Let's play: What I saw, What I'll see! 👀🫎

Most exciting animal you saw in the wild?
Not really exciting by most people's standards, but regular ole deer. I absolutely love seeing the deer around my area, I always forget just how big they are until I see one or two or even a herd out grazing. They're beautiful. I've never seen a wild buck, only even watched doe, but I really hope I get to someday.

Most exciting animal you saw in zoos?
Probably also not most people's choice: Masai giraffe. I had never seen a giraffe up close until recently and they're an absolutely humbling animal to stand beside. They're graceful, powerful, literally gigantic. I watched them for almost a half hour before I had to move on, it was a genuinely magical experience for me.

Animal you most want to see in-game?
Gosh there are so many animals I want but I think most of all, markhor. They're striking and as much as I love the ibex, markhor have a bit more in terms of coat markings, plus the males' beards and horns are so distinct.

Animal you want to see in a zoo/in the wild?
Polar bears for zoos. I've seen polar bears at the zoo before, but that was over a decade ago, and the last time I visited, their enclosure was under construction. For the wild, American bison I think. We have some here in my state at a park, but they're kept in fenced off fields. I don't really consider it "the wild' because they still have a barn and get fed by the park workers.

Where could you go to see the animals in the previous question?
For the polar bears, back to the Cincinnati Zoo once their enclosure is done. For the bison, I'd likely have to road trip out west to see them in their natural range.
 
Albatross is a bit more tricky as I'm not planning any boat trips soon. I do have an ambition to visit every continent in my lifetime so a trip to the Antarctic seems to be the most likely option.
You can see albatrosses roosting in New Zealand. I visited their colony last year, it was great. They aren't wandering albatrosses, they're royal albatrosses, but they're still massive birds, and it's even better because you can see them with the seagulls and really get a sense of their size.
 
  1. Komodo Dragon
  2. Koala / Sun Bear
  3. Great White Pelican
  4. (Sunda) Pangolin / Humpback Whale
  5. Singapore Night Safari / Azores
 
Ok, so, Yoav gave me permission to tell some more wildlife stories, BWA ha ha haaaaaaa

So, up in northeast Texas, I've had a few confrontations with boars. One time we were walking, me, my siblings and mom, on the road, when we reach a fence that divides the property. The fence is barbed wire, but really the wildlife doesn't care and will jump it or run straight through. On the other side of this flimsy fence were 2 momma pigs and their piglets, and there's no way they didn't know we were there, as we were talking and the wind blew into their direction. However, they didn't seem fazed and just did their thing.
(We suspect that, since we go up to the country so often, some of the wild animals in the area have kinda recognized us and know that we aren't a threat. This wouldn't be the 1st time a typically territorial or shy animal isn't bothered by us. We've had similar experiences with deer many times)

Another story. We were walking in the forest following a little creek we've never explored before. We were kinda deep in there, and I had a gone a bit ahead. Well,.you can't really see because of the leaves and undergrowth, and as I was about to step, a 4 ft snakes came outta nowhere and slithered off into the water. It shocked me and I lifted my foot, pulling some old, rusty piece of barbed wire and I actually cut my other leg (I have 2 scars from it, because one scar was a straight line, kinda deep. The other scar, right under, looks just like a 7)
To this day I'm not sure what snake it was, but it was black (definitely not a cottonmouth, as it lacked the triangular head)

One more story, so I don't bore y'all. I might've told this one already. Back in 2016, we had a family reunion on my mom's side of the family. This was during a drought, too. One night, while up there, we were all being loud and having BBQ, listening to some good old Elvis and Chuck Berry. Well, out of the darkness this small black dog walks right up to the porch then runs off. We weren't sure what it was and suspected it was just some random dog. Well, some of us were worried that my dog, who's also black, somehow got out, so my dad and I went back to the house to check. Although it's close enough to walk, since it's dark out we drove. As we were on the road, the black dog was right there, in the middle of the road, and since the light was shining on it, we got a good look of what it was: a black coyote, y'all!!! It ran off into the woods.
I have never seen it since, and afterwards we were talking about why it came up to a group of loud people. Poor thing was probably desperate for food and smelled what we were cooking
 
You can see albatrosses roosting in New Zealand. I visited their colony last year, it was great. They aren't wandering albatrosses, they're royal albatrosses, but they're still massive birds, and it's even better because you can see them with the seagulls and really get a sense of their size.
hmmmm I have family in New Zealand and have always wanted to go - it might be more doable than the Antarctic for now.
 
1. Humpback Whale in Monterey Bay.
2. Sumatran Rhino at the Los Angeles Zoo.
3. California Condor
4. Zoo: White Shark, if that is acceptable. If not, I don't know, I live in an area with diverse, world class zoos. I think I have seen most animals that have been held in captivity. Wild: Blue Wildebeest
5. White Shark: Monterey Bay Aquarium when they are holding one. I have missed out numerous times. Blue Wildebeest: The Serengeti during their migration.
 
Most exciting in wild:
Idk probably manatees and dolphins I wanna say I’ve seen black bears and Florida panthers before but I think it was in captivity only (my memory is faint as I can’t recall if it was in the wild when I was younger). I have fond memories of finding coquis in Puerto Rico though

Most exciting in captivity:
Definitely the giant panda as it was a whole trip in my childhood just to see one. Other cool ones where mountain tapirs in Los Angeles Zoo, polar bears in SeaWorld Orlando, and even though controversial nothing beats seeing the size and majesty of an orca in person. Sad to see them confined though knowing their intelligence and needs.

Animal I most want to see in game:
Sea Turtles. Always wanted to see a different type of animal in game and more ocean species are needed for me. Especially it being a marine reptile. I mean cmon that’s so cool. Behind that probably manatee, manta ray, whale shark or beluga. (Notice a pattern) my inner Florida boy is coming out lol the sea calls me.

Animal I want to see in the wild/zoo
Wow so many but Definitely Bison. I want to take a trip to Yellowstone and drive up to bison and see them in person. Itd be so cool. After that probably an African or Indian safari to see all the wildlife up close. In a zoo I wanna see Tasmanian devils and platypus a lot. So I really need to go to Columbus zoo or San Diego zoo
 
  1. Most exciting animal you saw in the wild? Rather fittingly, wild camels!
  2. Most exciting animal you saw in zoos? This is a hard one. Grizzly bears, sun bears, and komodo dragons are well up there.
  3. Animal you most want to see in the game? Spectacled bear
  4. Animal you want to see in a zoo?animal you want to see in the wild? In a zoo - it's polar bears, I am booked to travel in about 3 weeks time to go see my very first polars 🥳 In the wild, I have always wanted to see orcas.
  5. Where could you go to see the animals from the previous question? I'm heading to Yorkshire WP for the polars. Orcas, not sure, I think either Canda or Iceland are good spots.
 
  1. Most exciting animal you saw in the wild?
  2. Most exciting animal you saw in zoos?
  3. Animal you most want to see in the game?
  4. Animal you want to see in a zoo?animal you want to see in the wild?
  5. Where could you go to see the animals from the previous question?
1.Mediterranean monk seal, American alligator, nine-banded armadillo, and many birds at Florida.
2. The active group of brushtail possums at Budapest zoo and the polar bear that I watched eat a whole eg when I was at Japan.
3. Hard to choose one so I will just say species that I like given that they are not a big enigma to breed (with some exceptions).
4.Zoo:, Wild: raccoon, Virginia opossum, and striped skunk, Both: marbled polecat and common brushtail possum (again).
5. Marbled polecat could be found at Magdeburg zoo and also in the wild at Turkey (where I live). I just have to find a guide and get some tips if I want to see one.
There are a few zoos in Europe where I can see common brushtail possum. To see them in the wild I probably have to have a friend down under and spend a night at their house with bait outside.
I won't count on zoos for Virginia possum since they usually seem to be used as ambassadors adn they are very rare in Europe due to their short lifespan. So I probably will have to walk late at night in a suburban area so see opossums (along with skunk and raccoon.)
 
1.Mediterranean monk seal, American alligator, nine-banded armadillo, and many birds at Florida.
2. The active group of brushtail possums at Budapest zoo and the polar bear that I watched eat a whole eg when I was at Japan.
3. Hard to choose one so I will just say species that I like given that they are not a big enigma to breed (with some exceptions).
4.Zoo:, Wild: raccoon, Virginia opossum, and striped skunk, Both: marbled polecat and common brushtail possum (again).
5. Marbled polecat could be found at Magdeburg zoo and also in the wild at Turkey (where I live). I just have to find a guide and get some tips if I want to see one.
There are a few zoos in Europe where I can see common brushtail possum. To see them in the wild I probably have to have a friend down under and spend a night at their house with bait outside.
I won't count on zoos for Virginia possum since they usually seem to be used as ambassadors adn they are very rare in Europe due to their short lifespan. So I probably will have to walk late at night in a suburban area so see opossums (along with skunk and raccoon.)
Ooh Mediterranean Monk Seal, that's a rare sight! Very jelaous 😁 We used to have them, but like many other wildlife made them go locally extinct
 
In the wild, my biggest goals at the moment are carpet python, perentie and spotted-tailed quoll.
first slowly travelling up the coast of New South Wales this winter looking for mammals (with the quoll as the biggest target)
Just got back from this trip earlier this afternoon, and for quolls (amongst many other things) it was a roaring success! I saw my first one at a campground on the 6th night of the trip, which also happened to be my 20th birthday, and what a great present it was. This quoll was extremely tame, even walking right up to me and sniffing my hand as I squatted near it, so clearly they've been thrown one too many scraps in the past and have lost their fear of humans. Feeding wildlife should not be condoned of course, but in this case it did leave a great opportunity for me to have a close encounter with what is normally an elusive animal. The first image below was just taken with my phone, no zoom involved, while the others are two of the many I took with my actual camera:

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In my original post on this thread, I found it difficult to pick which of my wildlife encounters was most exciting, but I think the largest remaining marsupial carnivore on mainland Australia raiding my camp on my birthday definitely takes the cake now.

Surprisingly that wasn't even the only encounter I had with spotted-tailed quolls on this trip, for I also saw them three nights in a row while road cruising up in the Barrington Tops - I'm guessing it's some kind of hotspot for them up there, but even still I must have been very lucky to see so many.

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I'll post about the rest of the stuff I saw on my trip in the wildlife encounters thread sometime very soon.
 
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