Wildlife

[Ken L]

Those things have a nasty reputation in sone of the parks in southern Queensland. I was talking to a guy who was telling me about them steeling sandwiches which is all well and good till one of them tried to get hold of one that had just been eaten - through somebodies cheek.

[peterpikefisher]

i was fishing loch long sitting watching the rod tip when i heard a rustling noise behind me , so i looked to see what it was almost fell in the water an otter heading down to the loch ,

never seen one before this Monday i am keeping a lookout for them now as i am working there for the next 2 weeks.

[zedhead]

whilst fishing lochness alfoat on a small boat with a freind, a grey hump appeared in the distance, we joked about it being nessy and it disappeared. later on up it pooped again, my freind suggested it must be a seal or even a poipoise. we motored over in the general area for a closer inspection.........it wasnt a seal, or a dead cow but was actually....the loch ness monster, very similar to a dinosaur i saw once whilst fishing the river teme. Anyway we were shocked to say the least, then the monster spoke, "ey man, gi me 3 dollars", so we rowed away as fast as we could and went for a coffee and another LSD....the end.

[luckyjim]

then the monster spoke, "ey man, gi me 3 dollars"

 

"Tree fiddy" surely?!

 

 

Haven't seen much to rival you chaps' best. The one thing that springs to mind was when me and a mate were fishing in a small upland stream in Wales, for once it wasn't raining and the sun was out, and were both in a state of real serendipity. In tune with the water, not even concentrating on the fishing really but just enjoying being out in the wilderness. You could almost forget that there was such thing as pollution, cities, etc, and in fact it got us overconfident. I went for a quick swim, the water looked so pure and clear. But we had run out of drinking water and my mate asked if I thought it'd be alright to drink straight from the stream. I said it seemed fine. Had lunch, and decided to walk upstream a bit. About 10 yards up we saw a massive rotting sheep struck on a log in the middle of the stream - my mate's lunch came up pretty quickly. Not all nature is so aesthetic!

 

Other than that, being one of the first to see the seal which (famously locally) swam upstream during a stormy winter a couple of years ago as far as Teddington Lock. Me and my brother both saw it, as well as a couple of other anglers - it gave us quite a fright but no-one believed us. However it stayed around for a couple of weeks in the end and became quite an attraction!

[kestrel]

When I was a young lad , approx 15, I did most of study for exams on the riverbanks in West Cork fishing for trout. I was sitting quietly near a fellen tree and I watched a fox walk across this fallen tree to get to the other side of the river.

[ginger]

This thread surely reflects the reason (other than catching fish, or not!) why we enjoy fishing so much. Working in a large garden of 25 acres I see a lot of wildlife than many do not, perhaps the most fascinating was a family of stoats playing. I can only liken it to mercury, they are so sinuous and quick in their movement that it really is a joy to behold. I have also seen the other side to cuddly grey squirrels, I shot one last year and when I went to retrieve it it still had a moorhen chick gripped in it's mouth. Whilst fishing I have seen otters, mink, kingfishers, deer and snakes a swimming, a few weeks ago the pit I usually fish seemed to be alive with them and several swam across in front of me so close that they had to detour round the keepnet. You could well be closer to an otter than you think, four weeks ago I had to take my car to the dealer in Norwich and had to wait an hour or so. I wandered off for a walk along the Wensum which runs behind MFI just a stones throw from the city. There are flats and houses as well as a public park on the opposite bank and industrial estates on the near one with a strip of wooded land with a cycle path through it between the business premises and the water.I was walking along the narrow path alongside the water when I looked up to see an otter ambling towards me, it got within six feet before it noticed me, looked up then just turned around and sauntered off. It was wet through so had obviously just been for a dip. This was at 9-30 in the morning!

[Steve Burke]

Steve, re your swan battle, check out my website and follow the link to " Fight" in the Birds section, I have to agree with you, it is the "dark side" of a swans life. Most males are now in the process of driving off their offspring before the winter..........

 

A cracking sequence, Den!

 

I wish I had the same presence of mind to get some shots.

[Guest monolito]

My mate helping himself to my sandwiches thinking i was asleep !

[Bobj]

Went fishing off the rocks this morning, didn't get any decent fish but this little bloke came passing by, about 10 feet from me.

 

Edited July 4, 2007 by Bobj

[Neil G]

Nice turtle

 

I've seen two otters in the space of a week on the Avon which has to be pretty rare

 

Also see kingfishers pretty much every time I fish the river these days