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We all know what wolves and coyotes look like, and nearly everyone is familiar with bears, deer and turtles; what about some less familiar animals such as capybara, kiwi, or tapirs? There are so many lesser known animals on this planet that we hear little or nothing about most times, it is interesting to investigate a few of these creatures and understand them a little more.

Unusual Wild Animals and Birds
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We are all familiar with dolphins, whales and sharks; we know what tuna and snapper look like, but what about some less familiar fish such as lizardfish, giant squid, or blind eels? There are so many lesser known animals in the depths of the ocean that we hear little or nothing about most times, it is interesting to investigate a few of these creatures and understand them a little more.

Unusual Deep Sea Creatures
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While a zoo definitely has it's place in animal watching, it doesn't compare to seeing animals in their own natural habitat. After a recent visit to Yellowstone National Park, this felt especially true for me. A traffic jam caused by young buffalo calves and their mothers crossing the road is an experience not to be missed. It made me wonder about other places that would be conducive to viewing wildlife in a natural setting. From my research I have come up with a list of some of the best places to visit if viewing animals in nature is your objective.

Fun Places in Nature to See Wildlife
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View wonderful videos of wild animals in their habitats. New animal videos are added frequently. Check back to see what animals are featured each week. Or grab the video feed.[1285]

Early May on Kodiak Island. Fog drowns the lush forest in mystery. Spattered across a black earthen floor, slushy snow melts in shadowy rings. From a wooded den, a shaggy brown head appears. Unbelievable in size, the creature emerges slowly. Ursus arctos middendorffi, Alaska�??s Kodiak Bear, awakes from her long winter�??s nap. She's not alone. Snuggled close to her massive front paws sit two cubs, the size of stuffed Teddy bears. Together they weigh only twenty pounds, and are hardly noticeable in comparison to their 500 pound mother. Though large, the sow is lean, for she has lost 30% of her body weight over the winter. Giving birth, nursing, and caring for her young has taken its toll, and now is the season for eating. One at a time, she carries her cubs in her jaw out of the den and sets them rolling on the forest floor.

The Kodiak Bear[1284]

One look at herd of Musk Oxen, and you wonder if you�??ve traveled back in time to the Pleistocene, the age of Saber-toothed Tigers and Woolly Mammoths. Reportedly, these venerable beasts have existed since the last ice age, 600,000 years ago. With their distinctive curved horns and shaggy long hair, this �??Bison of the Tundra�?� roams the arctic river valleys of North America, Greenland, and the northern countries of Europe, grazing on grass, reeds, and sedges, using its cloven feet to dig beneath the snow to reach lichen and nutritious ground plants when necessary.

Musk Oxen[1283]

The sun hangs leaden in the sky over the frozen tundra of the high arctic. Flat expanses of land are dotted with low-growing shrubs dusted with frost. From the south a herd of musk oxen loiter along, digging away the icy surface of the ground to reach nutritious lichen and ground plants, oblivious as eight stealthy white figures move in around them. As the wolves get closer, the herd snaps into action, forming into two rings, with younger calves in the middle protected by the adults facing outward. The circle would be impossible for one wolf to penetrate, so the pack must work as a team. Back and forth race the wolves, snapping at the legs of creatures five times their weight.

Arctic Wolves[1282]

It is August on the coast of Iceland, and the air is filled with the deep garbled growls of hundreds of puffins. The social birds have come to shore for the short breeding season, and the rocky banks are dotted with their squat, football-shaped bodies. From the ocean bursts a shiny five-year-old male carrying a dozen small herring in his beak. Flapping his wings mightily, he rises from the waves to the rocky cliffs where a hungry chick waits silently in a burrow hidden in the rocks. The puffin circles the sky above the burrow several times, looking out for herring gulls, which sometimes wait ashore to steal a puffin�??s catch.

Puffins, The Parrots of the Sea[1281]

While lumbering herds of elephants and stalking Bengal tigers capture the imagination of most animal lovers, we often neglect the nature closest to us. Sometimes we need a reminder that we are part of a habitat, and that the miracle of life exists under our very noses. Educator and naturalist Carolyn Duckworth has said, �??If you want to understand and become connected to your environment, keeping a field journal is one of the fastest ways to accomplish this goal.�?�

How to Observe Wildlife without Leaving Home[1280]

What has the beak of a bird, the spines of a hedgehog, the gait of a reptile, the pouch of a marsupial, and the lifespan of an elephant? If you answered an echidna, you are correct! Echidnas may not be the most famous creatures on this planet, but fossils dating back to 100 million years ago prove that they�??ve been around a long time. Elusive and enigmatic, these �??spiny anteaters�?� have bewildered scientists and wildlife enthusiasts for centuries.

Echidnas[1279]