wildlife run ins on the course.

anyone have any stories of animals you have run into while playing a round ?

At a course here in maine called woodland valley a black bear was just chillin on hole 3.

I have nearly hit a turkey with a drive at dragan field in auburn maine.

of course there is always the annoying woodpecker on the clutch putt to seal the victory.

[mark mcgarity]

lotsa wildlife in upstate ny...deer and groundhogs mostly...funny story about a turkey though...we sent gary up to spot on hole 9 at tc3 in dryden, ny...a disc went in the right rough and gary began dancing around and swinging a disxc...seems a momma turkey and newly hatched chicks didnt like the errant toss...she chased gary all the way back to the tee...would have won money on americas most funny videos!!

[jharrski]

recent emailed pic from a buddy of mine in N Ft Myers, otter family playin thru...

[mr ed]

great shot,looks like it might be opposite the ball field around hole 17?

[Thad Murgatroyd]

that is too cool .you otter feel honored to have seen that

[JohnnyMax]

Great Otter shot.

In 1999, my dog scared up a Southeastern Diamondack Rattler on the Turkey Lake course between holes 11 and 17. I called Sparky away, and didn't think about it again. A month or so later I was speaking with a disc golfing friend "Diaz", and he told me he hadn't been playing lately. It was his first time playing since he got bit by a rattlesnake on hole #11 at Turkey Lake. Diaz even showed me the shoe he was wearing when the snake bit. One fang hit the leather trim of the shoe, and did not go through. There was a lot of dried venom still on his shoe. The other fang poked through the mesh on his shoe, and pierced his little toe.

Diaz told me, that for about 30 seconds he thought he could finish the round. After that, he said he was lucky to make it 200 yards to his car, and drive a half mile to the parks office, where they called 911. Diaz spent three days in the ICU.

I have not seen or heard a rattler at Turkey Lake since then.

[Nick Peters]

I am truly blessed to call Stafford Lake my home course. Just today during my morning round I saw deer, geese, turkeys with the baby chics, red tail hawks, gopher snakes, and a ton of funky caterpillars. This is the normal cast of characters. My favorite time though was watching multiple deer rutting as we played through the fairway of hole 9.

Remember, we are only visiting. Leave no trace...

[Nascar Dave]

I have a few to tell, about dusk and I was playing a solo round, two barn owls during mating season came off a low banch right over my head maybe ten feet, the batting of wings scared the crap out of me, dropped everything lol
the second one a friend of mine were playing about dusk again, he had his mix breed small dog in tow, the fairway goes between a poond and a creek, the bank of the drops off about fifteen feet or so, I drive and right after my disc lands a bobcat jumps up out of the bank, then sees us and jumps back down, so Joe drives and turns his over, off the bank into the creek, by the time we got up the fairway, the bobcat was in the brush on the other side, spotted his eyes with a flashlight and he didn't seem to big
the third I was by myself, a nite golf round, just after sundown, and I laying at forty for my putt, I start to measure it up and hear this stampede coming at me only I can't see a thing and don't have time to grab my flashlight, when out of the dark come about twenty deer on the run, something spooked them on the other side of the park, they flew by both sides of me about ten feet from me, CRAAAP, again lol
the last one happened a week and a half ago, heavily wooded course next to a newer residential area, went a little right of the basket into some brush piles, walked up andspotted the disc and as I started in to retrieve it a snake that looked like a Boa went out the other side and up the closest tree, it had to be six or seven feet long, i didn't know if it was hungry but I wasn't dinner, I like snakes but I think he was a little too big to try and handle even though I grew up catching copperheads and water mocs
I play alot of late afternoon and early evening rounds, half of which are solo and I think that lends itself to the wildlife sightings, some others include coyotes, rattlers, wild turkeys etc but I've already wrote a book here

[BeckyT]

San Francisco is my home course. We currently have a family of red tail hawks living on the course. They like to use my dog for hunting practice with the young birds sweeping in but not hitting on my pug.

Other interesting wildlife at our course: Coyotes, a white rabbit, and a passed out dude from Checkoslovakia all scene near hole 6. Beware of this hole around dusk.

[Walker]

I've hit a deer with a drive. Found a deer skull on the same course. This weekend at a tourney, i was in the group behind Kim-Scott Wood, who was waaaay too excited about a red tailed hawk.

A story from J-park in Albany, ny: Amateur Marty just bought a brand new disc. Hole 1, very first throw of said disc, he parks a nice drive in the middle of the fairway. Out of nowhere a random dog runs from the woods, bites his disc, violently chews it up, then drops it and runs away, never to be seen again.

I've heard a similar story from the Worlds one year, where a Coyote picked up a roller drive in progress, and dropped it 600ft passed the hole. Since the disc never came to a stop, the player had to take it where it lies.

[Brownguy]

While playing at Basil Marella in Rochester a Red tail hawk swopped at Angryguy. Good thing he was marking his lie and did'nt see him. It seeems we are scaring up treerats for him which is what he was going after. Angryguy would have been FUBAR.

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

4 footer chilling behind the basket...Hole 16, Red Hawk

[Mitchell]

In Liveoak Park, Ingleside, Tx, there's a hawk that lives somewhere in the part, and these weird half-turkey half-goose things. We've also seen javelina out there.