What animals have you seen on the hiking trails?

[beachgirl66]

My husband and I went on the hiking trail at Grayton Beach in September, and I was curious to know...... what animals any of you have seen or encountered on the hiking trails at any of the parks here? I am looking forward to hearing your stories!!

 

[Kurt]

Raccoon, Possum, Armadillo, snake, turtle, frog, fox, lizard, coyote, deer, squirrel, alligator.

All manner of birds and insects (butterflies!) and wonderful plants of course.

I hope to see a black bear one day. Yesterday I saw a Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse, an endangered species I didn't expect to see in my lifetime. It was on the edge of a lake and I was in my kayak though - not hiking.

 

[beachgirl66]

Wow, how exciting! Besides snakes, the alligator would be neat to see from a distance, but not too close! I guess knowing that they could eat me would put the fear in me!lol I have never heard of the Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse. I will have to google it and check it out...

 

[Matt J]

Wow, how exciting! Besides snakes, the alligator would be neat to see from a distance, but not too close! I guess knowing that they could eat me would put the fear in me!lol I have never heard of the Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse. I will have to google it and check it out...

IIRC it's commonly referred to as the dune mouse and are only found in our dunes.

 

[beachmouse]

The suburban paved trail by my house has appearances by Guy Who Walks His Pet Ferret on a Leash.

 

[Smiling JOe]

That particular sub-species of dune mouse if found only in South Walton. I think there are six different sub-species, each found on a different beach. St Andrews has it's own, and Santa Rosa (county) has its own, too.

Kurt named most of the ones I've seen. I'll add:
ghost crabs, blue crabs, fiddler crabs, bald eagle, osprey, turkey vulture, black vulture, cottonmouth, black racer, ants, caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies, moths, great blue heron, great white heron, kingfisher, catbird, green anole, six lined racerunner, broadheaded skink, mocking bird, dove, coots, merganzer ducks, fish, and plenty of others.

 

[grace]

By far, the scariest critter I have encounetered was a wild hog with about 15 of her little ones in tow. She was not happy about having to move her fat arse.

 

[TreeFrog]

Some of the more notables:

Colony (herd?) of 8 or 10 little salamanders living under the siding on my porch and feeding on the bugs attracted to the porch light.

Bobcat on the bike path, just east of Alys.

Unusual tree frog with black and white stripe down its side, on my porch.

Rattlesnake (not pygmy) in the grass between the empty lot south of the 395 Publix and the Watercolor development there.

Gopher tortoise crossing (successfully!) 30A near Eastern Lake



For all the deer I've seen on 98 and 395, I have yet to see a buck. Where's he hiding?

 

[TreeFrog]

SJ, coots may be coming back this year. I saw some in Deer Lake a week ago. We had a big flock wintering on Eastern Lake two or three years back.

 

[beachgirl66]

By far, the scariest critter I have encounetered was a wild hog with about 15 of her little ones in tow. She was not happy about having to move her fat arse.

LOL! Hilarious and scary all at the same time!It lt looks like next time I will have to be on the lookout for alot more critters than what I saw...It's funny that all we saw were about 10 small lizards, but everytime I would hear leaves rustle I would jump because I didn't know what would come out!lol I live out in the country in Ky, so I am definitely used to seeing deer,various birds,small lizards, snakes, squirrels,ect..All of the other animals mentioned, along with certain kinds of snakes and birds I have not seen yet. It gives me a reason to explore the trails a little more....I don't know what I would do if I actually encountered some of them though!lol