Snapping turtle

[Trish]

My husband and I are avid wildlife watchers, and we have seen numerous animals within the city's limits. it's pretty amazing to think that these creatures can live along side of this busy busy city.. pretty incredible... there is a  snapping turtle in James Gardens in Etobicoke, there were also a pair of red tailed hawks and a woolly woodpecker that eats out of your hand.  If anyone was interested in seeing some beavers there is a den and a pair in the park at Parklawn and Lakeshore, and there are great blue heron and king fishers and raccoons and a mink, and another type of heron, (not sure what type though)??  We use to have a family of red fox but when they tore up the trees to make way for the condo's down here they ran off and one was killed on the QEW.. it was sad..  My husband and I also saw 4 deer at the airport in the spring, just standing along side the 401 inside the airport gates!  it was an amazing sight.   We also saw a wild turkey on a drive to Peterborough..  they are odd creatures to say the least.. If anyone knows where we can catch a glimpse of deer, we would love to take a look see and take some photos, we have quite a collection of wildlife pic's now and so far no deer.

[David Shilman]

(snip)...and a woolly woodpecker that eats out of your hand. (snip) If anyone knows where we can catch a glimpse of deer, we would love to take a look see and take some photos, we have quite a collection of wildlife pic's now and so far no deer.

Great sightings, Trish.  I think you meant "Downy Woodpecker"!  

A fairly reliable place for deer, but pretty far, is Manitoulin Island.  Have you ever been there?

David Shilman
Toronto, ON

[Julia]

Never mind, just drive around on the highways around the city for long enough and you're bound to see one.  Apparently they're sighted at least yearly (especially in the spring) along the Humber river, all the way down to the lake.  I'll never forget the one who broke into the parking garages of the condos on Southport about ten years ago.  He destroyed at least a dozen cars in two garages before he was tranquilized and re-released further north.  I like to think of him as the masked avenger of deer, when you consider how many deer are destroyed by cars every year.
Up at our cottage ("the church"), off of 62 north of Madoc, we have the highest winter concentration of deer in Ontario.  Once there's snow on the ground a drive up Old Hastings Road can yield several hundred (seriously) deer in less than an hour.  

Julia

[Sierra3]

Re your post..

wonderful to see all this wildlife
BUT..

i RECENTLY was on #7
near the hotels Sheraton and Radisson
just before
and a deer lay on the island
dead.. must have been hit
really upset me.. was just on my way to lunch
and the poor things
they have no where to go..

I did not realize they could do that to cars
just awful for them..

tks for sharing this

I plan to go to Amherst Island in fall
and believe they have many owls
and deer there

Hpe they dont have hunting

S

[Wulff]

There are deer and Coyotes all over the GTA. Your best bet is early in the morning somewhere where they are known to be. I see them pretty regularily behind my house ( I border a forest ) in Durham region but they can be found in urban area's too.

Couple weeks ago, early evening right on the beach at Rotary park Ajax, dozens of people around.


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[Sierra3]

Hello..

thank you for making my day

What a beautiful animal!

best

Ive been to that rotary park
some time ago
must try it again

tks

[BIGFRANK]

Presqu'ile Provincial Park has a good sized deer population,easiest seen around dawn and dusk. Its abit of a drive,but tons of birds to see there too.

[jjmb]

Bluffer's park in Scarborough is full of wildlife, including a small number of deer. They range along several kilometres of wooded area between the bluffs and the lake, and can be seen anywhere along there. Easier to spot in the winter, and I often walk along the top of the bluffs, looking along the slopes. They like to sit in areas on the sunny slopes, sheltered from the wind. Occasionally they do wander up onto the streets and into yards. Plus the usual critters are in the area - turtles, herons, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, etc. and all sorts of raptors and a nice variety of birds (nesting trumpeters!). Last winter I regularly saw a Northern Shrike, and in the year of the Great Grey Owls, I regularly "visited" with one that would perch in the trees along Brimley. Got some wonderful pics. Big Frank does a lot of his excellent bird-sighting from Rosetta McLain park, which is just west (and above) of there. I love to live in this neighborhood. It's my little slice of country in the city.