It has always amused me that the tourists to the US that I’ve spoken to are often very excited to see raccoons, and disappointed if they don’t see them before they leave.

Some others I’ve noticed on the east coast of the US are blue jays and cardinals. Boy, do people get excited about those if they’ve never seen them before! Very pretty birds of course, just very easy to get used to and see as uninteresting as well.

  • FisicoDelirante@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    I’ll answer the opposite way: in South America we have no crows, so it was by far the most fascinating animal I saw while in England.

  • Taleya@aussie.zone
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    5 months ago

    It’s all about the koalas and kangaroos but then they see a cockie or a rosella, hear a possum late at night and shit themselves

  • Underwaterbob@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    None! I live in Korea, and the local wildlife was long ago mostly displaced or eaten by the seething mass of humanity. Once upon a time, there were some cool bears and tigers even. There are some nice, big herons still around I suppose. Oh, some tiny deer, too.

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    People are excited to see raccoons. If you’ve ever had to make major repairs to your property, this makes no sense to you.

    People somehow don’t even think about hummingbirds. We get ruby throated hummingbirds through here, and they’re fascinating. Never had a visitor even mention them.

    • HonkyTonkWoman@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I live in an area with grey/brown squirrels. When I went to Ohio for the first time, I was far more excited about seeing a black squirrel than I should have been.

  • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Not a tourist, but a girlfriend that grew up in Long Beach, and moved to the East Coast, stopped me dead on the street one day, and asked, “what in the world is THAT‽‽‽” I looked where she was looking and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, said, “what is what?”

    “The furry thing with the tail!”

    “You mean the squirrel?”

    “That’s what they look like in real life‽‽‽”

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Moose. We get European summer students and seeing one is the highlight of their animal watching when they’re here, apparently.

    Personally, I’m more impressed with elk, a bull elk with a full rack is pretty awesome.

  • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
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    5 months ago

    I’m not Japanese but have been living here most of a decade. As no one mentioned anything from that side yet, the Nara Deer are probably the most famous followed by the hotspring monkeys. Tanuki are also something people might want to see, off the top of my head.

    My wife was super surprised by all the squirrels in the US and loved taking pictures and videos. She suddenly realized we kept seeing more of them as we walked and, yep, they’re everywhere.

    She was also super surprised that people just had cattle and horses when we’d be driving where my US family lived (countryside).

    • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Went to Japan a few months ago. Deer and monkeys, yep.

      What blew me away is how it was done - literally living side by side with the animals. Walking next to a deer or being a foot away from the monkey gave me amazing respect for Japan.

      Where in the states, we either keep them in cages or fenced off, or we treat them like a nuance and if they come too close, respond with hostility (including the American Deer).

      • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
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        5 months ago

        That’s really not normal here. The deer in Nara have special protections and are super accustomed to humans. They actually were menacing the residents of the area when tourists dried up. The monkeys can be real dicks and aggressive in general. Farmers are always trying to run both off. It’s basically the same as the US except I can’t just kill dear that come on to my property and eat my crops.

          • tiredofsametab@kbin.run
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            5 months ago

            If they want to pay my property taxes and feed me, then we can argue that. At the moment, it’s my land (~8000 sqm) on which I pay taxes and on which I grow my own food. However, it’s all a moot point because, at least as of now, I’ve not seen deer on my actual property; it was just meant to contrast how things work in two countries with which I am familiar.

            The actual problem around here is wild boar which are not ancestrally doing anything in my neck of the woods but have migrated north due to human-caused climate change.

  • Ragdoll X@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Capybaras are pretty common in the area where I live, and really throughout most of Brazil. Don’t get me wrong, we still think they’re pretty cute, but I’ve seen some Americans get really excited about them.

    Oh, and the maned wolf. To be fair, I think they’re pretty neat too.

    • randomsnark@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Are capybaras as chill as their reputation suggests, or is that more a feature of cases that are used to captivity? If the memes/images/videos are to be believed, I’d expect to be able to just wander up to one in the wild and have it respond like a well-socialized pet dog.

      • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        I’ve hung out with capybaras and can fully verify that they’re chill as fuck. They’re more skittish than a quokka, but as long as you’re chill, the capybara is!

        • Philote@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          Quokkas win as far as cutest and chillest animals to bless this planet. Quokkas should be everyone’s spirit animal.

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        5 months ago

        I’ve only ever heard of one incident with a capybara, when it killed my SO’s therapist’s dog, but it was supposedly protecting it’s cubs, so I would say as chill as a mammal can be

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      5 months ago

      I would be SO EXCITED to see a wild capybara.

      That maned wolf is really cool! I thought they were extinct but I must have them mixed up with some other canine creature. Something with stripes?

      It looks like a long-legged megafox.

  • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    It’s wild to me that there are wild macaws in northern South America. Granted I haven’t seen them in person, but even videos of them look so weird, like a hundred people let their pets out on accident.

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      common animals

      Royalty


      “And here on your left you will see a prime example of the common European prince. No longer afforded a natural habitat, the nation of Britain has built special reserves for these princelings and other royalty, called palaces. On certain days you can observe royals being transported in specially equipped vehicles from one palace to another to encourage mating.”

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      My ex’s family were pissed when I didn’t take her to see Buckingham Palace. There is NOTHING there to see. They make it as boring a possible on purpose. It’s on a fucking roundabout for cry sake, you’d see more driving past.

  • andersvl@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Swans. It’s a wonder to me that such an arrogant bird ever became the national pride of Denmark. But tourists freak out about them, thanks to H.C. Andersen.