Animals inferfering

[NickRose2006]

Last night I went out to catch some images of the Rosette Nebula but had some issues. First I had trouble trying to find a bright star for my guide scope. A lot of time was wasted on going back and forth from the Illuminated eyepiece and adjustment screws. Got 1x10min and 1x5min image before I had to flip the telescope. Well by that time the moon was showing its self and some high level clouds were gathering.

Now I'm getting to the Animal part. Through out the night I was hearing movement in my neighbors backyard, which I knew was either a cat or raccoon. Well right after I did the telescope flip and my eyes were at the eyepiece I herd something run behind me on the Roof which is maybe 10ft from the ground and about 15ft from me. It was a raccoon, so I decided to back off and go towards the porch. After several min of it staring me down it left but then another raccoon decided to visit me. Well by this time I was done with stargazing and decided to roll the telescope back into the garage.

So what have all of you encountered of animals? I know some of you live in bear or mountain lion country.

[kookoo_gr]

as i image at a field near my house at various nights i have encoutered cats, dogs and hedgehogs. they all were happy disctractions but the most dangerous at my opinion are dogs as they can easily knock your equipment off and drag wires as they are curious and want to smell everything

[kev]

As i was mentioning in anther thread, one of our cats just loves star gazing, which is quite nice, hes always there and can sense anything around way before me (and checks it out), but hes also a nusance - purr purr around my legs and the tripod legs. Makes wind vibration look minor. Still its nice to have a companion like that, overall I feel safer.

Worst case I had... snake in the observatory at 2am. You never seen me move so fast. Oh and hedgehogs in autum can be earie.... rustle rustle rustle

[jon273]

My main stargazing issues are called Harry and Molly; our two cats.

Combined with next door's PIR security light, they cause no end of problems.

Also, I know it's only a matter of time before I come home and find one of them asleep on the top of my 10" Dob.

[Hypernova]

I usually get one or more of my cats coming up to me whilst observing and then go and sit in the dob's rocker box base when I am at the eyepiece. Every so often they'll nudge the tube a bit when getting out which can be an annoyance.

[JamesF]

Hedgehogs can be surprisingly noisy though I've not seen one for some time.

Around here the most common night prowlers seem to be foxes and the occasional badger. I've scared a badger a couple of times whilst out in the dark. The foxes seem to keep their distance, but make a fair bit of noise.

James

[derherr65]

Armadillo, coyote, dogs, birds, and lots of rabbits.

[carastro]

So there's something to be said for living in the UK then, (i.e. nothing that might come and bite you in the night).

[BenM]

Well, let's just say I can't leave the scope unsupervised in the backyard on a "pier" mount to cool down while I wait inside.

[keef_uk]

the worse I get is next doors cat wandering around setting security lights off. I also get the odd hedgehog, which might I add are not doing their job and ridding the place of slugs.

[JamesM]

Trying to keep quiet in your garden during the early hours of the morning is farily straight forward if you ignore the noise created by local foxes (...I have no idea what they're doing) or the large population of cats that seem intent on climbing into our garden pulling half the trellis with them let alone knocking over the pots in the process.

However this 'normal' racket is nothing compared to what happened on one particular night when a very friendly cat ('George'...don't ask) decided to walk across our conservatory roof which unknown to him, was covered in a proper frost. The next thing I heard as I was packing everything away was this very quiet but lengthy whoooooosh noise (this roof is over 4m long) and I had no idea at the time what this noise was or where it was coming from until I witnessed the sudden appearance of a cat's backside now desperately dangling over the edge with its legs going like the clappers trying to get purchase on the guttering and making a huge racket in the process. Without shame or embarrassment, I was forced to 'lend a hand' to its predicament and ever so slightly help lift it on to a more solid adjacent roof structure upon which, George just carried on his merry way as if nothing had happened - i don't know who was more embarrassed.

James

[Nexus 6]

Hedgehogs can be surprisingly noisy though I've not seen one for some time.

had a few visits myself from a few Hedgehogs, one seemed to be taking a fair bit of interest in the scope when the motors were running. Not quite in the same league as a raccoon!

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm more concerned about humans (still a species of animal) then i am of any of our furry friends.

It really IS amazing though just how much noise those little hedgehogs make at night. Im also amazed at just how they get into my garden from the surrounding areas. I'm pretty sure they dont/cant climb walls or trees. So how the hell do they get into my garden?

I have seen a few in my garden and i always open the gate so that they can wander out and get to where they want.

Foxes dont come near me. Cats think it is funny to freak me out at 3-4 AM by staring at me from the trees when all i see is their eyes.

I've seen a couple of bats (amazing creatures), and i also found a toad in my garden one night. It was HUGE.

[martin_h]

I have a fox under my observatory, I don't know who scares who the most. I went in there the other night and there was an almighty thud as it shot out from under, I think it cracked its head on the joists. Other times tho when it screams and yelps its a change of underware time for me.

[LoopyLunar]

Cats dig Space I would love a cat to be with me whilst I stargaze... would be a great comfort - but I am from England

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have a fox under my observatory, I don't know who scares who the most. I went in there the other night and there was an almighty thud as it shot out from under, I think it cracked its head on the joists. Other times tho when it screams and yelps its a change of underware time for me.

I dont think i'd be comfortable with a fox den so close to me. For me they are simply night time visitors who move along very quickly.

Would you not call out the local RSPCA to catch them and relocate them?

It would be best for you and the fox.

If that fox is a Vixen with pups...............she will attack you during the breeding season (spring) to protect her pups.

[Ewok]

I'm more afraid of the local two legged animals. I don't live in a very nice area and my back garden ( 20 SQ. feet of concrete ) is exposed to all passers by. Put it this way if it aint bolted down it's gone ! Cant use my back yard for observing at all, I drive to nice quiet places to escape and feel safe.

By the way I live in a wonderful part of Bradford.

[martin_h]

I dont think i'd be comfortable with a fox den so close to me. For me they are simply night time visitors who move along very quickly.

Would you not call out the local RSPCA to catch them and relocate them?

It would be best for you and the fox.

If that fox is a Vixen with pups...............she will attack you during the breeding season (spring) to protect her pups.

They had cubs last year - in some waste ground behind the garden, I think this one just comes in to chill out a bit.

[Talitha]

I actually scared a Cougar about 7 years ago.

It was quite late on a summer night, and the seeing was surprisingly good. Taking advantage of the seeing, i was trying to split a difficult double star using a small 5mm eyepiece. For about 15 minutes, i sat patiently (and apparently a bit too quietly) and waited for a few moments of better seeing, but it never happened, so i gave up.

I removed the small 5mm ep from the SCT's diagonal and with a loud 'clunk!!' replaced it with a large 32mm. About 20' to the west, a sudden snarl/roar/growl exploded and i assumed it was the Badger i'd seen earlier in the day while riding the ATV around my 40 acres.

I stood up, clapped my hands, shouted a few times to scare the 'badger' away, and without a second thought, continued the session until Dawn. Earlier in the night i'd heard a few Rabbits give their death cry but thought the local Fox/Coyote population were finally starting to thin out the population... the thought of a Cougar being on my land never crossed my mind.

"My bad" as the saying goes.

The next day, my friend who was a Dispatcher at the local PD (Police Department) called and told me not to go out to the Starpad. There was a confirmed sighting of a Cougar less than 1000' from my Starpad less than 6 hours from the time i'd been snarled at. Hoo-Boy... i talked to a few of the 'Old Timers' in the area and after hearing my (quite lame) imitation of the sound i heard that night, they all agreed it was a Mama Cougar hunting for her kittens.

Holy wow... i was pretty surprised to know that a Cougar was hunting so close to me, and i never heard a thing. Then one of the Old Timers said somethig a bit haunting but exhillarating... he said "Honey, it's a predatory Cat. You won't hear anything except your neck bones being crunched 1/2 second before you die."

So... if all of a sudden, you don't see my monthly sketching page in Sky at Night magazine...

-gulp-

But this thread is about "animals interfering"...

That's only happened to me once.

It was caused by a Black Bear whose 'huffing' could be heard getting closer and closer for about an hour. I packed up and went home when it got uncomfortably close. It might have been injured or sick, and i wasn't about to stick around to find out. Turns out it was a Yearling that had (sadly) been hit by a truck. Glad i decided to pack up and go home, though.. injured and sick animals can be quite unpredictable.

Oh, and there was also the time when that Skunk got a bit too close for comfort. Sure am glad i only had the 90mm ETX back then. All i needed to do was dive into the back of the truck and pull the scope in behind me.

I swear... the things we endure...

[philj]

A few years ago we holidayed in northern Spain in the countryside and I took my little holiday scope for a bit of observing.

The 1st night out I was a bit nervous about these weird sounds coming from a nearby stream bed. Asked the owner the next day and he said they were just Wild Boar coming to drink in the stream and not to worry as they were probably more scared of me than I of them.

Yeah right:D

Philj

[bish]

Only a low flying bat. It didn't get in the way so was just a bit of company really.

[Nexus 6]

we get quite a lot of Bats here in Barton, I love seeing them, I will be setting up as its starting to darken and they are flying around having some breakfast, a good sign that summers here!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Hedgehogs do scuttle and snort their way through our garden often, and once long ago I nearly had heart failure when (observing from my parents' roof) a huge black shape loomed up noiselessly right beside me. It was a local tawny owl (wing span some 3 feet, I guess). It probably also got a terrible shock, as it narrowly avoided me.

Once, observing in southern France, I was interrupted by a boar. Luckily, this was on a campsite consisting of several terrases, and it was some 3 or 4 feet below me. I just sat and watched it, until someone flushed the toilet at some distance, and it took of with surprising speed.

[The Bat]

I have been startled by, or tripped over, the cat on several occasions. The only other close encounter I had was lying on my grass meteor-watching one night, and a bat flew a couple of inches above my face!

Rachel

[AndyC]

Hedgehogs - very inquistive. A cat that'd jumped up on to the fence and didn't notice me fell off startled when I coughed.

A