# Has anyone seen a WILD animal on the trail



## Pinto Pony

The scariest thing we come across it male 'roos. pintopony the guy we saw this time was scary cause he wouldn't jump away which made us think his females were around somewhere. They can turn quite nasty in breeding season and when young ones are around.

Otherwise all our more poisonous things are snakes and spiders which we are pretty sure he horses can out run


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## RockinTheBit07

Never really go on trail rides since our barn is in the middle ofhte city. But we did have 2 foxes at the barn (they were after our chickens lol) and one morning when i was there I came face to face with teh fox and we had a staring contest lol. I was bad and tried to pet it:lol:. When I was up in the foothills (there is this restaurant there Humphrey Station, love it! But it used to be an old stop for like the stage coaches etc..) we were eating outside and spotted a big deer!! It was the male i believe, big antlers (arent they called bucks??) We rarely have bears here, I mean on our flag is a grizzly bear and we dont even have them lol, they all almost went extinct here:shock: And for my Astronomy class, during our lab times we spent 3 different nights up in the sorta foothill area where there were no lights to look through the big telescopes. Well It is a good 40 some minute drive to the turn off then another 30 min on a little narrow dirt road. Anywho me and my friend were among the last few to be there finishing our work and heard a bunch of coyotes howling only 100 yards away:shock:. I could see their eyes shine, scared the life out of me!!! But my teacher said that was nothing compared to when he was there alone cleaning up and a coyote sat 10 feet away from him and just stared at him...lol That is all of my "wild experiecenes" lol


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## happygoose123

well apart from foxes we dont have any of those scary animals u listed in australia! lol! Ive seen lots of harmless animals while trail riding like kangaroos, wallabys, lizzards, goannas, rabbits, rats and mice. Ive come across a few snakes but most of the time they just run away and i just keep my distance from them. I dont think foxes would do much, i think they would just run away. I have come across a pretty scary looking dog but i saw it before i got close so i just turned around. Once i heard a really scary growling kinda noise in the bush right next to me and i just turned around and bolted! lol! that was scary!!! to answer your question, i would just turn and run! Im not sure if its the right thing to do but i would just do that without even thinking!


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## Vidaloco

We see coyotes and bobcats but they are usually more scared of us then we are of them. I saw a bobcat up a tree after a domestic cat once. We rode up and scared the bobcat away and saved the poor kittys life.


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## travlingypsy

aww man that poor kitty, were you guys actually able to get it down from the tree? 

The BO has seen two bears at the hay barn (where most of the trails are) we see bear poop every where also. But so far no one has seen one while riding. 
I would probably pee my pants if I saw one.


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## Spastic_Dove

Mama Moose and her baby. We ran away before they could think they were threatened.


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## travlingypsy

Yikes! I would hate to see a mama moose.


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## Spastic_Dove

It was terrifying lol


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## farmpony84

bald eagles, ducks, geese, rabbits, snakes... deer... foxes, bobcats... black bear...wild turkey...

the scariest thing was a hoove eating tree stump... very dangerous... put my friend on the ground, almost got me off too... dangerous dangerous tree stump....


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## rosie9r

We see coyotes all the time out here in CA. We had a mamma coyote and her buddies chase us once last spring because we had ridden too close to her den. This year we walked up on a rattlesnake, the horses didnt even really react, just calmly moved out of the way. I was more freaked out than they were, the whole way home I was checking to see if we were being followed by the snake! LOL


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## travlingypsy

Rattle snakes dont follow you do they? That would be sooo scary if they did...


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## appylover31803

the first trail ride I go on since I've moved here, we saw a black bear.

I've seen them before (from the comfort of a car) but never on horse back.
We (there were 4 of us) started singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall at the top of our lungs.

It stopped and stared at us for a while before going up a hill. I was terrified!

The thing that did spook my horse was a guy on a bicycle. He came up so very quiet from behind. Didn't say anything until Montana lept forward and I almost came off.


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## travlingypsy

woooo thats a close one appylover I guess that would be a good thing to do is make as much loud crazy noise as possible. I would be afraid of him getting mad and coming after us.


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## appylover31803

it was a young bear, not as large as adults and we kind of stumbled upon him.

We were a good 1-200 feet from the bear (probably more i'm bad with distance) so if it did start coming after us, we'd have a good head start.


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## travlingypsy

Do you think adult bears are harder to scare off? Im all worried now, lol.


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## peanut

We dont have anything really scary in australia do we lol
but my horse is scared of everything so thats a good thing.
If anyone has seen something scary on there adventures id looove to see pics as we dont get to see anything remotely scary here.


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## happygoose123

peanut, we got snakes!!! they are kinda scary! And what about those scary dogs that want to eat horse legs!!!! LOL!!! but yea nothing compared to bears or anything!


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## Miss Katie

Hmmm the scariest thing would probably be goannas. But they wont do anything unless provoked. 
Other things Ive seen are snakes, bunnies and hares, and other small things that dont really bother us much. The horses dont even look, not even at the wallabies when they take off from being hidden in the bushes.

We saw a dingo once when we were pulling the trailer in to park at the start of a trail. It just run away. It was huge tho, a crossbreed with a domestic dog!


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## danastark

When I lived in AK we had some dealings with bears and moose, never any trouble though. In WA the worst wild animals were the deer hunters!!! Deer would occasionally spring away and spook my horse. In CA we've seen rattlesnakes, had some coyotes follow us for a while, just curious but we have major killer bunnies and squirrels if you ask my horse!!


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## peanut

ive never seen a snake in my life lol
or anything really scary besides those evil little dogs ****


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## appylover31803

i really dont think an adult bear would be harder to scare off.

I do know that black bears aren't as aggressive as the grizzly bears and I do believe their main diet is like twigs and berries, not to much meat (I saw a growing up black bear and they ged the baby and adult bears fruits and veggies, no meat)

I think there are bear horns out there, that will scare the bears off. I dont have one though.


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## travlingypsy

Well then im glad we dont have grizzlies around here. I wonder what Gypsy would do if she saw one, she would probably have made up her mind about running before we could try and scare the bear off.


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## InBox

omm............... DEER lol and they are wild so... they should count


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## happygoose123

> ive never seen a snake in my life lol
> or anything really scary besides those evil little dogs ****:razz:


Lol I cant beleive youve never seen a snake!!! arnt there many down there is south australia? there are heaps up in qld!!! we have even had them wonder into the house!! they're not that scary on trails tho, they either run away or they r too busy sleeping in the middle of the road. But they r scary when they come into the house!!!!!! lol but yea, you have to watch those dogs!!! lol!!


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## travlingypsy

InBox said:


> omm............... DEER lol and they are wild so... they should count


Yes, but we see deer in our yards. And they are not "scary" like a bear, wolf, rabid dog, moose. So they dont really count as to if someone has seen a scary wild animal.


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## Vidaloco

travlingypsy said:


> aww man that poor kitty, were you guys actually able to get it down from the tree?
> 
> The BO has seen two bears at the hay barn (where most of the trails are) we see bear poop every where also. But so far no one has seen one while riding.
> I would probably pee my pants if I saw one.


The bobcat came down out of the tree, then the domestic cat came down and ran in the same direction as the bobcat :shock: stupid kitty :wink:
Coyotes don't bother us, but the holes they dig can be leg breakers. Vida has stepped down into more than one and it always freaks me out. They dig fairly large deep holes.


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## travlingypsy

Yah that cat isnt to bright! 

I havent had any problems with coyotes digging up holes. We've never come across any, thank God. That would be scary.


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## PoptartShop

Aw, deer don't count?! LOL. :lol: I've seen sooo many of those, ahaha. Like every time I go on a trail...deer alert, haha. I haven't really seen anything else except a fox once or twice. Not too exciting if 'ya ask me!


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## Walkamile

We've seen coyotes, bobcats, pine martins (what a racket they make!), hawks flying straight for us, owls, tons of turkeys, fox, porcupine and moose. As of yet only the fresh tracks of cougar, and recently bear tracks. Seen plenty of bear scat last fall so I imagine sooner or later we'll run into it. So far nothing has fazed T (Walka was a bit freaked by the pine martin's screeching), but we'll see this season!


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## Got2Gallop

My QH gelding Pete and I ran across a few coyotes, they just ran off when they saw us. Once we were coming up to an old fence post and there was a Buzzard sitting on it, I saw it and Pete didn't! I stopped him and turned him so he was totally facing it and fortunately the thing moved a little so he was aware but he still spooked a bit when it flapped off lol. I miss Pete, wish I still had him!


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## CJ82Sky

Well funny story...was riding when I was a kid with a friend of mine new to the area (I'm in Northern NJ) and he was asking what kind of wildlife around here. And I said we have deer of course, some foxes, hawks, if you ride at nite you may see an owl or two, coyotes, and I hear there are bear but i've never seen one. 

He laughed and said sure, and lions and tigers....and bears....haha!

Just as he said that it was like someone said "queue bear stage left" and out from the woods trots a juvenille black bear across the trail, stops, stands up and sniffs at us, then continues trotting across the trail back into the deep woods. Neither of our horses could have cared less, but the two of us were so dumbfounded we almost fell off our horses! He was like no....no way dude was that a wind up bear?! The timing was hysterical!


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## Painted Horse

Just afew of the wild things I see along the trail.













































Wild Buffalo

















Wild donkeys








Wild Mustangs


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## bevie

:shock: good god i thought seeing a kangaroo in the bush was exciting but wow them pictures really make me realise that i am missing out big time bevie


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## peanut

double post sorry


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## peanut

WOW! those pictures are amazing! 
Happygoose:dont tell me that,we are hoping to move to qld soon!:shock:lol
its so dry here,its just dirt at the moment,everywhere.
we went to the gold coasta few weeks ago and the sunshine coast and it was so green there,we loved it there and want to move there,just further out with a bit of land.
no,i live semi rural and ive never ever seen a snake..
whereabouts in qld are you?
maybe you could tell me abit about the place and best areas etc??

The most interesting thing ive seen is a kangaroo too lol
except we had to drive 3 hours to see 1 lol
Also..whats the second picture of?


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## back in the crosby again

This was not on the trail, but I think it still counts. I was in the arena early one morning working with a spook at everything arabian and a deer came out of the woods and jump right into the arena! I don't think she had realized we were there, because she looked a little shocked when she looked over at us. The arabian did not even act like anything had happened. This is the same horse who would spook at his own shadow. 

When I used to exercise polo ponies in the early morning there was a bit of trail I would detour on to get to the field. I would see red fox a lot, at least once every two weeks.


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## Vidaloco

CJ82Sky said:


> Well funny story...was riding when I was a kid with a friend of mine new to the area (I'm in Northern NJ) and he was asking what kind of wildlife around here. And I said we have deer of course, some foxes, hawks, if you ride at nite you may see an owl or two, coyotes, and I hear there are bear but i've never seen one.
> 
> He laughed and said sure, and lions and tigers....and bears....haha!
> 
> Just as he said that it was like someone said "queue bear stage left" and out from the woods trots a juvenille black bear across the trail, stops, stands up and sniffs at us, then continues trotting across the trail back into the deep woods. Neither of our horses could have cared less, but the two of us were so dumbfounded we almost fell off our horses! He was like no....no way dude was that a wind up bear?! The timing was hysterical!


Thats a cute story, you told it well :lol:


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## xeventer17

I live near Valley Forge National Park and I ride over there quite often. There's not too many wild animals around there because people are there so often, but if you go back into areas that most people don't go to you can find some interesting animals. I personally have run into quite a few foxes.

The scariest things I've ran into, however, have been while I was down in Virginia for the summer. The barn that I ride at down there has an outdoor arena up near the top of the mountain that the farm is on and one end of it runs up against an area of woods that you can't really get to. One time when I was riding up there my horse was really really nervous and I couldn't figure out why. Then I got over onto that corner and he full out spooked like REALLY spooked so I glanced into to woods to see a mountain lion standing there looking at us. Needless to say I went back down to the indoor. Lol. I've also seen a few snakes in to indoor ring there, most of them not poisonus. The other scariest thing I've seen was out on the trails we ran into a racoon that either had rabies or dementia which was pretty **** scary. We ended up having to call animal control.


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## travlingypsy

What was the racoon doing? 
We had to kill a **** just a while back, it had gotten into the dogs stall (jack russels) and tore their faces up pritty bad. I saw all the blood and was like looking around in the stall, looking by the dogloos and stuff. So I just went on feeding the horses, went to put the feed cart away and there were two green eyes looking out of the igloo, that I had just looked into and was inches away from it. And there he was a big young racoon. 
I then called the BO and she came out got the shovel to chase it out but the dogs whent after it again... So we had to kill it. Thats when I decided I should join the gun club and get registered.


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## SamboStar

I think we saw a cougar once....it was in daylight, and it was stalking a few bucks who left....the horses were going nuts while we were in the woods right after. VERY SCARY!!!! Other than that, TONS of deer, squirrels, turkeys, birds, and one coyote.


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## xeventer17

Well we had seen the racoon earlier up by the house. It had been sitting across from the garage and the owner of the place was like "ehh, that racoon doesn't really look right." but it disapeared and we didn't really think anything of it. then later that day we hit the trails and it was sitting right in the middle of one of the most used trails just staring at us. my trainer kinda went after it on her horse to see if she could get it to move and it just sat there so we took a different trail but on our way back it was still there. then we saw it up by the house again and realized it was going in circles so we called someone out to kill it cuz it's not exactly normal for a racoon to be out in broad daylight and especially not normal to sit in the middle of a trail when a horse charges it. lol


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## booner

We have bear,cougar,bobcat,coyote,*****,deer,elk etc, but the only thing we've seen is elk.They let you get pretty darn close toh and hubby saw a baby bobcat too. We take our dogs w/ all the time so they scare off most of the game.


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## Painted Horse

The second pictures is of a Cow Moose. The 3rd picture is a Bull moose.

I forgot the elk pictures, Here they are.


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## RockinTheBit07

travlingypsy said:


> Yes, but we see deer in our yards. And they are not "scary" like a bear, wolf, rabid dog, moose. So they dont really count as to if someone has seen a scary wild animal.


**** You tell Joe that:wink:. The poor horse is scared of kitty litter!!! ( a lady dumps teh old barn cats litter in the arena) If he saw a deer or anything other than another horse(with a rider on it!) he would double over in fear! lol I have never seen a deer in my yard lol, for us city people deer are pretty wild:wink:. Raccoons (sp) on the other hand are very common here, i have seen at least 4-5 so to me they arent that wild.


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## travlingypsy

xeventer17- That racoon would freak me out, I hope it didnt have rabies and sread it around  

Rockinthebit07- Thats so gross that the lady does that! At our barn there is a cat box but it hasnt been cleaned out in years so the cat just poops in the loft, so then when they were doing hay the BO husband said "EEEEWWW CAT POOP" really loud and the BO got all embaressed and blamed her husband. Its like dont be mad at him! Clean after your cat... Anywhooo. 
Yah deer are everywhere in WA I mean you even see them dead on I-5 so deer just isnt odd to see anywhere.


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## NorthernMama

Paintedhorse - what lovely photos! I almost always leave my camera behind. 

I've come across bear, moose, deer and little creatures too, but I make a fair amount of noise coming down the trail with my bells, so most animals tend to stay clear of us. I see more wildlife when I'm driving, walking or working in the yard than I do when I'm riding. Had a raccoon in the barn once -- I wasn't too impressed with that!


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## Ne0n Zero

Beau and I saw a coyote. He ran along the trail with us for a little while, then disappeared into the bush. Beau never missed a beat, he was just like "oh, hey there sup?" xD

The coyote didn't try to attack or chase us or anything, he just loped along with us for a few seconds, then left. 

It was pretty cool actually.


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## xeventer17

haha, yea the racoon was quite alarming, but as far as we know if it did have anything it didn't spread around.

also, ne0n, that sounds really really cool


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## booner

We have a herd of elk that big that go into the cow fields right on the edge of town. Everyone stops to look.The cows and horses dont mind much.


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## GeorgieGirl

I've seen deer, bobcats, and once I crossed the path of a mountain lion....my mare was ok but my friends gelding freaked.
Oh..and lots and lots of coyotes....I was hunted by a pack while I was on horse back twice. It was in one of those equestrian communities/bridal path developments in a rural part of So Cal that was getting more and more urbanized.


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## Hoofprints in the Sand

travlingypsy said:


> Yes, but we see deer in our yards. And they are not "scary" like a bear, wolf, rabid dog, moose. So they dont really count as to if someone has seen a scary wild animal.


Oh I beg to differ! ;-) It depends on the deer!! haha we ran into a buck once who charged us trying to scare us out of his territory - those things and their huge antlers can be VERY scary!! We had to turn tail and run, you definitely don't want to try to stand your ground with a charging buck, they don't back down so much!


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## travlingypsy

Yah see we have whimpy little deers, even the bucks dont get that big cause the hunters get em before we see them.


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## Twilight Arabians

me and my mom were out riding and we say a black bear. i have also seen moose quite a few times. also say a wolf while i was ridding on our proporty. i saw a couger stalking my pony when i was a little kid. my dad took care of that bad cat. it had attacked 2 other peoples horses, thankfully it wasn't full grown so it did do too much. but it has been killing dogs, cats, and everyother small animal. so it was just a matter of time untill it killed a horse or person.


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## CheyAut

All the time. Rattlesnakes, javelina, coyotes, ect. And I haven't seen it, but there's a bobcat in my neighborhood, my neighor saw it on her chicken coop. All of them come freely onto our property, so our horses are used to them. But the javelina get started easily and will take off, so sometimes that startles the horses


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## makin tracks

Just dingos, but they are more scared of you that you of them. However, now irresponsible people's dogs are mixing with them and breeding, the wild dog population isn't so timid.

Wild pigs can be nasty though. If I think I hear one I head away as quick as possible. Have seen a couple on a ride but thankfully they were a little way off and heading away from us, but they will charge with no provocation, they are very fast and some of the boars very big.


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## SamboStar

I did see a big brown bear once, but I was riding my bike, not a horse LOL!


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## Kentucky

travlingypsy said:


> Yah see we have whimpy little deers, even the bucks dont get that big cause the hunters get em before we see them.


Either that or the deer are over populated and are not getting enough food to grow larger. Either way a mature buck is very shy and rarely will be seen. Hold that thought you live in Mule deer and/ or black tail country they are not as shy as whiletails that live around me. But the bigger bucks still won't show themselve too freely.

As for me, I have seen hawks, a few white tails and a few cows in the pasture next to it.


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## Barbarosa

Maureen and I were riding Friday and I saw a big cat. It might have been a bobcat but sure looked bigger. All I could see was the top line as it stared at us for a while then linked off through the tall grass and cedars. I have seen a small cougar about a mile from the farm and had bobcats sit and watch me fish out of an inner tube. I have seen several bobcats over the years and Fras and Vida don't act up from them but this time Fras was sure jumpy she kept her ears up and wouldn't lower her head to graze. We see loads of white tail deer. 8-10 point bucks are common, they are big and fat here loads of soy beans, milo, and pasture. Last month we had a herd of 20 or so cross the trail in front of us. If the deer come into our pasture Fras chases them off. We also have bald eagles nest for the winter at the city lake five miles from us. So we see them there as well as in the sky over us from time to time.


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## english_rider144

actually Eddie they can get nasty around here. I've been charged by one. I've seen deer, turkerys. Turkeys can be nasty at times. They'll try and attack you with their wings and its not fun.


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## booner

Bucks will charge the dogs here but not sure bout on horseback, and we hardly see them, more does and babies.But a certain time of the year we see bachelor groups(many buck together).
Havent ran across deer riding yet, just elk.


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## kitten_Val

We have 2 scariest things around here (just in August, other time of the year not as bad): bees and copperheads (spell?) snakes. 

Once the whole guided trail group (10 people or so) was attacked by the army of bees (I guess someone stepped in wrong spot in grass ). I was far enough with couple friends so my participation was in catching horses when people started to fall and let them go. NEVER seen so much of nudists in the middle of the public park: girls and boys run towards us and started to take off the t-shorts and all to get those bees out. Was pretty sad, but hilarious to watch. 

Another story was when the trail riding group started to cross the stream and was attacked by copperheads (do them have a honeymoon in August - who knows...). They didn't look like they were joking, so we just tried to leave the water as soon as possible.


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## travlingypsy

oh man those bees would be sooo freakin scary but I wouldnt ditch my horse. Id stay on deer life but then if I did get stung id only have 15 mins to get my shot and run to the hospital. So id be screwed any ways. 

The snakes in water remind me of lonesome dove the movie where the kids died because of the snakes, that part always scared me when I was younger because you didnt see them coming.


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## CloudsMystique

The scariest things I've seen are a fox, a coyote, and a boar.

My mare didn't even notice the fox. She saw the coyote, but my gelding didn't (thank god... he's the spooky one). She just looked at it.

The boar is another story... those things scare me! They've been known to take down horses by stabbing them in the stomach with their tusks, and they are abundant in the area I live in.

My friend was cantering my gelding, and I was cantering my mare behind her. All of a sudden, my gelding came to a screeching halt. His eyes were wide and he was snorting like crazy. We didn't hear or see a thing. He wouldn't budge, so I walked my mare in front of him. She calmly walked ahead and didn't notice a thing. He followed unwillingly behind her. We walked a few steps, and all of a sudden, we see a boar about the size of a cow come BARRELING past us. He was probably about six feet away from us, but was running parallel to us. That was definitely my scariest moment on the trail.


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## MLK11

We've come across foxes, wild turkeys, porcupines, raccoons, and I've seen moose tracks. There are bears in the area, we've just never seen them, thank God!!

I was riding out in a land trust over the summer and my mare and I went past a swampy area. We turned around about 5 minutes later because it was getting too mucky. Right across the trail were HUGE moose tracks. The moose must have been right next to us and we didn't notice. :shock:


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## smrobs

Hhhmmmmm, lets see. Coyotes, snakes, raccoons, skunks, porcupines, bobcats, mountain lions (cougars), turkey, I think that's it. Fortunately, they all left us alone. I think I would rather tangle with a bobcat than a skunk. LOL. I'm sure that everyone has seen this but it is still pretty cool. Mule Kills Mountain Lion

That is why lots of people put a mule with their cattle, sheep, and goats as protection from predators.


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## travlingypsy

That mule! Dang.....


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## chelssss(:

One time me and my trainer were out on a trail just to relax and this buzzard (its like a vulture but MUCH bigger) and it flew after us and attacked us. I guess we were in its area. It scared me.

we always see deer and all. nothing really too bad.


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## Walkamile

smrobs said:


> Hhhmmmmm, lets see. Coyotes, snakes, raccoons, skunks, porcupines, bobcats, mountain lions (cougars), turkey, I think that's it. Fortunately, they all left us alone. I think I would rather tangle with a bobcat than a skunk. LOL. I'm sure that everyone has seen this but it is still pretty cool. Mule Kills Mountain Lion
> 
> That is why lots of people put a mule with their cattle, sheep, and goats as protection from predators.


WOW!:shock: I think I want a Mule! Talk about feeling safe. Bring on the worst you got, Ole Jack will kick your butt!


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## travlingypsy

I saw on youtube they did stupid videos of the pics on the website given and a lot of people are saying that the lion was already dead, and that the hunters shot it and then let the mule "play" with the dead lion.... 
How stupid is that, yah becuase they just like to toss, stomp, bite dead bodies. It has nothing to do with fight/flight.


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## CloudsMystique

snopes.com: One Bad Mule

If there's ever a debate about whether something is real, go to Snopes. They research all of those things and tell you whether or not they think it's real.

Apparently the lion was already dead, but the mule wasn't "playing" with it. He was trying to attack it... he just didn't care that it was dead.

People usually use mules and donkeys to protect their livestock from wolves and coyotes, because mules and donkeys HATE dogs. I don't think they would attack a mountain lion, and I don't think they would win if they did.


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## shmurmer4

i dont know given the size difference it is completely possible. I mean a zebra can take a lion...

The only people who will truly know whether it actually happened or not is the people that were there. 

Snopes, LOL. 

Snopes doesn't know everything, in fact they themselves say that it is their opinion whether something happened or took place or not with the use of reasonable evidence. With this, they have no evidence for either side.

*edit* snopes source was a book written by an "expert" who as well, was not there.


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## Jump4heaven

I've seen skunk and fawn.. My horse didn't notice the skunk, and she just stopped when she saw the fawn who quickly dared away when it noticed us.


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## travlingypsy

Dead or alive, still that mule wasnt affraid to go after the lion. When I get my own land/farm im getting me a BIG one  Name it Big john or Bubba Blue


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## Sliding4ever

Well we have coyotes, deer, hogs, snakes, gators, buzzards, opposums, *****, hawks, bob cats. Luckily we haven't come across the deer, coyotes, or the bob cats on the trail but they are there. And the opposums, and ***** or nocturnal (sp?) so we haven't come across those. We also have armidillos but I don't think there doing to well anymore. I haven't seen any in a LONG time, dead or alive.



Just a side note. For annoying neighborhood dogs that try to chase you, chase them back. I ride my horses on the road all the time, and there are 2 dogs in the section that I ride on that try to chase/play with us. So one day they started running toward us so I turned my horse to them and started running at them. Haven't had a problem with them since. Of course that might not work for everyone but it did for me.


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## CloudsMystique

shmurmer4 said:


> i dont know given the size difference it is completely possible. I mean a zebra can take a lion...
> 
> The only people who will truly know whether it actually happened or not is the people that were there.
> 
> Snopes, LOL.
> 
> Snopes doesn't know everything, in fact they themselves say that it is their opinion whether something happened or took place or not with the use of reasonable evidence. With this, they have no evidence for either side.
> 
> *edit* snopes source was a book written by an "expert" who as well, was not there.


 



The people who wrote the email don't claim to have been there either. Why believe them?


----------



## SamboStar

*The person who owns Sam also owns two mini donkeys and hinny (a stallion and a jenny. Mule would be a mare and a jack). Apparently the hinny chased off a coyote and one of the donkeys chased off a skunk. They're the perkiest lil' things I've ever seen!*


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## katieandduke

my friend and i have seen a panther very close to us.. maybe 100 ft away.. we were on foot though..feeding the horses.. haha.. my friend stops and has those big ole eyes O_O .lol.. and i was like what and was the dummy that kept running then i realized that she wasnt kidding.. i never saw it but my friend says that she saw its eyes glow when it turned(it was a full moon but late so it was nighttime but not like dark dark) ..but this was conformed whenever my barn owner came out and found the HUGE tracks it left behind for us! lol! ummm we have seen snakes, one bear, heard many panthers (not the woman scream, the cow sound) or that could have been a cycote? not sure! lol! but thats it.. wait no.. deer, raccoon, yeah thats it!


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## morganshow11

My bff and I saw a skunk in the woods. here is the story.

One noce and shinny day Elise and I went out for a nice long trail ride. We passed some deer, squrrils and the occasinal animals. We were getting bord so i thought, how bout' we set up some jumps. A few day before we had saw a skunk in the woods at the farm. So i was hoping that he would not be in the trails somewhere. Anyway, I dismounted and got some small fallen down trees and Elise is sitting up on the horse pionting to some good logs. And I spotted the PERFECT log in a bush. So I reached for the log and then i saw a skunk, I say oh well. Next thing ya know the dang skunk is chasing me. I am tring to grab onto the saddle, trying to get on my horse so i would go faster. I look up and Elise is no where to be seen! Now my horse sees the skunk and starts to run. So know i have no clue where Ewlise is at with her horse and i have no clue where my horse went. So, i am still running and the stupid skunk is still chasing me! I am not worried about my self at all! I am worried about my horse tripping and falling or getting lost. Finnaly i found my horse eating peacfully while i am running away form the skunk like a mainiak. I hurry and run over to me horse, whom does not care that the skunk is right behind. I get on him and we charge out of the woods(yes, with the skunk not to far behind.)And know the hard part of the woods come, and my horse can only walk through it. Now I am searching everywhere for Elise screaming her name and no answer. And finnaly i found her! And i said "is there a reason why you left be back there?" "Nah" she said like it was nothing. 

So we went back to the barn and i said "gimme back my horse" (she was riding my horse) and hen we got into a big fight and that si a long story too, so i will not say.


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## Zab

We don't have many wild predators here 
Just seen mooses, foxes, deer, hares and so on, and wild pigs/whatever you call them, they normally scare the horses.  And I've met tame pigs and angry dogs, the latter trying to attack the horses. We attacked them back. >)


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## SamboStar

> *Sliding4ever:* For annoying neighborhood dogs that try to chase you, chase them back. I ride my horses on the road all the time, and there are 2 dogs in the section that I ride on that try to chase/play with us. So one day they started running toward us so I turned my horse to them and started running at them. Haven't had a problem with them since.


LOL, good advice. I'll have to keep that in mind if we ever ride up our road (there are some car-chasers up there). On foot, I know if you make any move to chase certain dogs (e.g. very aggressive/fearful dogs) they will actually attack you. On horseback, though, they could simply be too afraid of horses (being so big and all) that they leave. Good thought though!


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## Tazmanian Devil

CloudsMystique said:


> snopes.com: One Bad Mule
> 
> If there's ever a debate about whether something is real, go to Snopes. They research all of those things and tell you whether or not they think it's real.


Not to go off topic or dispute this particular story...

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see"

Snopes is good, but should also be read with a critical eye. On certain topics I notice they have a bias and can be a little less than accurate. Like anything else, the people "researching" the topics are human and can make mistakes (intentional or otherwise). They are not infallible.


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## Tazmanian Devil

Being in suburbia and non-domestic animal sighting is interesting.

On a local trail in a very populated area I have seen:

Raccoon
Possum
A family of fox
Redtail Hawks
herd of deer
herd of wild turkey

Certainly not "Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom" stuff.  What is interesting is that the fox will follow the horses on trail - almost stalking them. This freaks out some of the riders.

The redtail hawks have also been know to shadow riders. Sometimes they swoop down near or next to the riders on trail. Not close enough to be a danger, but close enough to be interesting.

One thing that did bother me happened over the winter. I was riding the trail at night. It gets pretty dark in the woods. On the way back, I realized something was following me. It was too dark to see, but the thing was big. It definitely wasn't a dog, but was bigger than a fox. I was guessing is was a giant raccoon (they get pretty big here from feasting on suburban trash cans).

After a hundred yards or so, the thing was still there. I was concerned that either the horse would spook or it was planning to attack. So I picked up a trot. The thing kept pace. Faster trot, it started running faster. I decided I really didn't want it to get close enough for me to see exactly what it was.

I kicked it into high gear. I heard it back there trying to, but it (thankfully) couldn't keep up. Never did find out what it was or why it was stalking me.


----------



## CloudsMystique

Tazmanian Devil said:


> Not to go off topic or dispute this particular story...
> 
> "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see"
> 
> Snopes is good, but should also be read with a critical eye. On certain topics I notice they have a bias and can be a little less than accurate. Like anything else, the people "researching" the topics are human and can make mistakes (intentional or otherwise). They are not infallible.


 

I didn't say they were right 100% of the time. But they do research these things, so you can read what they've dug up and make up your own mind about it. "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see" is exactly what they're doing.

Sorry for going off topic... I'll add a story to make it on topic.

I saw another boar yesterday. I was riding my mare along the edge of a field and we heard something jump in the bushes. Instead of running away from us, it was running towards us. My mare thought something was trying to attack her (as did I) so she turned away from it, but didn't make any attempt to leave. I turned my head, and I see a boar coming out of the bushes. It jumped away from us and just trotted across the field. My mare wouldn't take her eyes off of it. The things freak me out too :S


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## Kentucky

I believe you could of seen and most likely did see a wild boar in FL. And wild boar are one of the most dangerous animals in North America, second only to the Grizzly bear and rattle snake. And they are known to charge deer so a horse is not unbeleivable.


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## CloudsMystique

Kentucky said:


> I believe you could of seen and most likely did see a wild boar in FL. And wild boar are one of the most dangerous animals in North America, second only to the Grizzly bear and rattle snake. And they are known to charge deer so a horse is not unbeleivable.


 
Oh yeah. They've been known to kill horses around here! They charge them and stab them in the belly with their tusks :S


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## CiscoKidd

hmmm fox, hawks, turkey vulchers(sp?),a tiny garden snake (lol)
and that's about it, except for deer of course.


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## DarkEquine

Once we had two foxes shoot across the path in front of us whilst cantering cross-country, and another time we got a HUGE fright when we came down a small hill and a male kangaroo had been resting at the foot in some bushes, didn't see us until we were right on top of him - he leapt leapt about three feet into the air and bolted - slamming headfirst into a fence before jumping over it and out of sight.
Needless to say, the lead horse FREAKED OUT and skitted backwards into the horses behind us. It was then a domino effect and the second horse jumped backwards into the third horse and so on...
Since then, the lead horse has been skittish about going down that hill, and REFUSES to be first in the line!


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## Phaedra

_I have been fortunate enough to not have run into anything other than branches and other riders on the trails and it might be due to some advice my dad gave me a very very long time ago. He told me that whenever Im riding in the woods ( I live in Western Washington so that pretty much covers everywhere) to attach a small bell to my horses breast collar. He told me the sound it makes would keep the bears and big cats away. So far so good!_


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## Tazmanian Devil

xeventer17 said:


> Well we had seen the racoon earlier up by the house. It had been sitting across from the garage and the owner of the place was like "ehh, that racoon doesn't really look right." but it disapeared and we didn't really think anything of it. then later that day we hit the trails and it was sitting right in the middle of one of the most used trails just staring at us. my trainer kinda went after it on her horse to see if she could get it to move and it just sat there so we took a different trail but on our way back it was still there. then we saw it up by the house again and realized it was going in circles so we called someone out to kill it cuz it's not exactly normal for a racoon to be out in broad daylight and especially not normal to sit in the middle of a trail when a horse charges it. lol


Strange. I had a similar situation with a raccoon last fall. It was walking around my yard in circles at about 10am. The dogs were going wild in the house, and that noise didn't seem to bother it. After about 20 minutes it was still walking around. I could have called "animal control" and waited a week until they showed up (after my dogs got attacked). I finally decided to put it out of its misery.

Lots of weird raccoon happenings lately. I wonder it something is going around.


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## Sissimut-icehestar

scariest thing I've seen on the trail?

It depends on wheather you think ducks or geese who cant fly scarier :lol:

We simply don't have many wild animals here, we have birds, a few rabbits, foxes, mink and reindeer and I think that's it...


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## chika1235

when i was riding my horse i was listening to my i pod while on the trail (big mistake!)and when i looked up a small apple tree there was a momma bear and close by in the feild was her baby.the mama didnt do anything it just looked at us.it was in the smoky moutains so she was probably used to us anyways because of all the people up there with their horses.but it scared the heck out of me.my horse didnt do anything until i looked up and he kinda saw it at the same time i did he didnt spook really just kinda....jigged.the bear was probably 5 feet up a 10 foot tree and i was 20 feet away from it.yeah never go up to smoky moutain with a young horse.too many copperheads,bears,rattlesnakes,elk,itll scare a horse to death,not to mention get you killed!when i went to water my horses i couldnt because of all the copperheads!!! i sat there and killed(by stomping,squishing,and beheading)about 32 copperheads before it was even safe to go down and water my horses(yeah you can tell im not scared of snakes).lol : )it took me about 2 hours to water them because of all ....the omg a snake!!! no wait its a stick thing my horses did.


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## chika1235

ive seen boars(wild pigs)on trails down at bakers creek.their everywhere out there!!!we once killed one that was over 200 pounds!!!and im trying to get my horses used to guns so i can try and hunt off them.alot of people say its fun but idk.


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## ruger

thought i had seen it all, until i saw and emu at henryville forest in indiana. either it escaped a pen or someone released it.


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## Phaedra

Tazmanian Devil said:


> Strange. I had a similar situation with a raccoon last fall. It was walking around my yard in circles at about 10am. The dogs were going wild in the house, and that noise didn't seem to bother it. After about 20 minutes it was still walking around. I could have called "animal control" and waited a week until they showed up (after my dogs got attacked). I finally decided to put it out of its misery.
> 
> Lots of weird raccoon happenings lately. I wonder it something is going around.


_If a racoon is walking around in circles in your yard in broad daylight, there is definatly something wrong with it, most likey, rabies. That is classic behavior for an animal thats been infected. I would run, not walk to the phone and get animal control out there. If they decide to take two weeks to get out there and you have another incident like the one you described and feel you have to "put it out of it's misery" , deliver it to animal control and let them run tests on it. I would NOT let your dogs attack it. You wouldnt want one of them getting infected.._


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## brokencinch

With all the warm weather here the snakes are out in force, Killed 2 rattlesnakes out on the trail this morning and saw a pack of coyotes which are pretty normal all year round here. Usually see all kinds of wild things, Foxes, coyotes, deer, bobcats, mt. lions, javelina, bald eagles, Owls and an occasional Bear, But its the snakes I hate, been around them my whole life and just can't get used to the **** things, Sorry IMO, the only good snake is a dead one. LOL Ive also been out fishing and had them come into the back of my boat, Now thats always fun as the wife is runnig from the back of the boat screaming snake while the boat is rocking back and forth sideways from all the commotion, good thing it's a good size boat. LOL


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## dynamite.

I've only ever seen foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, frogs, snakes, and wild turkeys, neighbours chickens, birds and such on our trails because I only ride on trails in the daylight. But we do have wolves, coyotes, deer, and a bear and the rare lion in our area. Out of all of those, the chipmunks seem the scariest! (According to Willow, lol)


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## Small_Town_Girl

I'd say snakes, some horses freak over them and then there is
the chance they are poisonous and bite. Other than that I've
only seen deer. I don't trail ride too much because I don't have
a buddy to go with me and I'd hate to go off alone and then
my horse goes nuts, throw me off and run 90 mph into the 
woods. Not saying she would...but it would be best to ride with
a friend, lol!


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## Shadow157

I was riding a horse for the first time with the owner of this horse that hadnt been ridden in YEARS while she tagged along on her bike. He was an older gelding and seemed fine, then all of a sudden probably 20 yards ahead of us (we were on an old back road) a momma black bear and her two cubs ran out right in front of us! I thought he was definetly going to drop me on my you know what and head in the other direction but he just stiffened up and watched, not much mind at all! :0) 

also had a pheseant fly out of the bushes right infront of my horse on a ride once, that was pretty startling. 

dear are a usual sight when i rode back at home, ive never seen one with shadow yet though.


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## webdawg

Our horses are subject many wildlife. Here are a few pictures of the things that frequent our front yard. Our New House not to mention Mountain Lions and Fox, that I have caught on film yet.

Horses only freak out when a Mountain Lion is in the area. Coyotes and Bobcats go right in the corrals with the horses with no problems.


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## BarneyBabby

chika1235 said:


> when i was riding my horse i was listening to my i pod while on the trail (big mistake!)and when i looked up a small apple tree there was a momma bear and close by in the feild was her baby.the mama didnt do anything it just looked at us.it was in the smoky moutains so she was probably used to us anyways because of all the people up there with their horses.but it scared the heck out of me.my horse didnt do anything until i looked up and he kinda saw it at the same time i did he didnt spook really just kinda....jigged.the bear was probably 5 feet up a 10 foot tree and i was 20 feet away from it.yeah never go up to smoky moutain with a young horse.too many copperheads,bears,rattlesnakes,elk,itll scare a horse to death,not to mention get you killed!when i went to water my horses i couldnt because of all the copperheads!!! i sat there and killed(by stomping,squishing,and beheading)about 32 copperheads before it was even safe to go down and water my horses(yeah you can tell im not scared of snakes).lol : )it took
> me about 2 hours to water them because of all ....the omg a snake!!! no wait its a stick thing my horses did.


 
Oh yeah I went there a year ago and I saw three beaars momma and two little ones. It was the sweetest thing ever one of the cubs fell in the water. The momma looked at me and made some noise and went to back to what ever she was doing. she didnt mind me one bit. But I didnt want to push it I turned around and walked a different way.

mmmm....I have seen coyotes and such on a trail. a pack of wild dogs who after me tried to get me when I fell off of barney. I saw barney kick one and thats when I passed out I woke up with barney just standing above me and when i got up one was laying there barley alive. He was dead two min later....


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## Walkamile

Webdawg, that "watering hole" sure gets a lot of visitors! 

Great pictures!


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## webdawg

Walkamile said:


> Webdawg, that "watering hole" sure gets a lot of visitors!
> 
> Great pictures!


Thanks Walkamile. I probably shouldn't have it there, but we get 100's of Quail, rabbits, deer and such everyday, it's worth the visits from the upper food chain once in awhile.

The deer and the bobcat are my favorites.


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## HorseSavvy

On the trail we once saw a deer and her fawn. It was pretty cool. There used to be a coyote wandering around the farm and it was kinda creepy...


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## Shananigan

I haven't seen anything real big while riding out on the trail. Once, last summer my friend and I were riding on her property and came across an extremely fresh bear poop. We got farther down the trail a bit, and then heard something very big walking up the side of the hill away from us. We figure it was probably the bear. The horses freaked and tried to bolt back for the barn. It didn't help though that they aren't trail horses, she and I were actually trying to get them use to the trail. What an experience for those two :wink:

Another time a couple years ago, I was on an evening ride with a string of friends and looked down over this hill that had recently been clear cutted and there was a coyote just down the hill a little ways. He (or she) was walking along side the line of horses slowly watching us. It was eery, but I didn't freak or anything it was just one. Plus, we were right at the back of the campground full of people. 

Last fall I was riding and saw a fox, those don't worry me though. They are too freaked out. I was suprised we even got as close as we did to it. We didn't see each other until I was about 10ft. away. Although, fox do creep me out a little more. Last summer I was at a neighbor friends, and to make a long story short there was a rabid fox in her yard that tried to attack the dogs. Good thing there were three, because it cornered her mini-jack but the hound jumped over the wall and saved it. Then, we were inside and got the dogs inside and the fox was stumbling around outside, found one of the sliding glass doors of the house and started attacking the glass because it could see us inside. It was really just head butting the glass over, and over and over. Everyone was okay, including the dogs. 

This wasn't on the trail, but I went down to feed my horses not last labor day but the year before that and came face to face with a bear. I though I had heard something behind the dump truck, but I thought it was just my mind fooling with me. So I stepped in the horses corall and for some reason clapped (I had been whistling and making noise so it knew I was there while I thought I was paranoid) and it came out. I yelled, didn't back down it was only about 20ft away. It just raised it's head and sniffed the air. Luckily my dad heard the ruckus and woke up and yelled down from the house to ask what was wrong. When yelled "A bear, and it's not moving" he jumped up and grabbed the gun by the door and shot at it. I'm thankful he did otherwise it could have got real ugly :shock:

I've seen plenty of deer, rabbits, squirrels, lizards, turkey, quail, and snakes out on the trail. That's nothing huge though, I live where this A LOT of wild life!

Haha, sorry if that was too much too read


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## ViEwMySpOtS09

when we were trail riding in Yellowstone, we had a couple Bison on our trail that the guides had to chase off.. I think my heart would stop if I came across a bear lol


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## Painted Horse

We actually make a trip to Yellowstone each summer and we call it our buffalo ride. Because we ride up the Hayden Valley just looking to see the buffalo. But you are not supposed to harress or bother the buffalo. So we have to take pictures from the trail and hope the buffalo stay close enough for a good picture.


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## nnoxon

I have never seen anything other than deer!


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## ViEwMySpOtS09

Painted Horse said:


> We actually make a trip to Yellowstone each summer and we call it our buffalo ride. Because we ride up the Hayden Valley just looking to see the buffalo. But you are not supposed to harress or bother the buffalo. So we have to take pictures from the trail and hope the buffalo stay close enough for a good picture.


Thats a great picture.. When we went to Yellowstone we took a trailride near the petrified tree, which is by roosevelt lodge... Sheesh the name of the area is not coming to mind...


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## Painted Horse

This is riding up Asay Creek in the Hayden Valley. It was the 1st week of September, so the grass was all frost biten and brown.


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## Jessabel

We don't have real exciting wildlife here in Illinois. Coyotes, I guess. 
Besides deer, I've seen plenty of bunnies, hawks, turkeys, and songbirds. Very interesting, right? XD


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## booner

Woohoooooo, went riding yesterday and hubby yells 'bear'!!!!thought he was pulling my leg, then he said hurry so you can see him...I galloped up and saw the biggest black bear run across the road w/ one of our dogs hot on his tail.It was soooooo cooooool!Just had to share!The horses were oblivious!


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## cowgirl4jesus94

rabbits, ducks, birds....a sheriff. -gulp!-


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## Qtswede

deer, rabbits, squirrels, woodchuck, badger, fox, coyote, bobcat, cougar kitten, black bear, moose cow, aaaannnd..... that's all I can think of.


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## iridehorses

I was on a trail ride this morning at Clemson and came across a pack of at least 4 coyotes. I've seen one or two but this was the first time I saw a pack. They were about 45' from the trail I was on and stayed around while I watch them. I had a camera with me and was so dumbfounded that I forgot to take a picture!


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## JokerGoddess

Does a deer count if it runs square into your horse's shoulder? Had that at a trail ride once with my mom.. And all Sammie did was turn 90 degrees and look at the deer like, 'dude, watch where you're going!'

Other than that... At my old barn in Northern IL they had a lot of wild life around. I was on my horse bareback riding around their huge field and backyard trails... He stops, looks. I look to see what fascinates him... I see two sharp ears and a bushy tail between the shadows in the bushes... Oh look! A coyote. It was dusk too, mind you. Aaaaand out come two more coyote babies. -_-"" Turned around on a dime and took off in a dead run back towards the barn. Looked back, and the coyotes were trotting towards us.. but they did look pretty emaciated and weak... Somewhat lucky for Jasper and myself, I suppose. It was a fun run tho. " [When I got back to the barn the owners and a couple guys went out with shotguns and pitch forks to find them... Didn't see them anymore though.] 

A few years ago up in Wisconsin on a trail ride too... I believe it was a moose.. Can't quite remember though. Was a long time ago... [Trails through the woods are amazing. =) ]


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## Kentucky

on my last trail ride I had a black snake crawl under my horse. he danced around a bit but wasn't too badly shaken by it. I have heard of some horses start running and /or bucking over a snake. or rearing. I am fairly happy with my horse over that insident.


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## Zab

I was leading a shetland mix for about 15 miles once.. we met one of the two only poisonous snakes in sweden but he didn't react to it. I think he might have been a pretty stupid horse tho, it had been smarter to not just walk over it.. >_>

Sounds like your horse had a sound reaction tho  Respect the danger - don't panic. 

I met too wild hogs the other night, on my way to the pasture.


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## Kentucky

I agree Hecules did. another horse might have went crazy if the same thing happen to it.


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## Zab

Yeah.


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## horseloverd2

Birds! Oh, and people that screeched "horsies!" and ran after us like some kind of lunatics. >.< We galloped away from them real fast! Our mistake for going in a public park. lol.


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## dashygirl

Wow...bears, bison, jeez! I guess I'm missing out!
Scariest think I've ever come across was a rattlesnake, living in AZ it's not uncommon to run across one or two while you're out riding.


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## Norcal

Up here we pretty much have it all - foxes, coyotes, bear, mountain lions, etc. We often get the coyotes right by the house as the pack moves through. Here lately, we have had another mountain lion working the local deer herd pretty hard. So far, nothing has bothered the horse pastured out front.


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## Joshie

I've seen some scary _Spyders!_ They make my skin crawl.


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## DarkEquine

Oh my god, we came across two dingoes this afternoon. It was sooo nervewracking! One was a cream cross-breed and he was HUGE. The second was a female, I think, and she looked really nervous around us. She took off immediately, but the big male stood around a while longer, just looking at us. 

He's gonna get a bullet in his head if he's not careful. The cattle farmers around our barn shoot them and hang their skins on the fences to ward off other dingoes from their herds. :shock:
We found that out the hard way, one time. The horses started freaking out for some reason, and we all had no clue what was happening...we forced them to go forward and then stopped. There were five skins hanging on a fence close to the reserve gate. We had no clue they were even there!  Guess the horses smelt them...


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## horselover824

we see a bunch of coyotes around here


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## FlitterBug

I haven't read through everything, but has anyone mentioned gators yet? We have come across quite a few gators, but they keep to themselves. Other than that, 3' iguanas, possum, armadillo, rattlers, mocassins, deer, hawks, owls, *****, bob cats (my 3 yr old likes to chase those), otters, and wild hogs. Theres also soft shell turtles and toroises, the soft shells can get pretty mean, and they are fast! Another thing we see a lot are fox squirrels, I believe they have been on the endangered species list, but they thrive where I live. They aren't exactly dangerous though......


----------



## Solon

Used to see bears a lot when I was out camping and hunting with my family as a kid. We had excellent trail horses so the horses always knew of them before we did and never spooked.

Nowadays only see really lame wild animals known as bicycle riders and roller bladders. Worse than any bear or cougar I'd met on the trail.


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## riccil0ve

We walked by two deer once. Of course, Ricci didn't see them... we've also had a coyote get pretty close to the barn but that's about it.

And I definitely agree. The crazy screaming people and the ones who honk their horn or drive by you real quick are the worst. =|


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## MyBoyPuck

Yesterday we came across a very large, hairy, llama. My TB was not amused. His head shot straight up, he wheeled around so fast I got dizzy and bolted a few good steps before I was able to shut him down. Thank goodness for the one rein stop! The poor horse was so terrified, I had to get off and back track a few miles to get to our final destination. He would have jumped into my lap if he could have fit!


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## Cayuse

Today I saw, deer and 3 snakes!! Have seen bear and boar and one mnt cat!


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## ChantillaLace

I haven't seen any really scary predators, except snakes. Which I avoid for dear life!! (And)...They might not seem too scary, but yellow jackets are awful if you run into them on the trail! If a horse steps into their nest that's sometimes on the ground, they swarm and sting everything!! All you can do is get away from them as fast as possible!


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## SamboStar

*MyBoyPuck:*


> Yesterday we came across a very large, hairy, llama. My TB was not amused. His head shot straight up, he wheeled around so fast I got dizzy and bolted a few good steps before I was able to shut him down. Thank goodness for the one rein stop! The poor horse was so terrified, I had to get off and back track a few miles to get to our final destination. He would have jumped into my lap if he could have fit!


Hah! That's too funny...Sam and William are DEATHLY afraid of llamas, too. My brother and I were riding double on Sam when he saw it... Sam said, "Uh, uh!" and spun around real qiuck, basically pushing the eject button. My brother fell of, I stayed on...poor kid. He sprained his wrist and now he hates riding double with me...can't say I blame him.


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## macnachtan

*Saw a bear once*

As my friend and I were riding away from the edge of a meadow, our horses spooked and whirled around. A bear popped it head up out of the brush, stood up on it's hind legs, looked at us and sniffed the air, then gave a disproving "hump!" and turned and left. Needless to say, both horse and rider were on edge for a bit after that.


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## Fire Eyes

_So many wombats, echidnas, wallabies, kookaburras, snakes (in summer), foxes and other little things like frogs, but they're not what I'd call 'wild'. _


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## baker

Me and my family went on a dude ranch vacation to the Estes Park Stables located in Rocky Mountain National Park Co. We opted for a private trail ride through the National Forest. When we were traveling by the Estes Park lake we passed a small herd of elks and and also we caught a glimpse of bobcat on our way back.


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## Piper182

My pony and I have raced a deer... we lost. We had a possum fall out of a tree and land in my lap once. Those are some weird looking little animals. 

A turkey once stole my flip flop when I was riding bareback through a field. I stopped the mare to let the turkey cross and it wobbled up to me, stole my shoe and ran away. Haven't seen the shoe since


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## ilovemyPhillip

Piper182 you made me smile lolz!


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## MaieuticManege

I've seen deer, a fox, and a coyote. And many little birds that like to jump out of the tall grass as if they were yelling "SURPRISE!"


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## BackInTheSaddleAgain

We've seen a couple terrrrrifying paper plates in the brush.
Dang OTTBs
lol


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## Prodomus

on our hack yesterday we saw a coyote and a huge snapping turtle.


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## Qtswede

Ok, so ... I'm used to seeing cougar prints when I ride up north. Same for bear sign, etc. Even seen a few bear up north on horseback... but.
While riding today waaay down in southwest MI, I saw cougar tracks. In the forest not a quarter mile from my place. I know what they were, I am a hunter, and I look for those things while I am in the woods, at the lake, near any mud.... so, since we aren't supposed to have them here, how do I approach my horsecare now? They're here, but the state says they arent. Any ideas out there?


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## Kentucky

Qtswede said:


> Ok, so ... I'm used to seeing cougar prints when I ride up north. Same for bear sign, etc. Even seen a few bear up north on horseback... but.
> While riding today waaay down in southwest MI, I saw cougar tracks. In the forest not a quarter mile from my place. I know what they were, I am a hunter, and I look for those things while I am in the woods, at the lake, near any mud.... so, since we aren't supposed to have them here, how do I approach my horsecare now? They're here, but the state says they arent. Any ideas out there?


The best thing you can do is keep a close eye and your horses and have rifle near at hand, to protest your livestock in case of an attack by bear or cougars, the smallest and lightest round I would suggest is 44 mag or 45 Colt. And I would also train your horses to the point where you can carry a rifle and/ or a handgun on them, and then be able to shoot off them to protect yourself.


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## Qtswede

I'm working towards that anyhow... I hunt bears, and they don't usually bother anything. The cougar is the issue. There was a horse about 4 miles from here that was killed by one 3-4 years ago, and since then, I take my peackeeper (.45 colt) with me near dark for chores. But, I prefer a rifle. I have the lead and the iron to throw it, just wondering how others deal with it who live in those areas to keep the herd looking non-appetizing. lol


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## barefoot

I've seen wild turkeys (TBs dont like those!!) and a deer. Oh, and water gremlins.


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## RedHawk

Hmmm, well lots of native birds such as sulphur-crested cockatoos, yellow-tail black cockatoos, lorikeets, wattlebirds, galahs, etc. A rather grumpy blue-tongue lizard, lots of foxes, and a few horse-eating kangaroos :shock:! It doesn't matter that they're always running away, he _knows _they'll be back to get him eventually :lol:.


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## ILoveGeorgieMyPony

LOL, i have never seen anything on a trail, except for when i rode past a cow in a paddock, and my horse had a massive freak out LOL it was so funny


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## FGRanch

Me and my old mare Kita saw a bear while we were out riding! The bear was more scared of us then Kits was it! 

I saw a fox with Tana on our one and only trail ride and she didn't even notice it...lol


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## Procter05

alll the time. Bear and coyotes and wolves and elk and moose and all that fancy jazz.. the horses are pretty used to it and the wildlife is usually pretty scared so no need to run away from it.


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## moonlightryder

Back in California we were riding along in an orchard with our dogs..and the dogs spotted something and went and stuck there head in a hole in the ground, a BIG hole, well out comes 6 little coyote pups, we watched them play with the dogs for a little while and then out of nowhere came an adult..then another adult..then another...you get the picture, we turned the horses called the dogs and started to trot away, then they popped out of the trees trotting along while we were headed back, after I spotted 6 adult coyotes I gave my Morgan his head, I never rode him that fast before of after that day, man we were flying!! But I was scared to death of all them coyotes! Everyone and the dogs all got out ok and when we got to the road we turned back and counted 10 coyotes standing there in a row staring at us from a distance! WHEW!!! what a ride!! LOL


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## DarkEquine

moonlightryder said:


> Back in California we were riding along in an orchard with our dogs..and the dogs spotted something and went and stuck there head in a hole in the ground, a BIG hole, well out comes 6 little coyote pups, we watched them play with the dogs for a little while and then out of nowhere came an adult..then another adult..then another...you get the picture, we turned the horses called the dogs and started to trot away, then they popped out of the trees trotting along while we were headed back, after I spotted 6 adult coyotes I gave my Morgan his head, I never rode him that fast before of after that day, man we were flying!! But I was scared to death of all them coyotes! Everyone and the dogs all got out ok and when we got to the road we turned back and counted 10 coyotes standing there in a row staring at us from a distance! WHEW!!! what a ride!! LOL


Wow! That sounds absolutely terrifying!
I'm not surprised that you galloped outta there. We aussie's don't have anything anywhere NEAR that scary out in the bush! Sure, a gazillion, billion venomous spiders and snakes, but coyotes, cougars and bears?? Some people get all the luck. :wink:


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## moonlightryder

DarkEquine said:


> Wow! That sounds absolutely terrifying!
> I'm not surprised that you galloped outta there. We aussie's don't have anything anywhere NEAR that scary out in the bush! Sure, a gazillion, billion venomous spiders and snakes, but coyotes, cougars and bears?? Some people get all the luck. :wink:


 

Yes, well it was at the time. And I believe you are right about the luck, would take that over spriders and snakes any day!:shock:


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## moomoo

^ holy crap thats scary :shock:

We have even less to be scared of than the Aussies. Hmm, he worst we get is a squirrel maybe, or a rabbit? :lol:


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## horselover85

i've seen a black bear pretty close... you don't have to book it. just slowly move away... be loud if you have to... bears won't harm you (dont know about grizzlies though!). If you see a cougar stand up in your stirrups and roar at it, move away slowly... the only time you want to "book it" away is if the wild animal has no inhibition (tame towards humans for whatever reason, or you got to close to their young. you cant use bear maise because of the horse, but if youre really concerned you could try getting your horse accustomed to an air rifle or pellet gun, so it will let you shooot it off its back.. that will scare it away usually! Mostly though, black bears and cougars wont go after horse and rider. Make sure if its cougar season that you hit the trails in packs of two or more just to be safe though! The bigger your "herd" the less chance they'll try something


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## moonlightryder

horselover85 said:


> but if youre really concerned you could try getting your horse accustomed to an air rifle or pellet gun, so it will let you shooot it off its back..
> 
> 
> I agree and after that day that is exactly what I did and I never went on the trail again without my gun!


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## Cerko

Hmmm... I'd say the scariest thing I've seen was a wolf... My friend actually saw it, then me, and I think we both just kind of tensed up and let our horses run XD. The trail we were on is open on one side and dense woods on the other, and my friend looked in the woods and saw this brown thing. When she looked closer it was a wolf staring at her 0.0;;; So, ya, that was probably the scariest experience


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad

I see the occassional wolf, coyotes hunting, foxes, skunks, lots of man eating chipmunks and squirrels and wild turkeys are everywhere.
Absolutely nothing will harm us and I think it a treat to catch a glimpsy of any one of those things. Deer use to be plentiful but I see very few these days. Saw a couple once:lol::lol:


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## mysweetecho

My scariest adventure while riding was having a moose jump a perimeter fence of a national park (there is an amazing provincial day use park for horse back riding next to it)....the moose spooked, attempted a jump and tripped over the top of an 8 foot fence and landed on the trail in front of a group of 6 riders....let's just say the rodeo started and thankfully the moose bolted for cover before the horses went too balistic! No one hurt, thankfully!


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## VanillaBean

ive seen sasquach (SP) he even came and pet my horse.


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## Kentucky

DarkEquine said:


> Wow! That sounds absolutely terrifying!
> I'm not surprised that you galloped outta there. We aussie's don't have anything anywhere NEAR that scary out in the bush! Sure, a gazillion, billion venomous spiders and snakes, but coyotes, cougars and bears?? Some people get all the luck. :wink:


The Dingo is similar to the wolf, as in it is a pack canine as were the coyote is a none pack dog small groups of 2 adults and their pups. That is scary enough.


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## HorsieLover09

While riding on the trails we've come across black/grizzly bears, LOTS of moose (cows, calves, bulls), lots of coyotes, countless dear, and even whole herds of elk! The only thing we haven't come across yet is the cougar, but I'm not in a hurry to see one anyways. :wink:

When we've come across Moose they are normally off to the side of the trail and just run way so we just continue on. Our horses are used to seeing moose so there's no problem. There's only been two times when I've actually had to run away from a moose; once was when I was riding by myself and a bull moose started charging my horse and I on the trail, than the other time was when I was riding with a friend and the moose came from behind and started trotting after us, we just sped up to a fast trot and the moose eventually ran off into the bushes behind us. The bears have always been pretty far away and end up leaving when they see us. The coyotes lived in a den off the side of the trail and we'd see lots of the pups there, and we'd see adult coyotes trotting down the road in front of us. They never bothered us. The deer always run of course. And the elk have always ran off also. One time while riding up a mountain trail all of the sudden a whole herd of elk (probably around 10 or so) came charging down the bank up above and ran across the road right in front of us and than down the bank on the other side. That was pretty cool, we just stopped our horses and watched.


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## Zab

Yesterday I could watch some roebucks ''playong'' with each others just feet away.


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## Pinto Pony

I went trail riding yesterday at a place called Browns Fields here in RI and saw a decent sized buck with antlers, didn't believe it at first, apparently there aren't many deer here with antlers like the one I saw. Sunday wasn't fazed at all, she didn't even bat an eye when a bunch of turkeys ran in front of her either hehe.


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## Vidaloco

We saw a jackrabbit a few weeks ago. I know its not a big animal but they are getting very scarce. Its been several years since I have seen one. This a a stock photo, I didn't have my camera. Here is a little FYI on jackrabbits--

Black-tailed jackrabbits are actually hares. Unlike rabbits, hares don't make underground burrows, and their babies are born fully furred, with eyes wide open. Larger than most rabbits, adult black-tailed jackrabbits grow to over two feet long and weigh up to ten pounds.








From: Postcards from Kansas


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## equestrian_rider465

I haven't seen anything wild on my trail rides, (other than birds ) but when my mom was younger she used to work at a stable leading trail rides. She said there were a lot of bears. The bears just got used to the horses and the people. She told me one time, there was a bear lying across the trail sleeping! She had to turn the group around and go back!  Another time, she said that a bear followed her and her horse and she didn't even realize it until someone told her. They asked if she knew that a bear was following her and she had no idea! 

Oh wait! I have seen a wild animal! It's a groundhog.  We love that little guy. (although it puts quite a damper on your feild hacks when your constinatly looking for groundhog holes) 

When I go on trail rides with my mom, she says to constinatly talk because it keeps wild life out of your way and to just make sure that if there is any, they know your there. And it also calms the horses down too.  I love hacks!


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## Zab




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## Vidaloco

equestrian_rider465 said:


> *When I go on trail rides with my mom, she says to constinatly talk because it keeps wild life out of your way and to just make sure that if there is any, they know your there. And it also calms the horses down too.  I love hacks!*


We holler "SHOO DEER" :lol:


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## andysgagirl

Unfortunately I have wildlife in my yard and pastures. We have bears, lots of deer, wild hogs, bobcats, copperheads, rattlesnakes, a bunch of screeching owls, etc. 

Once on a trail there was a deer that had been completely ripped apart and was so digusting it took me awhile to figure out what it was. My moms horse spooked and she fell off, they never liked walking past that area again!


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## Zab

I'm the only one who likes to meet wildlife? xD
Course we don't have many bears and the wolves are too rare.. but I don't mind deer, mooses or even hogs..so..


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## Cally51

when i was riding up north with the Icelandic horses we came up a hill and our guide says there was a bear just here lying down, we could see the inprint of his body in the grass and saw the paw markings all around. i was petrified the rest of the trail ride lol


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## Cally51

omg moonlightryder you were lucky and the dogs especially


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## Painted Horse

We saw a pack of wolves this weekend. I only caught one with the camera. And he was about 150 yards away by time I got the camera turned on. See red line pointing him out.


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## Domino13011

A bear...SCARY. And a bobcat


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## Thatgirlsacowboy

I usually see TONS of rabbits, squirrels, some wild turkeys, turkey vulture, and lots of coyotes on almost any trail I go on. One time, in the mountains, I saw a mountain lion and a HUGE coyote. I hauled BUTT to get out of the lions eye shot. I also saw a deer ONCE. We usually name the wild animals we see. Coyotes arent that scary. I've seen about a dozen pretty close within a horse length and they usually just sit and watch.


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## SorrelHorse

*Hehe*

We saw multiple foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and once a cougar, but I had a gun and shot it off Jester to spook it off and we very calmly went home. Never run from a cougar, they'll chase instinctively. Ha, Jester spooks at nothing xD

We've run into a lot of rattlesnakes too. But it is so a myth that most horses spook at snakes. None of the horses I've ever had have spooked. It was everything I could do to keep Jester from walking right on top of one at horse camp last year, even. He didn't even pay attention to it xD


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## HLSxsj

When I had park passes last year I would give my horse a break by going to the local park to let his mind relax. The only thing besides deer that we saw was a huge field of wild turkey. To him that was just as terrifing as probably most others things would be.


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## Deej

We have many wild critters here in Wisconsin. I'm always coming up on the usual, deer, turkey, grouse.ect. The coyotes are kinda neat as they will follow along side you , but off the trail in the brush. You can hear them trotting just outa sight. The horses just thinks that there dogs so they don't get bothered. I have seen many bear tracks. Fresh ones but have yet to encounter one face to face. I know its just a matter of time before I do come across one. Not sure how my mare will react. There have been recent sightings of wolfs and that is bothersome to me as I ride alone 90% of the time, and also cougers have made it back up here. So that to is scary for me. I have recently started carrying a sidearm, (yes I can shoot off my mare}.just in case....


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## Kentucky

that is cool that you can Deej


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## HeidiNorway

Nothing but deers and snakes  Though, there were a couple hunters that thought my horse was a deer, and almost shot him :/


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## Qtswede

Deej, chances are you've been a lot closer to bear than you think. They will watch you from where they are well hidden. I wouldn't worry about them, unless you see a cub. Then you should leave - quickly. Black bears won't usually bother you at all. 
You're right to be concerned with the wolves though. They are nasty. Luckily, we don't have wolves around here, though the coyotes are pretty thick. We had one walking with us a few weeks back, and he started nipping at my mare - not smart on his part. She launched him. lol.


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## RoadRider / Rios Dad

Deer, chipmunks, squirrels, ground hogs, coyotes, occassional wolf but not very often, snakes?? About one a year and they are not posionous.
Turkeys?? There was about 25 grazing with my horse this afternoon. They hang out with the horses.. Why do I still have to buy my thanksgiving turkey??:lol::lol:
Skunks, weasels occassionally, muskrats and big scary cows.
I ride through a dairy farm on my loop.


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## thesilverspear

I have seen coyotes, deer, rattlesnakes, pheasants, and foxes. My horse will spook at a rattler (so the urban myth is true in some cases). Another time she flatly refused to go up a trail we had been up a zillion times. No amount of coaxing, circling, kicking, etc. could convince her to go. She was wheeling around, popping up the front end, generally making it clear that if a 1200lb horse doesn't want to go somewhere, it's not going. After fighting with this for about ten or fifteen minutes, I gave into her (knowing you're really not supposed to do that), figuring she must have a reason to be throwing a fit about going up that trail, as she loves her trail rides and is not and never has been a nappy horse. 

A day or so later one of the neighbors, whose house bordered on the ranch's property near the aforesaid trial, said he spotted a mountain lion in the area.

Clever horse. Would have a made a good lead mare in the wild. Obviously you have to be lead mare in 98% of situations but there are times when I will concede to her superior senses.


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## xEquestrianx

Yes, all of the time. We live right on the border of the state land and ride it a lot. But we haul places to trail ride as well. I have seen elk, deer, coyotes, cougar tracks, bears, etc.


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## TheRoughrider21

The deer around are trails are dumb. They don't run away till we're right next to them. Most of the time the horses just do a lil' 5 step gallop lol. One of my friends had a sand crane fly underneath her horse, but her horse is amazing and didn't freak out too bad. Her aunt had a turkey fly right into her horse's face. She flew off and broke a vertebrae, I think. We see a lot of things. The scariest was probably a bear. lol


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## Trails

I've been seeing mountain goats in the Cascade range of Washington on these trails. Basin Lake and Goat Hole (guess the goat hole is aptly named!)


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## chazona

*Mountain Lions, Horses, Mules, & Bears... Oh My!*

I can't even count the # of critters I've run into on horse or mule back... But here's a few stories... Hope you enjoy them.

1> Manassas, VA
My old TB, Arizona & I used to go trail riding all the time & stop in an open field to graze with the deer. I had one herd that was really used to us, we went over there almost every night for spring, summer, & fall one year. This fawn began to get really interested in my horse & it would sneak away from his mom to get closer. Mom would run up & heard it away a few feet, it got to point where he would touch noses with Arizona. The horse loved the deer & the lush grass too. 

2> Graves Moountain - Syria, VA
I've run into several bears in very tight spots on the trails in the mountains. Was on my old mule, Annie so I really wasn't scared, nor was she... We were always way in front of everybody on the trails. I was just kicked back in my saddle enjoying the ride & the scenery... Man I miss that mule! 
One time we were heading down a very steap hill on a very tight trail; straight wall of mountain to our right & straight down the side of a cliff to our left... So anyways, there was 6 of us headed down; with me in the front keeping look out for the ones that have been freaking out all day about running into a bear on the trail, haha. We are all full swing into heading down the mountain as I come around the bend & there is BIG black bear! smack dab in the middle of the trail! I stopped my mule & yelled back to everyone "BEAR!" "IN THE TRAIL!" "STOP!"!!! I'd say I was stopped about 8 feet from the bear where he was just hanging out so I tried backing up the hill a little... till everyone came right up behind Freaking Out & trying to stop their horses on the downhill trail. I got everyone calmed down & off their horses & mules, I stayed on my mule between them & the bear & reported to them everytime they asked what it was doing, or if it was leaving. It took about 10 mins of being patient & letting him wallow his way down the traila bit & off into the woods. And so then we continued our way down the mountain. That was a great trip to the mountains!

3> Manassas, VA
Was riding my belgian Chauncy from the Manassas Battlefield to Centerville in Virginia... I saw a mountain lion run about 20 feet in front of me & it jumped a wire fence. That was pretty cool but I was by myelf & I couldn't wait to get to where I was going to tell my sister that I finally saw him! Cause she'd seen him twice in the Battlefield already...

4> NORTHERN VA AREA TRAILS
Run into many coyotees, foxes, deer, rabbits, ducks, geese, etc... and riden through a few cow fields where the cows like to chase you & jump & try to spoke your horse... 

I love trail riding & I love nature & almost all the animals that come with it! Just don't like the FLYS & BUGS!


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## VinnieLove

I have seen coyote on trail, they usually just stare and walk away, but one did follow, they were harm less though.


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## Pidge

funny story to this actually....me and my friend were riding trails near her house the day after watching signs...you know the freaky alien movie...well my friend was terrified of aliens and we had been talking about them all day. It was sunset but we were still out not really wanting to head home, we prob should have. There were lots of trees thus the trails were sorta dark and shadowed.

Thats when we heard a huge crash and saw something black dart across the trail behind us. Thankfully the horses didnt spook but it freaked us out. Still being the dumb kids we were we kept going and after a minute we noticed a shadow fallowing us and standing against trees and such watching us. We both freaked out thinking it was aliens.

We quickly trotted home that day. A few weeks later my friend went to shut her barking dog up and when she shined her light out she saw a big old black panther on the fence line. So come to find out the aliens hadnt been after us it was a black panther...

It freaked us both out. Oh and before anyone says black panthers arent real they need to come live in north texas...Ill swear to the fact they are indeed real.


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## paintluver

I am not a huge trail rider, so I haven't seen much, but I have seen deer. And birds!


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## Skeeter9

We've seen bear many times, also coyotes, foxes, deer, marmots, bobcats, and once a mountain lion. The mountain lion was by far the scariest - the horses get a little nuts when they see or smell one of those!!!


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