Wildlife

The first time my wife and I were at six mile.. it was also one of our first rides with clips. We were going around some bends when she stopped and I didnt know what to do. I fell sideways onto her and she went down as well. We both fell on a snake. I was petrified. Hate snakes...
 
At Allaire: Turkey Vultures, Deer, Red Fox, Turkeys, Black Racers, Garter snakes, Bard Owls, Bald Eagle, and some Cougars 😉...never seen a Wookie. I heard we have Coyotes in neighboring woods, but haven't seen them at Allaire.

I saw bear at Mahlon, Ringwood, Wildcat, and a huge bear at Mooch.

Saw a bar at 6 Miles as well. 😉

Pretty awesome to see these animals while riding!
 
Had a bit of a scare at Mahlon today... Heard a sudden commotion of breaking branches just off the trail to my left, stopped and saw a Momma black bear and 3 cubs in a tizzy about 30 yards away. The 3 cubs scrambled up a tree. Momma tried to climb too, but she only made it a couple feet up and plopped back down, then looked my way. I considered pulling out the camera for a nanomoment, then realized that it would only take her about 4 seconds to reach me if she charged, so I turned and bolted.
 
i hate snake too!!

but,. i ain't scare with big and wild animal.

a water snake scare the shit out of me when trying to sitting daown eating my lunch today in wawa.she was sunbathing at the wood plank (its a walking bridge with handrail in the middle of the swamp just about quater mile from furnace) dunno what trail is.

next time,look before sitting down.
 
I don't know what it is, but any time I ride with Patty, I see wildlife - all the bears I've seen riding have been with her.

A few weeks ago I was out with Patty, Alex, and Lauren at Stephens...Patty's phone rang, and we were slowing down so she could grab it - and we all saw something moving in the woods...and it wasn't a deer. Brown, too low to the ground and not hopping like a deer...

Could have been a coyote? or a "large cat"? who knows...but my favorite quote of the day was from Alex - as she wanted to turn around and go to the car "I'm from NY...and animals belong in a zoo!".
 
In saddle river park, saddle brook side a coyote, bunch of deer and a turtle. Saw two dogs chase a buck.
 
Love this thread. Such a big part of why I ride is to experience the critters. Two large Barred Owls hooing in Hartshorne early March. Saw the albino deer in H/Shorne. Sorry to report, wardens told me he was taken by a hunter. They were very displeased.
Huge flock of turkeys in Vt, the way they scattered reminded me of a scene from Jurassic Park. Also in Vt, saw a doe nursing from its Mom in the great Northeast Kingdom.

Two Piliated Woddies @ Raystown along w/a good size Tom Turkey flying ahead of me on the trail before he veered into the woods.

Have not yet scored the Black Bear sighting, sounds like I need to get up to North Jersey, don't really wanna disturb the new hungry moms, but wld love to see 'em. The big score.., looking for that super elusive Bobcat!
 
Flounder said:
What animal kills and leaves the moles on the trails???
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I see this at Allaire too, wonder if they were actually run over?

Forgot to add: saw bald eagles on the canal path, saw one swoop down to grab a fish from the water. Very cool.

Wood ducks at mercer (a highlight for me as they are my FAVE duck).

Assortment of herons, egrets, swans at various locations. Once an owl.

chipmunks...cutest little buggers arent they?

Unidentified duck at Manasquan (give me a minute to look it up)

And Loons. very cool.
 
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While riding at Mahlon on Thursday I saw a coyote. He was in the proccess of crossing the trail, about 15m away and just stopped and stared at me and then went on his way. He was gorgeous. This was the first time I have seen one that close, usually I see them from far away or quickly sprinting across a road.
 
First time at six mile and 2 minutes into the ride I almost jumped over this thing.. What kind of snake is this??

snake.jpg
 
at Allaire today I found myself on a "trail" along the river (BIG mistake...the "trail" sucked monkey balls). but it was KINDA cool in that it had a much "wilder/un-touched" feeling than the rest of the park. kinda reminded me of the forest in Return of the Jedi 😉

anyway, as far as wildlife....a HUGE Great Blue Heron flew along side me for about 10 seconds and then I watched it fly around the trees for another 30 seconds. it almost me it worth getting stuck down by the river...almost.
 
I saw a bug once. Or it might have been a piece of dirt. I poked it with a stick and I think it moved.
 
robox201 said:
Its on my bucket list to encounter a bear while out riding.
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Spend some time at Wawayanda, odds are in your favor there.

Everyone has mentioned pretty much everything I've seen except the ninjas.
Seen a blue one at Allaire and a black one at Six Mile.
 
On my rides in mooch i have seen deer-not to fond of deer considering they carry deer ticks, also have seen the usual chipmunk. i always see squirrels and always manage to freak them out, i almost ran over one too poor bugger. scared some turkeys as they were looking for food, it was cool to watch them scrap away the leaves. havent seen any bear. i used to work in west milford taking care of waste water treatment plants and me and the other guys always saw bears in and around the plants, some got alittle too close for comfort. i was checking something out and had my back turned, i heard a noise and thought it was someone walking around the plant so i thought nothing of it, then for whatever reason i turned around and it it must have been 5 feet from me but there was a bear, not sure if he/she saw me or smelt me stayed calm and didnt make a sound, i almost shit myself but she walked around a bit then left
 
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