Depends on your perspective.

"Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you" ?


oh dang, Bigbadwolf beat me to it. Well, I'm leaving it.

Hawk taking a bath on the local bike trail.

I've seen snakes (ewww), herons, owls, and turtles. Once, on an early morning ride, I rode a wooded path with a herd of deer running on either side of me! I was fearful one of the pack would decide to dash in front of me, but none did and it was the most fantastic thing I've ever experienced on a ride.

I have lived and rode in Southern Jersey most of my life and had never seen a groundhog until a few years ago. Now, I virtually have to thread myself through them along the paths. It seems to me to be a sad statement about over-development.
BTW, I love the photos on this thread!

I see a Groundhog all the time, his name is Willie and he lives here in Wiarton......

I had to "Wiki" that one, Wogster! Around these parts, he is known as "Puxatanny Phil."

Does roadkill count??? This morning I saw a raccoon (roadkill) being pecked at by a turkey vulture who left the meal to wait on a fence until I road by. Later, spotted a heron standing on the bank of a stream.

- Ed

yesterday's ride

Seven moose (one bull), 1 fox, 1 eagle, one dead vole, one squirrel, 3 sandhill cranes.

Encountering wildlife is always special for some reason. One of the surprises is that wildlife is now seen in areas that are quite urbanized. I've seen a deer in the next town over and wild turkeys just on the edge of my town and deer are all over now. One of my pleasures is seeing the bird life beside the fresh and salt water ponds along the East Bay Bike Path along the shore of Narragansett Bay and at Sachuest Point, a tiny wild life sanctuary at the edge of Block Island Sound. Just a short time ago, a mountain lion was officially acknowledged in Connecticut. My nephew in upstate New York, not 80 miles from Manhattan, has a bear living in the woods behind his house. The bear stays in the woods, doing what ever it is that bears do and my nephew tends his farm. I have seen numerous, while backpacking in New Hampshire, Maine and Colorado, bear, moose and elk and it is always a special occasion.

My most memorable sighting was during a sailing trip from New York to Florida when two dolphins appeared beside our sail boat off the Florida coast, to pace us for a while. I have seen many dolphins but these two, for whatever reason, were special. I can see, in my mind and feel, even now, 15 years later, what the boat and the wind felt like. This was a quiet night with a soft breeze with just enough heel to almost wet the rail. My two shipmates were asleep in their berths and the brake on the ships wheel would hold course for many minutes without active steering. As I sat with my back against the cabin, occasionally poking the wheel with a bare toe, two dolphins appeared right beside the boat not four feet away. I could have reached out to touch them and these many years later, I wish I had. I imagine they are as curious about people as people are about them. We kept each other company for a good long while, perhaps 45 minutes. My sailing days have provided many excellent memories.

I always try to ride with someone a little slower than myself, just in case.

Had a bobcat run across the road in front of us this morning. One nice thing about riding in a wilderness park MUP is that you really get to see all sorts of wildlife. I need to start taking my camera out with me so I can get some photos.