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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:44 pm

....an elephant seal in the back yard.

Well, not literally my back yard but damn close -- no more than 150 feet from my house.

I took my dog for a walk along the protected wetlands adjacent to my house today, as I do every day, and saw this amazing creature. I've seen all kinds of wonderful aquatic birds, wild rabbits, and other animals out there but in 30 years I've never seen an elephant seal. It's becoming a minor tourist attraction already. The local wildlife agency just put up a sign:

Pretty cool! Very Happy

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:47 pm

Really cool Juan.

Hmm, slightly cooler than the squirrels and neighbor's dog in my back yard. Very Happy

Juan's stalker Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 1423

Juan that is so cool!! Very Happy

What a wonderful surprise to see just taking a walk.
Did your dog freak out? They usually spot everything before we do.
Thanks for sharing. I hope people will listen to the signs and leave it alone. That is really really cool.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:27 am

Elephant Seals are pretty fierce, so I hope the humans are smart enough to read!

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:20 am

@DQ, my dog spotted it immediately. But she was definitely not in attack mode, she was in a state of shock. Very Happy

(She was also on leash.) She stared and stared but she wasn't about to go near it. She was a little freaked out. After all, this is her terrain, she knows it way better than me. But she's never seen a beast like that in her long (3 year) lifetime. Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

Wow, very cool. It's great you had your camera.

Like OD, all we have are squirrels. They're not nearly as exciting.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:12 am

Awe. never seen one................thanks! Very Happy

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:00 pm

Juan

You are "A daughter of mermaid"

You should not be surprised that relations come to visit. Laughing

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:46 pm

Ima Baeder wrote:

It's great you had your camera.

Actually, I didn't when I first set out. But it was just a short walk back to get it. Wink

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:33 pm

That's really cool and thanks for sharing it. We have quite a selection of wildlife around here, but nothing like that. However, two summers ago a 45 foot humpback whale and its calf swam up river and into the ship channel then hung around town for about a week. They caused mini traffic jams in the area from all the people watching them and were stars on the nightly news.

@Juan. In-N-Out Burger. Yum. That's where I go when I get a craving for a cheesburger and fries. Watching calories be damned. Sometimes a girl gets to indulge.

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:59 am

Wow...what a pleasant surprise to come across on your walk! We had a beached Whale last week but that was no fun as he was dead Sad

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:08 am

He was still out there today, swimming merrily in the channel. Word is getting out and people are starting to come from all over just to see him. Very Happy

@PRS: In-n-Out is the best! Wink

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 94

lotta wrote:

Wow...what a pleasant surprise to come across on your walk! We had a beached Whale last week but that was no fun as he was dead Sad

Did you blow him up like in that one youtube video?

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:05 am

No

He was hoisted up a cliff and then carted away.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 94

lotta wrote:

No

He was hoisted up a cliff and then carted away.

I see. Well, that's for the better. When they blew up the whale in the video I saw, it made the problem much worse. Instead of having to move one large object, they had to pick up many objects.

I pity the people that had that job.

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