The Great Outdoors

[ousdahl]

actually, I think the first two are both bear

[KUTradition]

actually, I think the first two are both bear

as outdoorsy as i am, my only real training in track/scat ID’ing is probably Big Game Hunter on the wii

[TDub]

bonus prints!

bear
cougar
moose
?

bear
bear
moose or elk....no size comparison to determine.

[DCHawk1]

If/when Ousie gets eaten by a bear, do we bring Lobster back?

[japhy]

If/when Ousie gets eaten by a bear, do we bring Lobster back?

No, then we feed Lobster to the elk.

[ousdahl]

oh yeah that last one was def a moose print btw. In my driveway lol. Shoulda put something up for size comparison too cuz it was enormous.

Never seen elk in my neighborhood (yet?). Pretty sure it's just not on their migration routes or something. As far as I can tell, this elevation is only migration routes, and only for a few days a year. They pass through between wintering along the river on the downstream end of the county, and summers up at treeline.

We got moose in the hood year round tho, for worse or for worse. Lots of foxes, porcupine, ermine, that sorta stuff. Deer and bear in the summers.

bonus pic! this little dood that just ran up to me in the yard last summer

[Overlander]

He probably assumed you were cool, then got close enough to realize that you aren’t me

[Shirley]

I've never heard anything quite like this before. I've lived in Flowduh for 10 years and both residences backed up to conservation areas. In both places neighbors have reported seeing Florida panthers. That strikes me as kind of incredible, considering how rare they are. That being said, one was my previous next door neighbor, and it sounded very credible.

Video of male (Florida) panther calling for mate

[TDub]

There was a quote in 1923 episode about cities and the outdoors that I loved. Its sad, and its only gotten worse...but its true I think.

You’ve been to New York. You’ve been to Boston. Now close your eyes and imagine those places if the cities weren’t there. Go on, do it…

White sands stretching to forests of hickory and elm taller than the buildings that stand there now. Meadows filled with bison and moose and bear. Millions of salmon swimming up the East River to spawn, so thick you could walk across them. Now think about what’s there now. A thirteen-mile-island of cement, with rivers of sewage runnin’ underneath until they dump it into the bay where salmon don’t dare to swim. That’s what they’ll do to this place. Damn the rivers… Flood the valleys… Cut every tree that stands to build cities. This paradise becomes another concrete desert.


Awhile back there was a discussion about people who say they wish they'd lived back in the 1800s and hownits just a fantasy and life actually sucked and yea yea and how people who say that don't mean it and they're just being obstinate or stupid about it blah blah.

Here's the thing....yes, life was unimaginably tough, conveniences nonexistent. But, you could see unspoiled places, untouched lands. Things we will never see again. Thats what makes it worthy of discussion and worthy of the fantasy. Not the difficulty of survival, thats a given. Of course we like modern creature comforts but my goodness, being able to see things the way they were, the way they were meant to be is something that we can only get in small snippets today.

[KUTradition]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna71529

[Shirley]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna71529

Look at the way she was dressed. It's like she was asking to be kicked in the head by a moose!

[jhawks99]

Mooses are assholes.

[Deleted User 863]

Moose*

[KUTradition]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-pictures

[Shirley]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-pictures

Fantastic pictures. Personally, I have < 0 desire to swim, scuba dive, or snorkel in the open ocean in the dark.

#shudder

[KUTradition]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-pictures

Fantastic pictures. Personally, I have < 0 desire to swim, scuba dive, or snorkel in the open ocean in the dark.

#shudder

you and my wife both

[Shirley]

As if there weren't already enough things not to like about the state:

Alligators in Oklahoma. Native alligators are living in the Southeastern most part of the state, and researchers are finding out a lot about them!

[Shirley]

No thank you:

Oct 2, 2021 Florida Panther encounter.

A Florida panther nearly steps on my feet. I pretend I'm a tree. Thought it might turn out differently there for a second. My front yard, Naples, Florida, USA.

[KUTradition]

while i’m sure such an encounter would be unnerving if not downright terrifying, just laying eyes on one of the rarest big cats in the world would make it worthwhile for me

plus, that’s an inherent “risk” that comes with living where you do…no different than gators (imo), and it’s why i once declined a job offer from UF

[Shirley]

I'd love to see one too. My next door neighbor in Orlando saw one come out of the conservation area behind our houses-she saw something out of the corner of her eye and did a double take, and there it was. She wanted to snap a picture and knew I was home and would be interested, but didn't have her phone on her and decided to watch it instead of getting the phone. (Wise choice, as a former birder.)

Her husband was skeptical, as was I, but when he got home from work (From "Woke" Disney), he showed her a picture of a panther and she said "that's it". She had told me it had a long body and a long tail, which increased the possibility.


Having built and ridden lots of mt bike trails around KC on Park Dept., county, and Corps of Engineer land, mt bikers, among a slew of others, have occasionally reported seeing mt lions/pumas/cougars around Ks (and Mo) for decades. The state wildlife dept always said people were mistaken, and it was likely a bob cat or a coyote. And in the unlikely event it was really a cougar, it was probably a young nomadic male out looking for a territory who was essentially lost. I still don't think the Ks Dept of Wildlife think there are any mating pairs in the state. (An adult male mt lion's territory can be ~ 100 sq. miles!)