OT: Rarest Animal You've Seen in the Wild in PA?
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
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Up until this Pandemic they were making money hand over fist. They are still doing good but will do better. My dad works as a starter at the golf course and people from DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh Philly all come to the Springs. Awesome place and some like it better than Nemacolin.
no otters but have seen lots of beavers.
maybe not rare, but it is still kind of surprising for me to see it in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. It made a habit of attacking my neighbors koi pond when he recently installed it so that was the first I saw one in our area.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
No but my kid does. Spouse graduated in 1990, I think. Live in the suburbs of New Enterprise, LOL.
There are a few nests of red tailed hawks near me in Point Breeze, they're just perfect little killing machines and it's really cool just sitting on your porch listening to them in the summer. Nice perk of living in Pittsburgh for sure.
The wildest thing that I've probably seen in the wild in PA was probably a bobcat because I really didn't have a good conception of just how big that they are until I actually saw one. They're much bigger balls of muscle than I had expected and it was slightly terrifying.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I know someone that caught an 80 pound bobcat. I've seen a few in the wild but that's massive.
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
Guest
Know the area well. I went to Bedford and my parents still live there
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anon_vmuicqnzlyp3u
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I have seen just about everything in the woods from Beaver, Bears, Eagles, but probably the rarest thing was an albino buck...I have also seen Coyotes, What I thought was a mountain lion (game commission refuses to acknowledge) but they are here..
A few years back i volunteered to do some trail care on the Mid state trail out that way. Very nice area.
I once took shrooms before going to Mad Mex, and then saw ET sitting at one of the booths.
I would have pegged him for someone who would order to-go. Always seemed in a rush to get home.
I have seen blue herons in my side yard at my pond. They have killed many fish. I had to put a net over my pond.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I spend a ton of time on the MST and many of the side trails since it practically runs past my house and my camp. There is a section up here I consider to be "mine" because I hike it more than anyone. It's a very "wild" trail in that it doesn't see the foot traffic of some other more famous trails but it's solid. I do little odd and end projects but I don't do anything with the MST folks. I should probably align myself a little closer so that I don't screw anything up.
Check out the keystone trails association. Good people and an interesting cast of characters.
you leave me alone under the bucket, i'm taking that layup every time.
I saw a black bear on the powder mill loop trail up at laurel mountain in september
Was walking down the marshall fields trail that connects to the loop trail, saw a pickup truck of DCNR workers coming up towards the trailhead, wondered hmm what were they up to? got on the loop trail, a mile farther on saw a bear trap beside the trail, maybe 500 feet past that heard something down the hillside maybe a quarter mile away, didnt sound like a deer. Got a little nervous, stopped and looked around, got a glimpse of it for a second. Looked like a juvenile or not very big adult (still bigger than me lol) in some heavy bushes. I didnt stick around, walked as fast as I could while staying quiet. Not exactly a rare animal but the only large animals I have ever seen up there are the very occasional deer.
Was walking down the marshall fields trail that connects to the loop trail, saw a pickup truck of DCNR workers coming up towards the trailhead, wondered hmm what were they up to? got on the loop trail, a mile farther on saw a bear trap beside the trail, maybe 500 feet past that heard something down the hillside maybe a quarter mile away, didnt sound like a deer. Got a little nervous, stopped and looked around, got a glimpse of it for a second. Looked like a juvenile or not very big adult (still bigger than me lol) in some heavy bushes. I didnt stick around, walked as fast as I could while staying quiet. Not exactly a rare animal but the only large animals I have ever seen up there are the very occasional deer.
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pittdan77
Athletic Director
One of the cooler things I've participated in as an organization was the Deer Forest Study and the Fawn Mortality Study. Joint projects between the PA Game Commission and Penn State. We worked with the biologists to help them trap animals on our land for collaring. Really cool science. Kind of comical what they have to do to get a deer collared in a cage without any kind of anesthesia and then safely release it.
Speaking of rare, does anyone know of any large ash trees that have survived?
Speaking of rare, does anyone know of any large ash trees that have survived?
Saw a bobcat pouncing on something in the median of the Mon-Fayette Expressway about a decade ago. Outside of that, nothing too special.
Peacock on my garage roof. Kids called and said," Dad there is a peacock on the roof" and I would not believe them and told them it it was a turkey. 10 minutes later I walked home and sure enough there was a peacock standing on the chimney of my garage. Next day the peacock was joined by another companion in my nieghbors back yard.
My brother said there's a peacock (or peacocks... I forget) that frequents the field near his work. I wouldn't have guessed them to be PA natives.
I'm an avid mountain biker and XC skier and travel to many different wooded locations. I've seen black bear, coyotes, red fox, porcupines and rattlesnakes. Not sure if these are rare or their camouflage is so good is I've seen only 2 "walking stick" insects ever.
1 black bear near Punxsutawney.
2 bald eagles. 1 near Waynesburg, 1 near my home in Washington County.
Muskrats for sure and I think 1 fisher but not positive.
We live along a large creek so we get lots of birds, including cranes.
Lots of foxes and occasionally coyotes, too.
2 bald eagles. 1 near Waynesburg, 1 near my home in Washington County.
Muskrats for sure and I think 1 fisher but not positive.
We live along a large creek so we get lots of birds, including cranes.
Lots of foxes and occasionally coyotes, too.
I once caught a glimpse of a very hairy bipedal apelike possibly human creature walking in Fayette county woods, and it smelled terrible. Not sure if it was just a mountain man who didn't bother to bathe and shave, but he sure looked odd. I took out my phone with HD camera and filmed. Naturally he came out fuzzy like my phone's camera was from 1997. Now everyone just laughs at me and my incredible story. Oh and I once saw a pileated woodpecker in my back yard too.
I saw a beaver at Racoon State Park. You don't expect to see them SouthWest PA.
Also saw a rattlesnake sunning itself on linn run road last spring, again not a rare animal but I'd never seen one in the wild before. 4 cars were lined up in front of it, parents and their kids getting out taking pictures way too close. You can get as good a picture from 30 feet as you can from 10 people, your smartphone cameras all have zoom
I wish I knew what the rodent was that I saw in Duff Park in Murrysville around September. One of the cutest little things I ever saw, and he/she was like following us from afar and chirping at us. I called it a muskrat at the time, but after looking at them on Google, I don't believe that's what it was. It almost seemed domesticated... I hope it wasn't someone's former pet.
We also saw an adorable baby red fox last Spring. Not exactly a novelty to me, because we had one or two adult foxes that used to frequent the field next to where I work, but still cute to see up close.
I haven't seen many here either but saw a bunch once when renting a cabin down near Berkely Springs, WV. Don't know if they prefer slightly warmer weather or what.
I have seen coyotes in my neighborhood which is a bit disconcerting.
What I have seen last month, twice, is a Ringed Neck Pheasant. In Allegheny County (fringes of Butler County border). They used to be much more plentiful when I was a kid. It was strikingly beautiful with a green color you almost have to see to believe.
I saw the same hairy bipedal apelike possibly human creature at a Backyard Brawl. I was surprised they found a WVU cheerleader outfit to fit her.
At a place I used to work we would see a falcon up on the top ledge of a building across the street every so often. In the other direction across the street there was an empty lot (the building there had caught fire and been torn down) and the next lot over was an old house that was in pretty bad shape. There were a couple guys who lived there who were slobs, garbage in the yard, the place is just a mess. So one summer they get a rat infestation. It was bad enough that we could look out the second floor window at work and see the rats moving around in the yard and see them on their back porch and in the garbage and whatnot.
So one day I'm standing at the window talking to a guy when the falcon comes swooping across the street into the yard and grabs up one of the rats. It then flies over and lands on the top of the chain link fence directly across the street from us and proceeds to feast on the rat. We were calling everyone over that came by to watch. Not something you see everyday.
Out here in Mars in my yard I have seen a bobcat while cutting grass, a black bear once and last winter I had a mink taking fish from my koi pond. Probably 15-20 years ago, there was an albino deer I would see on our road and that one had an albino baby. Bald eagle sightings a few times. Hear coyotes in the evening occasionally.
When I worked in town I was outside at lunch and saw feathers flying. Looked up and I also saw a falcon with a pigeon being torn up.
Used to see the falcons flying around PPG. Not sure if they nested in the PPG towers but if not they must have at least hunted around them.
So a small one crossing the road and climbing over the guard rail-
Of course in potter county
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