Unexpected Animal Sightings
It dawned on me this morning that I hadn’t really realized just how odd it seems that the Lancaster County seal features an elk.
An elk? Really? There are oodles of white tail deer in Lancaster County, but elk are mighty rare in the wild. The last time I remember hearing about an elk around here was several years ago when a car hit an elk on the Interstate. So why is an elk representing us today? Because there used to be oodles of elk around here, of course. And, well, why not?
The rarity of elk around here got me thinking about the sorts of animals some folks have seen around Lincoln that you just wouldn’t expect to see here. Take the time The Missus came across a peacock roaming around The Knolls, for example. The peacock was an escapee so it doesn’t really count, but it sure surprised her. My most interesting out-of-the-ordinary animal interactions involve foxes, one of which—believe it or not—I hand-fed berries near Beal Slough. I haven’t seen a fox in a good ten years. Oh, and there was once a gigantic snapping turtle (I think) sitting on the bike trail. He was not happy that I was so interested in him.
My dad’s story takes the cake. He’s generally a reliable fellow and not prone to hallucinations. But did he really see a mountain lion crossing Old Cheney near 31st Street one morning about a decade ago? It’s certainly possible, I suppose, though definitely out of the ordinary. Skeptics will say it was probably just a bobcat, but bobcats are much smaller, and my dad knows what a bobcat looks like. Or how about a large dog? Could’ve been, but dogs and cats move much differently, and my dad swears this was a cat.
What odd sightings have you made in Lincoln?
The Comments
Stacy says We had wild turkey's walking March 15, 2010 at 7:26am
We had wild turkey’s walking around our yard when we lived down east of Indian Village
It was rather interesting to see them in town.
Fletch says There's a whole batch of March 15, 2010 at 8:03am
There’s a whole batch of them south of Old Cheney between Highway 2 and 70th Street.
Stacy says RE: There's a whole batch of March 15, 2010 at 11:43am
Yeah, but that’s on the outskirts of town. Where we had them, we were no where near the outskirts, which is why it was odd.
Matthew Platte says I saw Ben Nelson (he's March 15, 2010 at 9:37pm
I saw Ben Nelson (he’s a Blue Dog, for all you cat fanciers who haven’t been paying attention) over by the Lied Center last fall; he was going to a football game.