Touring - Wildlife You Have Seen On Your 2012 Tours

Show us some photos of the wildlife you've seen on your 2012 tours. :)


We've seen a lot of birds, but not too much other wildlife so far. However I do have a photo of a resident squirrel at the place we stayed in Lacanau-Ocean ...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8467/8122738981_dd9866ee72_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157631598534353/)

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No photos, but I saw two bear on my Northern Tier ride, one in MN and one in NY, both running across the road in front of me. The migratory birds in WA, MT, ND and MN were amazing. I was surprised to see only a few pronghorns in MT. Some elk in MT, too.

Some insect life in Japan ...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7570595264_4cd7244bd8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157630063348587/)

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No photos, but I saw two bear on my Northern Tier ride, one in MN and one in NY, both running across the road in front of me. The migratory birds in WA, MT, ND and MN were amazing. I was surprised to see only a few pronghorns in MT. Some elk in MT, too.

I am hoping to see more wildlife as we travel through North America. We saw the occasional deer, and lots of rabbits in Europe, but that was about it.

Most memorable: Bald Eagles

various other tree rats, birds and deer

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http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4730829939149798&pid=15.1

Many of these guys hopping rides on panniers.

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cobra (thighland) monkey (cambodia) elephant (myanmar)
land crab (myanmar)

280548One of many turtles we came across this spring

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Mornin' Mr Snail in Cananidagua, NY

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At city park in Newbury, Ontario.

Most memorable was a black bear that was hanging out near my campsite when I woke up in eastern North Carolina. Pictures were unsatisfactory because I was more focused on not freaking out then on taking good pictures.

A friend told me that she had heard that coyotes had been moving into northeast Ohio, but she didn't know anyone who had seen one. Two days later one trotted right across the road in front of me outside of Painsville.

A friend told me that she had heard that coyotes had been moving into northeast Ohio, but she didn't know anyone who had seen one. Two days later one trotted right across the road in front of me outside of Painsville.

When I lived in Alberta, there were heaps of coyotes around ... a couple times I had them running along side me.

When I lived in Alberta, there were heaps of coyotes around ... a couple times I had them running along side me.

When my friend mentioned it, I had never seen a coyote in the wild and had to look up some photos to confirm that I had actually seen one. It seemed pretty exotic. Then I came home to North Carolina, and a few weeks later our apartment manager sent out a notice saying that a coyote had been seen on the property multiple times. Since then I have heard them yipping in the night a number of times, occasionally inciting my own dogs to start howling. I still haven't seen our resident coyotes, but they've been downgraded rare nature encounter to pest in the past 6 months.

The only male Elk, just outside of Banff, 10 minutes after seeing a bear.
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One of eleven bears seen on tour this year. This one a few kilometer after entering the Icefliefd Parkway.
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v62/p1126021190-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e431db846)

Coyote on the Icefield Parkway:
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v64/p1142808146-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e441dde52)

Bighorn Sheeps on the Wilcox Pass trail, near the Icefield Parkway. Widish-angle wildlife and landscape shots are my favorite but they're difficult. These guys made my trip at that point.
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s1/v56/p1207413886-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e47f7ac7e)

Elk butts near Jasper. They caused an "Elk jam".
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v68/p1142949300-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e442005b4)

Dear at Mount Robson provincial park. I thought that was cool.
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v67/p1126015052-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e431da04c)

Hoary Marmot on Snowbird pass trail. I thought that was way too cool. :p
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v68/p1126025322-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e431dc86a)

Chinook Salmon in Valemount, BC. Locals said you could normally walk across the river on salmons at that time of the year but high water levels meant most salmons were late. I saw a disapointed Bald Eagle fly off.
http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v68/p1126031726-2.jpg (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e431de16e)

Not pictured are moose, ground squirrels, pika, sea lion, grouses, a loose horse, all sorts of birds and a few strange humanoïds.

Those are some amazing photos, Erick! Makes me want to head out west to do some biking.

Oddly enough, I've seen the most interesting wildlife on my day rides in Toronto rather than on tour. Early in the summer it was almost impossible to go more than 20km without seeing half-a-dozen white-tailed rabbits scurrying away from the trail. I even saw a deer on the Don Trail, which is heavily trafficked and right next to a highway. It certainly made me appreciate the extent of "urban wildlife".

Does it count as wildlife if it later became dinner?


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http://www.borealphoto.com/img/s4/v68/p1126025322-2.jpg[/img] (http://www.borealphoto.com/velo/calgary-vancouver/e431dc86a)


Looks like he is ready to give you some advice.

Cyclebum, I saw black squirrels too, but in New York! They were always too quick for me to get a picture, though...

Well I don't have photos and this was on my 7 mile commute to work but I noticed a large bird in a tree in the distance.
I wrote is off as another buzzard because they are all over the place here.

However as I approached I noticed it was significantly larger.
I got within 20 or 30 yards of it when it took off.
I instantly realized that it was a Bald Eagle.
White head, white tail, it's pretty hard to mistake it for something else.
It flew about 20 feet over my head and through a wide open field to land in a tree on the other side so I got a good look at it for a solid 20 seconds.
These birds are pretty rare in the southeast parts of Ohio so I felt pretty lucky.
I really do wish I had pics because it really was something to see in the wild.

Now I find myself scouring the treetops hoping to spot another early enough to get my camera out and ready.

By far and away the most spectacular wildlife encounter was at a county park on the west side of San Juan Island, Washington. Near sunrise a pod of Orca whales swam by chirping and squealing very close to shore. Apparently it is a near daily spectacle. Sorry no photos.http://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Nessie!! :D

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7116/7834176340_a45bdea9f9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157630125688286/)

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Quokka having a cup of coffee.....

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Seagull....

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Poisonous snake.... I was petting it

What species of serpent is that? Not that it matters because I can tell already that I don't like him.

WHile my wife and I were riding the North Lakes Route, through northern Wisconsin, we had a wold run in front of us!

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Poisonous snake.... I was petting it


The one which I nearly stepped on, which slithered away behind our cabin, looked like that.

I saw a deer and some wild turkeys on our Katy Trail tour this summer.