It has always amused me that the tourists to the US that I’ve spoken to are often very excited to see raccoons, and disappointed if they don’t see them before they leave.
Some others I’ve noticed on the east coast of the US are blue jays and cardinals. Boy, do people get excited about those if they’ve never seen them before! Very pretty birds of course, just very easy to get used to and see as uninteresting as well.
Most USians probably expect to see monkeys and capybaras crossing the streets here in Brazil. There’s a good chance to see the latter near most freshwater bodies, even in the capital, though monkeys will vary a lot more from place to place.
I’m not Japanese but have been living here most of a decade. As no one mentioned anything from that side yet, the Nara Deer are probably the most famous followed by the hotspring monkeys. Tanuki are also something people might want to see, off the top of my head.
My wife was super surprised by all the squirrels in the US and loved taking pictures and videos. She suddenly realized we kept seeing more of them as we walked and, yep, they’re everywhere.
She was also super surprised that people just had cattle and horses when we’d be driving where my US family lived (countryside).
Went to Japan a few months ago. Deer and monkeys, yep.
What blew me away is how it was done - literally living side by side with the animals. Walking next to a deer or being a foot away from the monkey gave me amazing respect for Japan.
Where in the states, we either keep them in cages or fenced off, or we treat them like a nuance and if they come too close, respond with hostility (including the American Deer).
That’s really not normal here. The deer in Nara have special protections and are super accustomed to humans. They actually were menacing the residents of the area when tourists dried up. The monkeys can be real dicks and aggressive in general. Farmers are always trying to run both off. It’s basically the same as the US except I can’t just kill dear that come on to my property and eat my crops.
my property
Vs
their ancestral grazing lands
If they want to pay my property taxes and feed me, then we can argue that. At the moment, it’s my land (~8000 sqm) on which I pay taxes and on which I grow my own food. However, it’s all a moot point because, at least as of now, I’ve not seen deer on my actual property; it was just meant to contrast how things work in two countries with which I am familiar.
The actual problem around here is wild boar which are not ancestrally doing anything in my neck of the woods but have migrated north due to human-caused climate change.
Prairie dogs along the front range of Colorado, deer in the Colorado mountains…
I live somewhere where they’re common, lived here my whole life, but I still love to watch prairie dogs. They’re cute and cool and interesting
We dont have much in the way of animals but we have birds. The Tui is common in suburban gardens here, but they are beautiful and even as a local I still like seeing them. Pukekos are everywhere but for those from the UK/ Europe/ USA they’re prett exotic. Down South, Wekas are absolutely everywhere outside the cities and will walk right into people’s homes - I once experienced coitus interruptus when a Weka jumped up on the bed I was in with a guy.
When I was in South Africa I was super excited to see baboons, locally considered something of a nuisance. And in Queensland, Australia, the first time I saw an Australian white ibis, locally known as a bin chicken, the locals must have been very amused to see me chasing it with a camera getting photos
In UK people come from all over the world to see our royal family of great apes.
San Diego zoo has a racoon exhibit. I thought that was weird.
they probably fell into an empty enclosure one day and the zookeepers just rolled with it and put up a sign
I’m Dutch and a zoo near me has racoons too. But then again they’re an invasive species here so it’s not as weird.
Huh really? I have tons of trash pandas around me (central Ohio).
At my house, one figured out how to use my doggy door and kept raiding my kitchen trashcan at night.
Well yeah this (also central Ohio) is their native habitat. I seem to recall Columbus or Cincinnati zoo having a local wildlife section
Opossums are also everywhere and are probably wildly exotic to people who aren’t used to there just being one marsupial in their garbage can and no others on the continent
The Audubon zoo in New Orleans has a raccoon exhibit and it’s got a rusted out jalopy for them to play in. And a mouse exhibit where their natural habitat is a spice cabinet. Also, we probably have the only zoo with recipes on the wall next to some exhibits. They’re a relic of a bygone era and I asked the zoologists about it and they were like, “I mean, most of us are vegetarians but we just think it’s funny so we leave them up.” And there’s a fake loup-garou around a corner where you can scare your kids.
In grand New Orleans tradition, it’s also one of the few zoos that sells drinks and sometimes has live music. But it’s still probably one of the top 5 zoos in America for actual science and conservation. I haven’t seen one better besides San Diego and I frequent zoos. So, no one act like the giraffes or gorillas are upset. They get fed better than humans in most of the world and the climate is right up their alley.
Same at Denver, they are albino though.
Urban foxes
Monkeys in a very snowy forest. I remember feeding them nuts once.
They’re called macaques.
“Do you wanna see a macaque?”
- “I hope you’re not Italian!?!!!”
Here in Florida it is alligators, certainly. We also have remarkable birds, but it’s alligators.
Can confirm, been to Florida several times and I liked seeing the alligators.
I’m older now and appreciate birds more so perhaps I should come back.
I’m older now and appreciate birds
This is 100% how it goes.
Really? It’s a thing?
I want to make friends with some crows really badly.
I absolutely love crows too. They are just so clever and OMG so metal, I once saw two crows bashing a baby bird on the sidewalk then sharing it for a meal. They are certainly not gentle birds but are so smart and so interesting.
Yeah truly fascinating. I’ve been waiting until my routine is a bit more dialled in so I can find a spot to go at the same time everyday and see about making some friends.
eh, you just have to bait and traIn em like every other animal.
just be careful about bird law
I went on an alligator boat in Florida and they were cool sure but the Anhingas hunting and catching fish were cooler, I didn’t even know you had those!
Royalty 🇬🇧
My ex’s family were pissed when I didn’t take her to see Buckingham Palace. There is NOTHING there to see. They make it as boring a possible on purpose. It’s on a fucking roundabout for cry sake, you’d see more driving past.
common animals
Royalty
“And here on your left you will see a prime example of the common European prince. No longer afforded a natural habitat, the nation of Britain has built special reserves for these princelings and other royalty, called palaces. On certain days you can observe royals being transported in specially equipped vehicles from one palace to another to encourage mating.”
All humans (which afaik includes royals) are animals anyway.
Koalas
Are these common nowadays? Thought their environments got burned down.
No, no, they were towed outside the environment!
…assic.
*cl
whoops, front fell off
That’s not very typical
Are you confessing to something
Just a lot of the koala habitats got destroyed by wildfires and they’re more endangered than ever now. So I’m surprised if they’re commonly seen.
People are excited to see raccoons. If you’ve ever had to make major repairs to your property, this makes no sense to you.
People somehow don’t even think about hummingbirds. We get ruby throated hummingbirds through here, and they’re fascinating. Never had a visitor even mention them.
hummingbirds. saw 4 at the same time on a feeder once, and they don’t even like each other apparently
They can be quite territorial.
Black bears of Surrey. (UK).
Peacocks. Where I live (central California) there is a local park that has a flock of wild peacocks. I had a friend visiting from Korea and he was so excited to see them.
I saw a white one in the wild once (prob albino) and that was a thing of beauty
Moose. We get European summer students and seeing one is the highlight of their animal watching when they’re here, apparently.
Personally, I’m more impressed with elk, a bull elk with a full rack is pretty awesome.
Who doesn’t like a full rack.
