Random animals you have met on missions

[Tubacap]

So in the last week I've had some pretty interesting missions.  Two out of the three actuals that I did involved some new and exciting animals that I met along the way.  So, I was wondering who else out there has come across some interesting animals on missions.

The first mission involved a llama on an airport.



Llama's are are beasts of burden from South America.  What they were doing in Williamsport PA, I'm not sure.

A fun and interesting song can be found on YouTube about Llama's.  Llama Song


My team also had a very interesting search in the Greater Pittsburgh Region that involved enormous geese.  These geese probably stood approximately 3.5' high. 



These are not the same color, but it was the only picture I could find that came close to the same size as the ones we found in the middle of the woods being taken care of by some lady.

[_]

It was probably an alpaca.  They're used for their fur like a sheep.

I haven't encountered anything overly weird.  I've encountered the normal creatures.  Lots of deer, wild turkey (the animal not the other thing), foxes, groundhogs, snakes, spiders, mysterious furry animals, the boogeyman in the middle of the night, and the all too common sleep deprived cadet.

The most interesting thing I saw was during a training activity.  Myself and another person were standing at a rocky overlook over some rapids on a river.  I looked down at a rock less than a foot in front of me and was startled by a diamond back rattlesnake just laying there sunning itself.  I then looked around and found 2 more sitting about a foot on either side of the first snake.  They were all just sitting out there sunning themselves.  It was pretty interesting to see.

[Tubacap]

One of my students has an alpaca farm.  This was definitely a llama.  I think they were keeping it as a pet as it was a private airport.  The body shape of the animal was a little different.

Alpaca

[Duke Dillio]

I was running an ELT practice search in the Pike National Forest when we ran across a barbed wire fence.  On the other side was a huge herd of buffalo.  They look a lot skinnier on the farm than they do in the Hollywood movies.  Later, we went to Idaho Springs for lunch.  Mmmmm, buffalo burgers......

[cnitas]

Our team ran across a Bobcat out in Cumberland MD on our last missing A/C search.  The thing was almost the size of a faun. 

In fact, that is what I thought it was at first until we got closer.

[Al Sayre]

Over the years, both training and actual missions, I have had the opportunity to run into the following, (some with a vehicle ):

Lots of dogs & cats
Rattlesnakes of various types (they all taste like chicken)
Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes
Various rat snakes/king snakes and other non-venemous types of snakes
Alligators/Caimen
Deer
Cows, Sheep, Goats (who like to eat airplane fabric BTW)
Geese, ducks, chickens and pigeons (all can make a real mess out of the old airplane in your barn, and geese will bite, hard!)

[Duke Dillio]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  When I went to BCT at Ft. Sill, I saw lots of armadillos.  Man those things are wierd looking.....

Most of them had been run over by a vehicle of some sort though.  Generally we ended up vaulting their carcasses...

[Eagle400]

Well, I was a UDF Operator on an Urban Ground Team, so I must admit that I never came across any random animals on any of the missions I participated in.

However, trying to locate an EPIRB in a densely-populated area was a very interesting experience.  Perhaps even more interesting was discovering the EPIRB in a heavy boat parked in someone's backyard, which the owner conveniently placed upside-down.

Unfortunately, in the time it took for the UGT from my squadron and the UGT from our neighboring squadron to find the darn thing, a GT from a squadron 141 miles North of where we were looking got to it before we did.

By the time we arrived, the members of the GT that located the EPIRB were still trying to get the boat flipped over so the EPIRB could be turned off.

[_]

Well, I was a UDF Operator on an Urban Ground Team, so I must admit that I never came across any random animals on any of the missions I participated in.

However, trying to locate an EPIRB in a densely-populated area was a very interesting experience.  Perhaps even more interesting was discovering the EPIRB in a heavy boat parked in someone's backyard, which the owner conveniently placed upside-down.

Unfortunately, in the time it took for the UGT from my squadron and the UGT from our neighboring squadron to find the darn thing, a GT from a squadron 141 miles North of where we were looking got to it before we did.

By the time we arrived, the members of the GT that located the EPIRB were still trying to get the boat flipped over so the EPIRB could be turned off.

 

[Eagle400]

 

for me regarding your "huh" smiley.

What's your question?

[_]

How does that have anything to do with animals encountered on a mission?

[Eagle400]

How does that have anything to do with animals encountered on a mission?

Even though I never came across random animals on a mission, scrambling to find an EPIRB located in someone's backyard was more odd than encountering random animals (at least for me).

[JC004]

cats & dogs, snakes, cadets, government workers, but nothing too out of the ordinary here.   

[Tubacap]

My team found someone who was very afraid of government workers recently.  It led to a very lengthy conversation about the downfall of the land between the revolutionary and civil wars. 

Then I was dive bombed by the afore mentioned giant goose.  By the way, said individual also claimed the geese could talk.

I did not verify.

[_]

My team found someone who was very afraid of government workers recently.  It led to a very lengthy conversation about the downfall of the land between the revolutionary and civil wars. 

Then I was dive bombed by the afore mentioned giant goose.  By the way, said individual also claimed the geese could talk.

I did not verify.

Could you have discovered a super secret biological experiment involving the creation of a giant mutant geese army to take over the world?  Hmmm...   

[Tubacap]

^It was definitely twighlight zone-ish.

[mikeylikey]

cats & dogs, snakes, cadets, government workers, but nothing too out of the ordinary here.   

Holy Crap!  Government workers.....how did you survive that encounter?!?

[JC004]

If you think random animals is bad, try dealing with TSA, or some other agencies we've dealt with.  You'd wish you had your giant geese of doom.

[AlphaSigOU]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  When I went to BCT at Ft. Sill, I saw lots of armadillos.  Man those things are wierd looking.....

Most of them had been run over by a vehicle of some sort though.  Generally we ended up vaulting their carcasses...

Achtung... panzerschwein! ('Armored pigs' - what German settlers in Texas dubbed the ubiquitous armadillo.)

[♠SARKID♠]

Airshow this weekend -

Fox pups x3
Deer x7
Raccoon x1