There was a massive thud on the the window/door to the garden this morning. Usually these thuds are birds trying to fly through the house. This morning though it was a hare!

There was a pair of them, male chasing the female, running round the garden for about ten minutes. They were about two metres away when I took this.

Superb Bob. I love Hares, it always brightens my day when I see one.

We've had one wander into the house before now - it was just sat inside the front door having a look round, looked at me, looked round a bit more then lolloped off down the lane

The pair in the photo are currently chasing around the field behind the house, well I think it's them, we've quite a few round here. Back in the 1960s & 70s we didn't have many on the farm, in fact they were quite rare round that neck of the woods (South Lakes). I think the British Mammalian Society like to have sightings logged so I'll check on their site.

Loads of Toads/frogs out last night on my ride back from the pub.

Thought it would have been too cold for them, was certainly wet enough though!

She's obviously playing hard to get!!

We don't get hares around the house (living in a forest) although I have seen them on farmland above the Lower Wye Valley; it's always a pleasure to see them when out on rides.
Compensated by lots of other wildlife here though. Regularly see fallow deer, boar, fox, badger; occasionally see muntjac and roe deer, goshawks, peregrines.

They’ll be a tortoise along in a minute or two

Matt wrote:They’ll be a tortoise along in a minute or two

Nah you missed the tortoise, passed through earlier...

Cool to have them in your garden
We have a good number of arctic hares up here which are lovely to see. We have very few land mammals in Shetland and all are introduce; no deer, fox or badgers.

Always love seeing otters too. This was a magical experience... https://youtu.be/6tQDByloOrE

Dancing Dicks (boxing hares) #justsaying

Always love seeing otters too.

Ooh yes - we've got some in the river here but you very rarely see them. Many years ago I was riding across a track high in the hills when an otter ran across the track and vanished. There's no rivers, lakes or whatever close by so I thought it was a little odd. After some searching, it appeared that the otter was using the flooded mine shafts that litter the place. For anyone familiar with BB land, it was the track that runs off the mountain road and drops you into the forest above the Towers.

Interesting!
Luckily otters are diurnal here, most down south are nocturnal

I saw a black Mink once. I was stopped having a snack by the Union Canal, it came to within six feet of me giving a good checking over. It then dove into the canal, surfaced half way across then hauled its way out the other side. Hardly any wet fur and just one shake and it was bone dry again. Amazing to see so close up but it is an introduced species and apparently not very welcome due to it's predation of our natural wildlife.

Ooh! Mustelids On last year's HT550 as I was riding down Glen Torridon from Kinlochewe 9pm sort of time and a Pine Marten ran (or whatever you call a mustelid's gait) across the road in front of me. First one I've ever seen.

I was knocked off my bike by a hare that took my front wheel out. It shook itself a bit then sodded off into a bush. They are nails.

I've had 3 barn owl sightings right local so far this year including one the flew right past my head in the back garden. I get actually excited when I see an owl and not much gets me excited

A few years ago, a very large owl flew between my son and John Climber of this Parish
On the Mawddach trail....
It was a great sight from behind ( I was lagging as usual ),

Love otters and would be thrilled to see one in the wild.

Growing up in Aussie, wildlife was everywhere, though lots of the native species are disappearing. Ive had some genuinely bizarre experiences, such as the time a goanna about two foot long ran up my leg in western Queensland. And when in West Australia, I did actually really seriously totally swim with wild dolphins. Really.

But the memory I treasure was the time I saw a single platypus for about 10 seconds. Id been a bit obsessed with these thing since I was a kid, They are weird. Only one of two egg laying mammals, they are like an otter with a duck bill that senses electrical impulses, kinda like a shark. They are so rare, so seclusive and simply so precious to see one in the wild is a real privilege.

I was cycle touring in Tasmania near Cradle Mountain, spring of 1992 I think, and I'd stopped at a cafe at the end of a long road where the owner told me about a mating pair they had in the stream. Told me where the best spot was to see them, and i sat there for two hours till I did. Pure magic.

Good one Bob, I've seen a lot more hares in the last couple of years and a few white ones this year as well

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Superb Bob. I love Hares, it always brightens my day when I see one.

Likewise

htrider wrote:Good one Bob, I've seen a lot more hares in the last couple of years and a few white ones this year as well

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Superb Bob. I love Hares, it always brightens my day when I see one.

Likewise

Ooh, that reminds me. Xmas 2016 we were doing a loop from Dalwhinnie via Loch Garry to Loch Rannoch and back by Ben Alder and as we got to the end of Loch Garry I saw a mountain hare in its white coat, not a lot of snow around at that point so was easy to spot.

Saw my first curlew on today's ride as well.

Only otter I've seen was a dog otter on the isle of Pabbay (the one south of Barra) in the Western Isles. We had got to the top of a crag and it was wandering around upwind.

Started this morning, could here a noise in the garden thought it was a chainsaw some distance off, on inspection noticed in the pond a couple of toads, dark upper with white throats.
This grew to approx 50 or so croaking away, checked half hours go still at it.
its the second year in this house haven't noticed this last year

I got taken out by a large antlered deer on the way to work once - it ran straight through my front wheel and I flipped over it’s back and landed in the road. I ended up with a taco’d front wheel and a police report just in case I needed to claim on insurance.
The strangest wildlife encounter though was riding through a flock(?) of half a dozen large flightless birds that I puzzled over for quite a while before I realised they must have been turkeys

Lots of muntjacs in our garden and fields, and roe deer in the woods and fields down the road. Nearly hit a wild boar a few years ago on my ride to work. A local farm breeds them and this was an escapee. Little owls roost in one of the oaks behind the house also, unfortunatelt the dogs deter lots of animals coming into the garden.

I too have had a close encounter with a stag. Towards the end of last year, riding home from work at dusk and he ambled across the path close enough in front of me for me to have to brake hard to not hit him!
Over the years I have been lucky to see a couple of white stags and a white doe. Have also had a barn owl fly alongside me for probably 100m or so along the Peregrine Trail near Monmouth - that was probably my most surreal and amazing encounter with wildlife. They fly so close to the ground, he was more or less at shoulder level and I could swear he was tracking me for fun!
Locally we are going to have two pair of Beaver introduced into a controlled area in the near future. The area has being securely fenced so access to see them may be difficult but I am hoping to get a sighting of them from the perimeter. I also ride with the husband of the lady who developed the project over the last couple of years, so may be able to wrangle a viewing.

There’s white hares on bleaklow in the Peak. There stay high up so unlikely to see them on any legit bike trails (or any terrain you’d want to take a bike on)

We have an owl living in the tree in our front garden. Can be a bit loud at times but I like hearing it

I was ran down by a badger, on my own at night in the woods, scared the hell out of me

Saw a rat run across the path the other day, I win