Whilst in America I saw a wild Coyote (I have never seen one before, apart from in the Roadrunner cartoons that is!)

I was up in Northern Michigan this past weekend. That is where my g/f’s family cabin is at and my g/f and I are working on moving up there in the next few years.

It’s Fall up there, right now, and let me tell it’s freaking magical. The smell of cedars, decaying leaves and bonfires. Blue black skies, filled with a million stars.

Have a look. I am so in love with this place.

This past weekend we saw a fox, a huge barn owl, a few eagle’s nests, and a blue heron gulping down a rather large fish.

(NSFW?) Does it count that last week I saw a cloud that distinctly looked exactly like a penis?

Every time the sun shines through leafy tree branches is a great nature moment for me.

@Jude Wow. Just . . . just whoa. If I was going to be able to scrounge up any “magical” moments with nature, they just burst into butterflies, forming a flaming rainbow. My metaphorical gun was just got shot out of my hand, and I can only drop to my knees in awe as you reveal a gun of such caliber, that it deserves a top hat and fancy mustache. No, it has a top hat and mustache already, and is even offering me a handkerchief to wipe away my tears of joy before it ends my dull by comparison livelihood.

Don’t . . . don’t leave me Jude.

@ANef_is_Enuf haha…did it have the face of the virgin Mary in it too?
@Jude Beautiful!
@Leanne1986 One mans common critter is another mans treasure. Jeez…Coyotes are everywhere over here, they can catch, kill and eat a chicken in less than 5 minutes. lol
@Blackberry So true!
@Prosb LOL….too funny, you have a way with words!

@Jude I’m with @Prosb That is some amazing country! I had no idea that the lakes had waves big enough to surf on, nor did I realize you had dunes like that. Those are far bigger than any I’ve ever seen on the East coast. Breathtaking! I don’t blame you one bit for wanting to live up there. Are you retiring? What will you do?

Everyday, in every concievable way nature amazes me from the minute invisible evidence in demonstration, to the larger more obvious conditions of beauty.

It makes me wonder how, if even in having EVIDENCE that there were no God, how people couldn’t somewhat assign this place to a higher power just because…

I feel the world came about through the process of evolution, but by the guidence of a higher power. I just don’t believe the human being when left to its own devices, can conceptualize something as absolutely perfect as this place.

The last good phenomenon I watched was a sand storm a few years ago. Even though I was barely breathing it was superb.

@Hibernate Forces of nature with the power to both; destroy, as well as alter life itself through such destruction are the most awesome conditions in existance!

DUNE!

I know. ^^

This summer we saw a sparrow hawk eating a mouse on the back fence. And while camping a chipmunk ran up to me while I was reading started animatedly chirping at me then ran away, so funny.

@wundayatta

I know huh!!! I had no idea those lakes had such wave capacity….amazing!
Now all I can think of is that old ballad about the wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.

Aaaagh…make it stop! lol

@Hibernate Haha! “Ack! This storm is so amaz-ack!-ing!”

I was just telling the story of a time I was teaching a class outside, and we were being fairly quiet, and a huge coyote ran straight at us from the woods, the turned when it was about twenty yards away and ran off into the woods. Must’ve decided we weren’t worth the trouble.

@Coloma The wreck happened close to where I live ;)

I try to take in nature daily. Today, my fav thing was having Honey Locust leaves crunch under my feet. The sound from those small leaves is priceless.

We had a cheeky racoon staring at us from one of our trees last night when we got home from our nature walk, too…Cute!

My yard has a cacophony of migrating bird songs right now.

Walking home through a quiet part of the city last week, about 10pm, I saw what I thought was a large cat cross the road then stop to look at me. As I got closer I realised it was a fox.

I smashed 2 daddy long leg spiders that were stuck together, screwing today. To heck with spiders! Save the whole “Spiders are good; they eat other bugs.” That’s what frogs are for :)

@spykenij The funny thing is, Daddy Long Legs are not spiders! They are closely related though, and do sometimes eat bugs, they are just less proficient at doing so, since they do not spin webs, or use silk. (NSFW?) Males can also have a penis, where as spiders do not.

I’ve just become interested in birdwatching this past summer, and I saw and identified three birds that I had never seen before. A yellow-shafted flicker, a yellow warbler, and (most awesomely, as they’re considered rare) a pileated woodpecker. I found that to be very fun and satisfying.

I also got to see a chipmunk yawn a couple of weeks ago, which was ridiculously cute.

@Prosb – Wow! All I know is that they are one of the most poisonous spiders, but their fangs are not long enough to pierce our skin.

@spykenij That’s a myth too.

@incendiary_dan Have you ever watched the documentary of the Canadian folk singer who went on a nature walk only to be eaten alive by a coyote? It was sick…

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-29/entertainment/canada.singer.killed_1_coyotes-taylor-mitchell-canadian-folk-singer?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

You’re lucky it wasn’t interested!!! People fail to realize the sheer animal strength in one little creature.

Brazilian wandering spiders are the worlds most poisonous as well as the most dangerous spiders because I believe they are hunters in that they do not build webs and they come Git ya!

Grrrr atrtttt,,, urrr um…. <—————What spiders sound like in my mind.

@spykenij

I don’t like your cavalier attitude to killing small, defenseless creatures. Not cool, not funny.
This queston is meant to be about appreciating nature. Thanks.

I am sorry to the thread in general, but I just can’t resist linking this.

@Prosb

Not at all….funny! But killing two mating Harvester spiders just because, well…I’ll stop before I get myself into trouble. ;-)

@Prosb That made my day. Fahzsa.

@GabrielsLamb I hadn’t heard of that. That’s messed up. Luckily, our group typically is decked out with machetes and axes. Yes, even the kids. :P

@incendiary_dan Cool… Never too early to learn how to defend oneself when and where necessary!

Oh yeah, and a few years ago, I put a black and yellow garden spider in a jar with a praying mantis just for fun. MANTIS WON, especially after snipping off the spider’s legs, one at a time!!!