Bizarre Wildlife Behavior

“What?s the strangest wildlife behavior you?ve ever witnessed?

Mine was on a four-day canoe trip in Missouri. Horseflies were pestering us for the last hour or so one day. We found a site along the river and I was setting up the tent while my friend unloaded the canoe. He slapped a horsefly dead and immediately started yelling as several other horseflies were attacking him. He came running for the nearly set-up tent and we both dove inside as dozens of horseflies bounced angrily off the sidewall for at least 10 minutes. Apparently, his killing one had somehow driven them into a rage. I don?t know how they knew (pheromones or something), but it was bizarre.”

“We watched two good sized lizards wrestling (no,not what you are thinking lol) for the better part of an hour. We had the movie camera and took photos. They bit and rolled and tussled and fell off a ledge together. This went on so long we finally left them fussing and went on.”

“Violin, that's scary. Horsefly bites are very painful, for me, like a broken bone. I once saw a chipmunk jump four times his height, repeatedly, to smack a large cat on the nose because said cat thought he was going to play (attack, chase)with the chipmunk. The cat didn't know what to make of it, then ran away.”

“Skunks (or civet cats?)

It was dark out, but they were black with a white stripe or two, for sure.

The two of them running down the steep talus slope of the Zion canyon walls of the Virgin River paved walkway TOWARD ME, full blast, TAILS COCKED, got me running away!”

“I saw a bull try to cop a piggyback ride off a heffer once. Seeing a cow stand on its two back legs is breathtaking, to say the least!”

“I saw some bizarre wildlife behavior at some water falls when I was in Tennessee. hehehe! ;o)

Still hoping to get copies of those photos. eh-hem.”

“I just saw on tv why whales may be beaching themselves in large numbers. It corresponded with navy ships sending sonar signals. These signals give the whales inner air problems.”

“Red winged blackbirds nest in the marshes out my back window.

Herons and cranes come by looking for eggs. The red wings fly up, gain momentum and dive bomb into posterior regions of the herons. They do this repeatedly. It's funny.”

“Let's see....

Now sit down, this may take some time...

Two of my friends and I were out on a trip on the JMT...
For 53 days.

Natch, when you're out for so long, you tend to wear out some of your clothes, and you also tend to have a celebration or two.

So, we get to a nice campsite in the early afternoon: in the shade, under some nice pines, lots of big downed trees, and the stream rushing by.
And....
We had a BIRTHDAY!
So I whipped up (no crudites' here) a Drunken Layover Chocolate Pie:
This is a Jello chocolate cream pie (instant), made with instant milk, squeeze margarine, and dehydrated dark, sweet cherries.
Only you rehydrate the cherries all day, in the sun, in Jack Daniels.
So, I mix up this pie for my friend, and put it out on top of a log to set up in the shade.
We've already drained off the excess JD from the cherries (of COURSE we drank it!), and put the cherries around the top of the pie.
There were probably about 30 of them.
We go back to our business for a couple of hours, mending, and talking, and cleaning up our gear.
Not too long after, I hear all this squeaking, and swearing (in chipmonk-ese).
My friend Sue, is sitting out on a rock, and right next to her is this chipmonk.
And the chipmonk is shaking it's finger at her, and swearing, and rolllllling around in the dust, and getting totally ballistic.
I asked Sue if she was sitting on his door.
Maybe he couldn't get into his house?
We found out the reason why after dinner.
I went to get our "birthday cake", and found that half the cherries had been eaten off the top, and that there were also little paw prints all over the top of the cake.
Our chipmonk was stoned out of his mind.
And I'll bet he had one hell of a hangover.”

“I heared about those whales a few weeks back. I think that type of sonar literally blows their inner ear.

Other than the piranhas I had or the spiders I caught and keep in a 2 gallon glass jar when younger, behavior and particular animal behavior has always fascinated me.
From slowing down at the wheel to catch a greater glimpse of those big birds circling in the sky to preseason walkabouts in the woods every fall. Basically any time I am in the woods or my backyard I will see incredible animal behavior.”

“I've seen it over & over again, but it always amazes me how little birds like crows go after bald eagles to keep them away from their area.”

“Sleeping under a tarp one night, I woke up to a fly crawling and buzzing its way into my ear! Scared the honk outta me. First reaction...that's right, stick my finger in my ear. To make a short story shorter, I had to use a small knife blade and dig it out. No ear damage thankfully.”

“Guess that's not really bizarre wildlife behavior, but it was pretty freaky anyway.”

“LOL mel!

I always think it is hilarious when I see the local cowbirds sitting on the neck of one of the horses, pecking it's head! (They eat ticks and other ectoparasites off of them)

I'm with you, Bunny boy. Animals are incredible to watch...
:o)”

“The strangest and funniest animal behavior that I have witnessed, is when birds fly into house windows. I don't understand what they are thinking, just maybe a hole in a wall or something.”

“One early morning in the Owahee Wilderness, I watched a young antelope be led astray from its mother by a coyote. The cool part was; I could see three other coyotes waiting for the single coyote that had gained the attention of the young antelope. I thought I was going to watch an ambush, but the mother antelope sprinted over to the young one before the pack could strike.
Not exactly bizarre. More like natural.”

“LOL mel!

In the FL keys, while getting my PADI diving certification, we were on our way back to the marina. It was an extremely choppy day (the instructors said everbody's first dive has to be sh!tty), and everybody was pretty seasick. While we were under, a pelican riding the breeze alongside us as we swayed back and forth had been smacked by the boat as it rocked. After getting bashed out of the air, the crazy bird had apparently decided that the inner deck of the boat was a more stable place to hang out. So, here he was, a male brown pelican, chillin inside the boat, eying all of the strange rubber people clambering out of the water and onto the deck. As we got going, he hopped up onto one of the benches that ran alongside that part of the deck. I wasn't sitting too far away, so on a whim I thought I'd be friendly with the poor bastard. I stretched out my hand, palm open, and the bird, in all of its drunken stupor, waddled on over. Cocking his head, he figured on what my hand was all about. I took it back, and as soon as I did, he waddled closer. I just stared as he planted one, then two webbed feet on the neoprene of my wetsuited legs. The damn thing had crawled up into my lap! The girl who I had gone with to get certified on this dive came over and tried to pet my pelican. He just hissed and pecked her wrist. He wouldn't let anybody else approach. It was the strangest damned thing I've ever seen.

BTW, the pelican musta had a good bit of intuition. The girl and I weren't cut out for each other at all. We broke up 2 days later.”

“LMAO Pishah...that peli took a fancy to ya, eh? "Ain't nobody gettin' near my chick!" hissss

>;D”

“My sister works in a Macy's store. A crow flew in through the elevator they think. She throws crackers on the floor so no one notices them and he eats them at night.

My sister worried about him getting water. She is on the day shift, so can't leave water out. She found out he visits the homewares dept. on her floor where they have those mini-waterfalls that people can buy and he gets water there.

No one seems to be complaining about the bird crapping on things so they just let him hang around.”

“Remember the Jimmy Carter vs. Killer Bunny incident? For those who don't, President Carter was enjoying a little canoeing on a vacation when his canoe was attacted by a crazed bunny rabbit. The Secret Service had to rescue him. It had huge pointy teeth.”

“This last weekend I saw a swan chaseing a goose while flying over a lake. Seems like we're not the only creature with an interracial thing going on!”

“While filling up the water bottles before supper, a frog attacked the foam float at the filter intake.He didn't jump away like the other frogs, but repeatedly bit at the foam. I couldn't shoo him away.

The next day, 5 miles away from the first frog encounter, I went swimming. While I was standing in the water, another frog swam along the bottom and started biting at my feet. Another frog acting strangely and agressive. Quite odd behaviour. I don't know what the frogs have against me and my gear. I am glad that only a few frogs took exception.”

“Went to sleep under the stars and beside the fire pit at a campsite on top of Mt. Rogers, VA. Woke up to a cows and ponys in our campsite, with one of the cows facing me a few feet away and eating the cold ash from the fire pit.

I got a great close-up pic of him looking at me with a "What the heck are you doing here?" look on his face.”

“Well, my squirrel has done some bizarre things...mostly thanks to mel getting him drunk and trying to take advantage of him. Harrumph!

This incident happened when I was working for the Forest Service. We had a project we were working on that in order to get to, you had to drive through a clearcut where the USFS had leased the land to a guy who was grazing sheep on it. Every day we'd drive through the clearcut and see the shepherd and his sheep.

Then one day, as we drove to the site, we saw him herding them away. But as we got further through the clearcut, we saw a lone sheep standing near the road looking lost and bleating. We figured he'd wander down the road eventually and hook up with the herd.

No such luck. He was in the same place day after day as we drove to our job site. We started getting concerned as we saw him looking weaker and wobblier every day. (Our crew boss would have kicked our asses had we stopped and tried to catch it.) Then one day, he was gone. What had been a kind of amusing part of our day was suddenly just sad. I assume he became a bear or coyote's dinner. Or maybe Bacpac's girlfriend?”

“I heard Bacpac wears knee high rubber boots. :^)”

“One time we were up at Lake Powell. My sister and I were lazing in shallow water in the altogether. A fish apparently thought I was lunch and bit me on the nipple. Sure made me jump.”

“Saw a king snake stalk, constrict, and eat a tree borne banded water snake.

Water snakes mating - they look like a couple twisted ropes.

Played an hour-long game of "tag" with a button buck when I was a kid - tho he never *quite* allowed me to tag him.

Removed my shirt and used it to swat a pesky blow fly, which attracted dozens more flies (see above). I eventually got'em all.

Bizarre behavior?
One word:
armadillos

<:3 <--- okay, so that's a rat... but it kinda resembles an armadillo.”

“There was a mocking bird that used to dive bomb anything or anyone that came out of my front door. We would have to sneak out the back to get to the car. it only lasted throught the spring so we attributed it to nesting. It was pretty funny to watch the cats take cover.

There was also the early morning awakening at Mt. Rogers when a wild pony and Creekjumper were having a tug of war over her cookware.”

“I seen a brid in the woods that I thawt was a chiken, but my daddy sayed that it was a pointy tale grouch. It was a weerd brid cuz it jus walked aroun and did not fly off like the nother brids fly off.

Grabs are weerd to!
When me and my daddy was walkin on the dert rode at nite time at Aint Georges Eyland in Flowerda I seen a grab run cross the rode. I runned to smell his butt and he sayed "hey what are you doin!" and I sayed that I wanted to smell his butt but he did not have no butt!
He sayed to go off or he would grab off my nose and I sayed if he tryed to grab off my nose that I would bite off his hed but he did not have no hed!
Anyways, I tryed to smell his butt anyways and he tryed to grab off my nose and he called me a mangy toyota and I called him a stinky fish rat and that is all.”

“I seen a brid in the woods that I thawt was a chiken, but my daddy sayed that it was a pointy tale grouch. It was a weerd brid cuz it jus walked aroun and did not fly off like the nother brids fly off.

Grabs are weerd to!
When me and my daddy was walkin on the dert rode at nite time at Aint Georges Eyland in Flowerda I seen a grab run cross the rode. I runned to smell his butt and he sayed "hey what are you doin!" and I sayed that I wanted to smell his butt but he did not have no butt!
He sayed to go off or he would grab off my nose and I sayed if he tryed to grab off my nose that I would bite off his hed but he did not have no hed!
Anyways, I tryed to smell his butt anyways and he tryed to grab off my nose and he called me a mangy toyota and I called him a stinky fish rat and that is all.”

“Once while out hunting I kept hearing something off in the distance. I couldn`t make out what it was at first, but later I could tell it was someone yelling so, I get up and take off towards the sound. I come up on one of the funniest things I`ve ever seen in my life. There`s a good buck and an old boy I know and they are having a dance of sorts out there in the woods.

This old boy would kill me if he knew I was telling this on him because, he had his pants down around his ankles and the moon just a shining. Seems this old boy had poured half a bottle of doe in heat on himself before walking into the woods. Well, not long after he got in the woods good, mother nature got to calling on him and he was taking care of business and up walks this good buck bent on love.

Well, him all bent over the way he was and smelling like a love sick doe ready for a romp, that old buck starts in on him then and there.

I thought I`d laugh myself to death, but that good old boy didn`t see the funny side of it like I did.

That was a long time ago and I told him I`d never tell it so, you just forget you ever heard it from me!

Then there was this time I scared a deer to death. I know what you`re thinking,.. but I did!

I was slipping down an old logging road next to an old farm fence, everything was all grown over in brush and honeysuckel and briars. Well, I couldn`t see very far ahead of me with it all grown up like it was and neither could this big old doe, that I chanced up on. She didn`t see me or hear me until I was almost at her side. When she figured out she wasn`t alone she came all undone and about turned herself wrong side out trying to haul off out of there. She all but made it too, but she looked back at me as she was about to clear the fence and smacked a tree and broke her silly neck. so, like I said, she was scared to her death.”

“That buck story is bizzare Big Foot.

Like this one puppy?

”

“One day I went fishing at a pond a few miles behind my house and saw some wild behavior. I was walking down the trail and looked to my right and I saw two humans mating on a blanket about 20 feet into the woods off the trail. I walked right on by carrying my fishing gear. They were still there when I was done fishing only in a different position.”

“Anybody got any new bizarre stories?”

“not really... we saw a crow eating a snake this morning next to the parking lot. Not bizarre, but maybe symbolic of something.”

“The only thing I have, is while walking through the wilderness of Chicago, a squirrel dropped out oo a tree and when "splat" on the street. A moment later it was up and running to the tree across the street. Guess cats are not the only ones with multiple lives.”

“wilderness in Chicago? That is bizarre!!!”

“It's an Omen.”

“In 1998, I watch a cow elk chase a wolf out of the brush in Yellowstone NP.
One year here in Florida I saw a squirrel pull baby birds out of a nest and eat them.
Back in 1973 I was hiking along a stream in Washington State when I noticed a small bird dive into the water as "fly" under water. Found out later it is called a dipper bird and catches insects that way.”

“If you see me in the woods thats strange and crazy!!!

Hhehehehe!!!!!

8)”

“My friend and his wife were fishing for silver salmon many years ago in Prince William Sound. They only had a small boat then and were out trolling when

SMACK

he gets hit in the back. Before he turned around, he complained "What the hell did I do now?" As he turned "Why'd you hit me?' and then he saw the salmon flopping in the bottom of the boat.”

“ha!”

“Most of the biz arre wildlife I have seen was on the So Calif Beaches. However I did see a gropu of crows chasing a squirrel.”

“Did you realize of all urban areas in the US, Chicago has the most racoons?!”

“It does?

8)”

“I once saw a p!ssed off rabbit chase a bunch of Canada Geese which were picking on it.”

“That would be cool to see!!!

8)”

“We had a big flop eared rabbit that snarled and snapped at our golden retriever once. Chased that dog away.”

“Don't phuc with the rabbit!

I 've caught and then kept those large brown spiders, maybe 'recluse' that are about the size of a half dollar and feed them other bugs. I really like watching those 'glass walkers' too!

Have had 'redbellies' in the past. That is one tough fish!! Thru the years the half dozen eventually came down to 2 fish. I eventually had to separate them. One ate the anal fin off the other. No organs just fresh. Left him really lame. Gave it to a friend who had a salt tank running at the time and would you know it. Not only did it live, it healed and regenerated another anal fin all in salt water tank. Need I talk about feeder mice!!! O' PETA! Not quite wild but Marty Stouffer-ish none the less.

I've seen a adolescent golden eagle in a 'dog fight' with two ravens in the Arctic sky.

Squirrels playin tag in the tree tops on a daily basis. I could watch those critters all day.

The local rookery of crows flying out in the morning as I'm heading in to work only to see them return as I head home at the end of the day. I'm thinking they are resting in a area that gets some of the early first light of the morning as the sun is coming up over the hills and starts to shines down the river valley.”

“I once burned an ant wif a magnifying glass.”