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Wildlife Sightings Today

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    • Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.

    • odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      He's probably just really hot and already tired of summer.
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123

    • Drybones wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      what hiker, he looks full to me. :D

    • mental note wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      what hiker, he looks full to me. :D
      Why do you think he sits and waits in the middle of the trail? :)
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      mental note wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      what hiker, he looks full to me. :D
      Why do you think he sits and waits in the middle of the trail? :)
      He's waiting for some privacy before fertilizing the trail.
      I am human and I need to be loved - just like everybody else does

    • Rasty wrote:

      Drybones wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Just got back from my three day, 40 mile section at SNP. While hiking down to Thronton Gap (SOBO), about 5 minutes before the first road crossing (Skyline Drive), I come around a corner and see this guy (fairly close, maybe 20 yards up the trail). He was sitting right in the middle of the trail, looking very mellow. Occasionally he would look around or stick his nose straight up in the air, but mostly he just sat there and stared at me. I talked to him, waved my arms a bit, but nothing seemed to concern him. So after a couple of minutes, I figured my only recourse was to bushwack around him. Fortunately this was in a spot where to ground was relatively flat and the forest relatively open, so it wasn't too hard to get around, although it was a bit tricky picking your way around trees and rocks and keeping your eye on the bear at the same time. I eventually emerged onto the trail about the same distance on the other side. His butt never once left the ground. I got a few more pictures, and walked on.


      He looks stoned, wonder if he got into some hikers stash.
      He's probably just really hot and already tired of summer.
      You're probably right, just looked in the mirror and I have that same expression....100* at the moment.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • odd man out wrote:

      I have noticed the seem to poop on the trail a lot.
      I believe the most bear poop on a trail that I've seen was at Big Frog Mt at the base of that 800' steep section TJ was discussing, there's a water source just off the trail to the right going north and it had scat everywhere around it and on the trail, was a good camp site, had one of my most memorable cups of coffee there, don't really know why, just in a good mood I guess, wind was blowing hard and the trees were being whipped around, I pulled the fly back and lay there watching the trees and listening to the wind.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • My puggle and I had an encounter with some wild life today- a rabbit. I was picking up the dog poo before I cut the grass this afternoon when this gray blur runs by followed by our little puggle a split second later, The rabbit heads for the corner of the chain link fence where there are some flowers and ground cover behind one of those wire landscape fences about knee high. In her excitement, our puggle forgets to jump the landscape fence and instead tries to run thru it like the rabbit did and gets her head stuck in the fence. The rabbit seizes the opportunity to jump back over the small fence and hightail it (literally) across the yard trying to find a spot in our fence to squeeze thru. Our dog starts to take off after the rabbit with her head still stuck in the fence, ripping it out of the ground and taking a 6 foot piece of it with her. I tackled her, got the fence off her head and put her in the house and opened both gates so the bunny could escape. It was very entertaining. 8o
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      My puggle and I had an encounter with some wild life today- a rabbit. I was picking up the dog poo before I cut the grass this afternoon when this gray blur runs by followed by our little puggle a split second later, The rabbit heads for the corner of the chain link fence where there are some flowers and ground cover behind one of those wire landscape fences about knee high. In her excitement, our puggle forgets to jump the landscape fence and instead tries to run thru it like the rabbit did and gets her head stuck in the fence. The rabbit seizes the opportunity to jump back over the small fence and hightail it (literally) across the yard trying to find a spot in our fence to squeeze thru. Our dog starts to take off after the rabbit with her head still stuck in the fence, ripping it out of the ground and taking a 6 foot piece of it with her. I tackled her, got the fence off her head and put her in the house and opened both gates so the bunny could escape. It was very entertaining. 8o
      DYING laughing here!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to read this to my co-workers when they asked what had me rolling on the floor.

      If only you could've gotten this on video...
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

    • Grinder wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      My puggle and I had an encounter with some wild life today- a rabbit. I was picking up the dog poo before I cut the grass this afternoon when this gray blur runs by followed by our little puggle a split second later, The rabbit heads for the corner of the chain link fence where there are some flowers and ground cover behind one of those wire landscape fences about knee high. In her excitement, our puggle forgets to jump the landscape fence and instead tries to run thru it like the rabbit did and gets her head stuck in the fence. The rabbit seizes the opportunity to jump back over the small fence and hightail it (literally) across the yard trying to find a spot in our fence to squeeze thru. Our dog starts to take off after the rabbit with her head still stuck in the fence, ripping it out of the ground and taking a 6 foot piece of it with her. I tackled her, got the fence off her head and put her in the house and opened both gates so the bunny could escape. It was very entertaining. 8o
      DYING laughing here!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to read this to my co-workers when they asked what had me rolling on the floor.
      If only you could've gotten this on video...
      Wish I could have. It was definitely America's Funniest video material.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • Grinder wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      My puggle and I had an encounter with some wild life today- a rabbit. I was picking up the dog poo before I cut the grass this afternoon when this gray blur runs by followed by our little puggle a split second later, The rabbit heads for the corner of the chain link fence where there are some flowers and ground cover behind one of those wire landscape fences about knee high. In her excitement, our puggle forgets to jump the landscape fence and instead tries to run thru it like the rabbit did and gets her head stuck in the fence. The rabbit seizes the opportunity to jump back over the small fence and hightail it (literally) across the yard trying to find a spot in our fence to squeeze thru. Our dog starts to take off after the rabbit with her head still stuck in the fence, ripping it out of the ground and taking a 6 foot piece of it with her. I tackled her, got the fence off her head and put her in the house and opened both gates so the bunny could escape. It was very entertaining. 8o
      DYING laughing here!!!!!!!!!!!!
      Me too...I can just picture his little puggle running after that rabbit.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • odd man out wrote:

      of course these days, if you don't post a video on social media, I'd didn't happen. Actually, can we borrow your puggle. Rabbits have decimated my garden. My fence and couch potato corgi ate useless.
      I got a chip monk who's livin' on narrowed time. ;) just waitin' for a clear shot :D

      ...I wonder what a vegetarian buffalo chip monk taste like?

    • mental note wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      of course these days, if you don't post a video on social media, I'd didn't happen. Actually, can we borrow your puggle. Rabbits have decimated my garden. My fence and couch potato corgi ate useless.
      I got a chip monk who's livin' on narrowed time. ;) just waitin' for a clear shot :D
      ...I wonder what a vegetarian buffalo chip monk taste like?
      I got two cats to take care of my chip monk problem...but they aren't working out too well...they go over to the neighbors, catch one, and bring home to turn loose.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • Drybones wrote:

      mental note wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      of course these days, if you don't post a video on social media, I'd didn't happen. Actually, can we borrow your puggle. Rabbits have decimated my garden. My fence and couch potato corgi ate useless.
      I got a chip monk who's livin' on narrowed time. ;) just waitin' for a clear shot :D ...I wonder what a vegetarian buffalo chip monk taste like?
      I got two cats to take care of my chip monk problem...but they aren't working out too well...they go over to the neighbors, catch one, and bring home to turn loose.
      My sister's dogs take care of the chipmonks.

      There was a guy in the 1960s, named Chip Monk, who was a rock concert promoter, commentator, something like that. He finally grew sideburns that helped him look like a chipmonk. I am sure, it wasn't the booze.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.