What's the coolest animal you've ever experienced, in nature and/or captivity?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

In nature, it would have to be manatees, which I had the opportunity to swim with and even pet until I was very politely reprimanded by a park ranger not to do so given their endangered status. Still, it was an experience of a lifetime.

In captivity, it has to be the whale sharks at the Atlanta aquarium. They're just these giant behemoths that gracefully swim out of the endless abyss in that football field sized tank they have there.

[fizzgig]

1. in the wild was whale watching off the coast of virginia beach

in captivity, it was the big gorilla who put his hand up to the glass when i sat down next to him. i then watched he and a female cuddle while they ate. i don't know how anyone can be offended at the thought that we're related to the great apes.

[cwydro]

2. This one:

He's my sweet goose, and truly the coolest critter I've ever known.

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[Joe Shlabotnik]

24. how awesome

[Brother Buzz]

3. Dolphins

Driving an ocean racing catamaran with the sun at my back I noticed two little rainbows, one centered on each bow, and I had four dolphin riding the bow pressure waves. It was a double-handed race, just two of us on board, and I thought of waking my buddy to show him when I got selfish and then thought, "To Hell with him, this is my magic moment, just the dolphins and myself". My finned friends traveled with me for about a quarter of an hour before they peeled off; all was good in the world that day.

[KamaAina]

46. Amen to that!

I have swum with them on several occasions, both in captive settings and in the open Pacific. (click click clickclickclick squeak squeeeeeeeeeeeek).

[Ino]

4. swimming with giant sea turtles

in a little bay on the Kauai coast.

Also, looking a hippo in the eye while it was swimming in its tank at the St. Louis Zoo

[Laffy Kat]

5. Umm, ok, please explain what you were doing in the hippo's tank.

And how you lived to tell about it.

[Ino]

13. "while IT was swimming in its tank"

I was just up close & personal through a window.

[Laffy Kat]

28. Oh. OK. You had me goin' there! nt

[cwydro]

7. I saw a sea turtle while snorkeling off Key West

many years ago.

That was indeed a very cool encounter.

She was bigger than I.

[MosheFeingold]

6. Whale Sharks

Last week, I took a family vacation and snorkeled as 100+ whale sharks swam by on either side.

I'm 90, BTW. Youth is an attitude.

[cwydro]

8. ...

[panader0]

14. Wow Moshe!

Be careful if you want to make it to 91.
I'm not sure which is more impressive, swimming with whale sharks or being 90!

[MosheFeingold]

20. Hitler couldn't get me either.

What's a 40 foot long fish gonna do?

[panader0]

23. You are a blessed man--so glad to have you here on DU.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

41. :D

I wanna go snorkeling with you!

[steve2470]

49. hey glad to have you on DU! nt

[Arugula Latte]

34. For you ...

[mainer]

40. OK. You win.

I mean, really.

[JCMach1]

9. In captivity, Cheetahs ... in Nature Dynaflagellates

[Xipe Totec]

26. I remember that! Padre Island, around Easter, one fine year a long time ago.

I remember being bathed in light and watching my arms glow.

[JCMach1]

35. Very, very cool... at first, I was wondering if I was having a flashback

[Avalux]

10. Well, there are lots. But just recently, it was a bumblebee.

I have flowering jasmine in a pot on my patio, and this little guy decided it belonged to him. For more than 2 hours, he hovered around it, occasionally moving 45 degrees, making his way around it. He definitely had a system. Every time another bug of any kind entered his "zone of protection", he chased it off. I never saw him land on a flower, but he sure did keep himself busy with guard duty. I kept wanting to know what he was thinking, why he was doing that. I sat watching him for a long time. Fascinating!

[bigwillq]

11. A dolphin while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean

in Va Beach, Va. Really wasn't too far from us.

I saw a Bobcat in my backyard.

I got to pet an elephant at a circus (yes, I know, a circus, but I at least got to pet it).

In captivity: I have been to quite a few zoos and saw some non-native animals, but nothing really stands out or I don't really remember.

[GeorgeGist]

12. My dog Bo.

[shenmue]

30. Aww

Mine is Murphy.

[seveneyes]

15. Every cat that ever owned me

The penultimate creature in this physical world we live in.

[ailsagirl]

16. Yep-- there is something about felines

Can't get enough

[seveneyes]

17. They have my love for evermore

[Arugula Latte]

32. Agree. It would be fair to call me "obsessed" with them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. A Siberian tiger at the Minnesota Zoo.

The tiger enclosure is mostly surrounded by a moat, but there is one area where the tigers and the visitors are separated by a big, thick sheet of plate glass and the tigers will come right up to it. I got to "play" with a tiger - she'd chase me as I ran back and forth on my side of the glass. She might have been inclined to eat me, but I think she was just playing.

[Throd]

19. A giant mola mola (sunfish) while fishing off Bodega Bay, CA

It slowly floated up to the side of the boat, bumped up against it, and then slipped underneath. The boat captain said it was the biggest one he had ever seen.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

21. I saw a whale that was at least twice the size of the thirty foot sloop

I was sailing on in the Gulf of Maine, far from the sight of land. A school of them were in the distance. One came up close to check us out. Then they all disappeared under the water because they found out we were human. If we had been on a motor boat, we never would have seen them. If it had come up directly under the boat, I would not be here. My camera was hanging from my neck, but I was too stunned to use it.

[Archae]

22. Biggest critter I ever got to pet...

One of the Budweiser Clydesdales.

They are just huge horses.

[Liberal_in_LA]

43. that would be cool

[charlie and algernon]

25. A heron that stole a fish from a snake

I was watching this heron look for fish in a small creek. He wasn't having much luck. Then a snake comes out of the water a few feet away with a nice size fish in its mouth. The heron sees it, looks at it, and then goes back to fishing on its own. A few seconds later, it walks up to the snake and in a flash takes the fish out of the snake's mouth and walks away. The snake looked absolutely defeated, lol!

[Xipe Totec]

27. Armadillos nt

[oldandhappy]

29. Humpback whales putting on a show

in the waters off Alaska. Will remember forever!

[denbot]

31. Great White Shark

Roughly a year ago I was sitting on my surfboard, looked down and saw a 9'+ Great White slowly swimming past me, about 2' from my right leg. They are impressive animals..

[Arugula Latte]

33. The rarest was quetzel birds in Costa Rica.

We got up very early and trekked to a remote place to see them gathered at dawn. There were about five of them all together in a tree.

I'm not really a bird person (I mean, I wish them well and all, but I'm not super "into" them), but I was pretty excited to have seen these guys:

[lastlib]

36. Mountain goat--backpacking in mountains in New Mexico,

Last edited Sat Jul 11, 2015, 04:37 PM - Edit history (2)

I walked to within five feet of one, before he decided I was too close and mosied off to wherever mountain goats go. He was a huge beast--guessing he weighed about five hundred pounds! I would've been up you-know-what-creek if he had ever decided to charge me.

Close runner-up would be the bobcat. Hiking in south Missouri, I didn't make my destination camp by dark, so I just decided to throw down in the woods and camp. No tent, just a poncho ground cloth under my sleeping bag. About one a.m., I hear the leaves rustling fairly close to me. I grabbed my flashlight and shone it around, to see two big yellow eyes shining out there. Looking a little closer, I discovered a bobcat behind the eyes, about fifteen feet from me--about twenty pounds of ready-to-explode fury. When the light hit him, he started growling at me to beat the band! I just started talking real softly to him, in the gentlest tone I could muster. Nice kitty, I'm not going to hurt you, how are you tonight? Is the hunting any good tonight? I guess he figured out there was no hostile intent on my part, bcause he just trotted away from me, just going on his merry way, but looking back at me a couple times to see if I was following or getting a gun. Nope, I wasn't gonna mess with him, but I did have to go down the trail a little later so I didn't mess my pants!

[In_The_Wind]

37. just

[Special Prosciuto]

38. I've always been a buffoon for the raccoon. nt

[DFW]

39. While the whales off the coast of Cape Cod are singularly impressive

Swimming up close to these aquatic acrobats was like nothing else I've ever seen:

[Liberal_in_LA]

42. waking thru that LA zoo early one morning. got to hand feed a giraffe. they have soft pillow lips

The zoo keeper was feeding giraffe and handed food to the early visitors

[onethatcares]

44. watched dolphins birth pups

in the Gulf of Mexico. My dad was with me and a pod of about 30 dolphin must have had a birthing experience planned because for two hours we watched pups ride the back of their parents, watched tailwalkers, somersaulters, pups on the back of two older dolphins being tossed in the air and so many antics it still amazes me that we were allowed to watch all that. My dad is gone now but when I used to see him, he'd bring that day up.

[Skittles]

45. right now it is a squirrel

I made the mistake of tossing him a peanut when I was getting into my car to go to work - now he greets me daily, demanding his peanut...he gets quite chatty....today I had the peanuts in my pocket but forgot to toss - as I was pulling out of the parking spot he ran up close to the driver's door and was chatting in an agitated fashion until I rolled down the window and tossed him his treat

[2naSalit]

47. Several, besides all the cats I have been acquainted with...

I have been kissed by real wolves... ambassador wolves who tolerated humans but still pretty wild - I have pictures to remember it, and talked to by many birds in my old garden at another house... the best was a hummingbird who hovered at face level as if asking me to turn off the hose - I was watering the garden - so it could drink from the tomato blooms, when finished it returned to me as if to thank me and zoomed away. Both times that it appeared in front of me, it hovered while looking at me by turning its head as if to look at me with each eye, it lasted for a couple seconds, it seemed so magical.

[cemaphonic]

48. Spinner dolphins in the wild

Dozens of dolphins, swimming in packs, doing one acrobatic stunt after another is an amazing thing to see.

In captivity, Komodo Dragons, maybe? They're very rare, having a natural habitat of a handful of small islands, and have a pretty fearsome reputation. (Human fatalities, or even serious injuries are very uncommon, but that's probably just because people stay the hell away from Komodo island) They seem to be a fair bit more active than your typical content zoo reptile as well.