Out of Africa

A man is swimming in a backyard pool in Africa (I didn't know they had backyards in Africa), and a wild elephant stops by for a drink. He must not have liked the taste of chlorine as he didn't stick around too long...

What will they think of next?

 
An elephant in North Carolina with vision problems is being fitted with a set of king sized contact lenses. While I think it's a great idea, I'd like to know whose going to teach him how to put them in each morning?...
King-Size Contact Lenses Considered For Elephant With Eye Trouble

Pig-Dog in China

 
Chinese villagers reported strange sightings of this pig-dog recently. Police captured the freaky looking animal and determined that it was, in fact a stray dog. Sometimes, when domesticated animals return to the wild, they lose their hair and their appearance changes.
Is This A Mutant Pig-Dog?

Well rounded athlete

A 13 foot alligator captured in Hilton Head, South Carolina was a living, breathing sporting goods store. Once captured, authorities got an incite into the reptile's diet...


Trappers who opened the gator's stomach found 53 fishing lures, a half-pound of lead sinkers, a soccer ball, two baseballs, one tennis ball and two other balls that were unidentifiable because they had been partially digested. They also found a 4-foot gator. 

That discovery, plus other meals that included two turtles, a beer can and 48 rocks suggest the 13-foot gator ate just about anything, said Mark Carinus, who assists Critter Management with trapping and harvesting nuisance gators.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/05/23/2079464/baseballs-rocks-another-gator.html#storylink=cpy

Baseballs, rocks, another gator found in belly of Hilton Head 13-footer | islandpacket.com

Neat sighting at Tifft Farms

I never knew we had pelicans around these parts. A volunteer at Tifft Farms Nature Preserve snapped this photo of a White American Pelican swimming in Lisa Pond yesterday...

Black bears invade news set

A Pennsylvania weather guy was getting ready to do the "weather outside", when a family of four black bears interrupted the show...

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Tifft Farms Mink

Thought this was cool. I'm friends with Tifft Farms Nature Preserve on Facebook. A friend of the preserve named Lauren spottted this mink the other day. Amazing how many animals are right in our own back yard...


Here's another taken a few months ago at Tifft by Andrew Stadler...

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The Turtles

Taken from WGRZ' website. My brother, Patrick took this picture of turtles enjoying the sun at South Park Lake. If you look closely, you will be able to count at least 17 of them.

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Incredibly lucky photographs of animals

You came here for political talk and instead you get pictures of animals. The photographs shown here of animals in the wild are incredible and none of them have been doctored. There is a link at the bottom of the post to the site where I obtained them from...








For the rest of the photos, please check out 25 Incredibly Lucky Photographs Of Animals



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Sign of Spring

Thank you to Danielle Suppa Loukataris for these photos she took this morning of a fox roaming the streets of Cheektowaga...



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Standing out in the crowd

From WBEN

Some people call her Whitey. Others Snowflake. I got these photos of an albino deer in East Aurora. I especially like the one in the snow.

WIVB also did a story on the deer, which was recently passed over for a promotion with the East Aurora Volunteer Firefighters because of it's skin color...


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Purple squirrels and the NY state Assembly race

In a year filled with forty degree days in February, expect the unexpected when it comes to the race for New York state Assembly. At the crack of dawn, a squirrel spotted Mickey "Rivers" Kearns trying to win support from the South Buffalo sanitation workers at the Tim Hortons on Seneca Street. After the encounter, the rodent saw his shadow outside of the restaurant. He claims this is a sign of a Kearns victory on the Bloggers' birthday, March 20th.

Later in the evening, the same squirrel noticed Chris Fahey having a relaxing dinner at Pasquales. I have to say, Fahey has better taste than Kearns as Pasquales is an A+ establishment. (Sorry I didn't say hello, Chris Fahey. I don't like to bother people while they're eating.) I figure I bother them at every other point in the day. I can at least let them eat in peace.

Anyway, the neighborhood squirrel reports that he is NUTS about Kearns. Regardless of who wins, these two will most likely butt heads again in the democratic primary this Fall.

Speaking of squirrels, thanks to my niece Mary for sharing this article about a rare purple squirrel found in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. (No word yet on whether they're naming it Snookie)..

Emert said she had spotted a purple squirrel on her property but no one believed her.

"I kept telling my husband I saw a purple one out in the yard. 'Oh sure you did' he kept telling me," said Emert. "Well, he checked the trap around noon on Sunday and sure enough, there it was."

Purple Squirrel Found in Pennsylvania






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Smith St. Owl

Lots of wildlife down in the Valley, and I'm not just talking about the people coming out of Tunies. Thank you to Carol Webster for sending me these pictures of a very large owl trapped near Smith Street. Props to Geno Letina for helping to save the frightened bird.

I was cycling during the summer on Exchange Street (near Smith) and spotted a bird very similar to this one on the ground across the street from the Larkin Building. A spokesman from the D.E.C. was on hand at the scene last night and said the hungry owl was probably in the area in search of "Valley Rats".











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Whitetail population on the rise

WGRZ did an interesting story about the exploding whitetail deer population in WNY. According to one of the experts, the deer began migrating north from the Southern Tier 50 years ago, adapting to changing landscapes there.

A recent aerial survey spotted 77 deer over the Tifft Farms Nature Preserve in South Buffalo alone. And they are doing a number on the plants over there as well as at the Botanical Gardens...

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White squirrel

I saw this interesting picture on WGRZ's website. It's a white squirrel on Baker Road in Orchard Park. Because the eyes are not pink, we know it is not an albino. (Photo sent in by Don Daly.)


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Well fed bear

Check out the size of this 746 pound black bear killed in Potter, County Pennsylvania. The bear was killed by an 18 year old Amish hunter. Can you imagine being in the woods and this thing comes out towards you? And Potter County isn't that far from Buffalo...

Young hunter nabs enormous black bear: wivb.com

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Unwelcome guest

Our cameras were there at the WPS championship in Rochester, as a squirrel entered the field causing a 5 minute delay. Like a true goal scorer, he went directly into the box. Despite an underwhelming performance from Marta, the WNY Flash won the game 6-5 in a PK shootout, a sad way to end any final. Very good game though with over 10,000 fans in attendance.

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Giant rat

Experts in New York City have always said the sightings of 3 foot long rats in the housing projects were just the stuff of urban legend. That was until someone killed one and took a photo of it last week. Chinese Buffet anyone?...

Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat

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Deer dispute

Was looking for the elusive coyotes, but caught this brief deer scuffle on the Hopkins Street hill this morning. Watch as the one deer stands on her hind legs and tries to box another deer...

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South Park Lake Fox

A still shot from a fox roaming around S. Park Lake

From time to time, I try to film various wild animal sightings within the city of Buffalo. I saw this fox last night, along South Park Lake (by the Erie County Botanical Gardens) in South Buffalo. I was driving and I looked to my left and he was staring right at me. Above is a still shot from the short video below. If you live along Hopkins Street, don't be surprised if you wake up one morning and see one of these along the street...


***Note: Click on the green "wildlife" link below this post to check out other animal sightings I've caught on film.

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