. Y'see, the spiders all come out at night that live in the trees and all of them lay down one single spider web strand from the tree to the ground, and when i shine my flashlight i literally see hundreds of strands from the tree to the ground, hoping to catch some stray bugs. Its just fascinating and beautiful. When its earlier i walk under the trees and shine my flashlight to see beautifully made spider webs. You cant see that shit during the day.

that sounds magical! I can't imagine those spider webs photographing nearly as well as if looks in person. That's very cool.

I was biking the other day and saw a huge mama moose on the opposite side of the road with two babies! I think she startled a little bit at how fast I was going but luckily we left each other alone.

Do you live in canada? Totally jealous

I live in a small housing development. Maybe once or twice I year, I'll see deer walking around the neighborhood. Mostly I see mourning doves, chickadees, and robins. Once in a great long while, a bald eagle will fly low enough so I can make out its white feathered head and raptors' beak. I walk closer to my little dog when I see them so they won't think of her as a snack.

As someone who lives in a seaside town literally all I see are seagulls and pigeons but honestly they are very good birbs

Close but nope! I'm in Alaska. I've heard of moose in northern Michigan and Wisconsin as well. :)

I had to get off my bike the other day and walk next to the road to give a mama moose and her baby some room. If you don't, I hear they get protective, their ears turn back and they will literally stomp a person to death, yikes!

I love them both! Do you get to see any cool sea critters on the beaches? I've always wanted to visit the kind of tide pools they show in nature books with starfish and crabs living in them.

I don't go down to the beach much but I've only ever seen the seagulls when I'm down there since it's usually crowded with people so wildlife be like 'nope not going there' and as far as the eye can see it's just beach for miles no tide pools and all that shit sadly :(

Mostly just common domestic ones.

Saw a beautiful bright red cardinal the other day, right after hearing his lovely song. Lots of deer around too, which are always a pleasure to watch.