I was playing at the International in Bolton, MA and hit my approach in the middle of the green and while I was driving up to the green, a fox ran out of the woods and took my ball and ran away. It dropped it before running back into the woods but it was cool to see!

Great post Josh. After 24 years at the same course, the animal encounters are many. I usually get to my office around 4:30am. I'm out checking out the course as soon as I can see. Every kind of animal that lives in or around the South Jersey Shore seems to live at my course. It's still one of my favorite parts of the job.
Play Well,
Steve S.

Many years ago at Oxford Greens in Connecticut (which I know you are familiar with Josh), I was teeing off on the 10th hole in a tournament. Thankfully I was in a foursome, so there were two carts of humans. Out of the trees, just a few yards ahead of the ladies tee and maybe 30 yards from us, a large black bear stepped out and walked right in front of us. He stopped about halfway across, then turned and stared at us. Almost as if he was calculating in his head whether or not he could take all four of us. We froze (but took pictures). He stood and stared for 10 or 15 seconds, then continued on to the other side off the tees and into the woods. Pheeww.

Speaking of your turkeys in MA, Oxford Greens had a turkey problem, coincidentally further on down that same 10th hole and onto the 11th as well. Worse than geese. There were tons of them and were aggressive at times. Many were hit with golf balls over the years I was there. Don't know if they are still a problem there, but I do remember a couple of red foxes who also hung out in that general location as well as a bunch of coyotes too. Between the two canines, they may have fixed the turkey problem since then. I'm in Maryland now, so couldn't say for sure.

Wow! I’ve seen gators on the course and a couple drunk college kids who acted like bears, but never a real bear!

I had a golden retriever steal my golf ball before. It was one of those rare straight and far fairway shots too.

Lots of rabbits, but having a deer surprise us on one hole up in Maine a couple weeks ago was a nice treat.

Of course searching for balls I've sent into the woods as often as I do makes it a little easier to spot wildlife.

Seems like theres a lot of animal encounters in the North East!

See if this one works.

Barefoot in Myrtle? I've seen Gators, Fox squirrels and lots of assorted water fowl and eagles but never a bear! Which course?

Yes, Barefoot in Myrtle, either the Fazio or Dye course. Starter said you may see a bear on the first or second hole. We also had the option of waiting as there was frost on the ground, but when you gotta get two rounds in, you go out and play, especially in November. It was pretty cool, but the bear went through the sand trap and didn’t bother to rake it, lol.

A number of years ago, I was playing at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in Ireland. About 2 fairways over I saw a herd of elk. They were running around the course and ran over to my part of it. There were about 10-15 of them and they were HUGE! The elk came within 40 yards from me and then took and immediate 90 degree turn. Talk about tearing up a fairway with their hoofs! It was remarkable site to witness.

Recently I was playing a local course and hit a wedge shot just left of the green near some bushes. As I was about to go look for the ball a coyote walked out of the bushes where my ball would have been. He just looked at my partner and I for a moment and then went back in. Two holes later we notice he was following us for a bit before finally disappearing.

Now one of the funniest moments was when I lived in Virginia Beach Virginia playing a round with my dad near the beach. We were one the 17 tee box when I sliced my ball to the trees along the fairway to the right. We heard a very loud bang as the ball hit a tree. Next thing we know, 3 deer coming running out of the trees and start heading across the fairway and in the direction of the 18th green. We then heard a couple of gentleman scream something like look out. It was not until we finished playing and entered the club house for a cold one that we found out what caused the scream. Evidently, one of the deer had run up on the 18th green while one of the guys was in the processing of putting. The deer literally ran him over during his stroke. Can't make this stuff up.

This course is on foothills of the mountain so we get to see many visitors mentioned some notable ones are the baby bear up a tree on first hole, 150 mark, a bobcat along side of the course, and a rattlesnake in the middle of a par three, #8

Back in the mid eighties I thought I would get a few holes in after work. The eighth hole was a par 4 over a ravine, and you couldn’t see the green. Got to my drive and saw something sitting next to the green. My thought it may have been a fox, but wasn’t sure. Hit my second shot then drove down towards the green. the entire time I’m watching to see what animal was watching me. As I approached, it decided to take off into the woods and that’s when I realized what it was. It was a monkey that escaped from the Pittsburgh Zoo! His name was Alphie, and was eventually caught in Ohio I believe. I’ve told this story several times to friends, and they all had the same reaction, that I had too much to drink. LOL.

I would not thought of beautiful white swans as intimidating but up close they can get loud and fussy. And they are big birds! I was very nervous over my tee ball as the swans were swimming just behind me planning their attack. I got out of there quickly.

I worked a couple summers as a greens keeper. I was doing course set-up moving tee markers and cutting new pins around 5 am.At that hour it isn't light yet so I wore a head lamp to scope out where to cut the new pin.As I was driving up to the first green, I saw three sets of yellow eyes staring at me.Three coyotes sitting around the edge of the first green! I generally do the holes in rotation, but that day I wisely skipped the first hole and came back to it later.A little unnerving to say the least.

At the local muni where I have played for many years we are blessed to have a family of foxes that give us a new generation each spring. The beginning started about ten years ago and Foxy Lady as she was referred to died about two years ago and she left us another female to carry on the tradition. The locals care for these little beauties and sometimes are a little too docile. Lots of other beautiful birds that make it a wonderful day in the low country, even on lost blue goose that joined our Canadian geese that just will not go away. Guess that geese fly here every year because it is just too far to walk.......

There is a picture of the matriarch in the 19th hole of Foxy Lady in memory. Everyone loved her and looked forward to seeing her when we played.

I've had the deer, and fox, geese, and herons on the courses up here in the Northeast. We have full squadrons of hawks flying overhead all the time, (haven't see a squirrel in quite a while). I'm a first class chicken too. Ask me to chase a bad guy with a gun down an alley, OK, but not any "prehistoric" type wildlife, especially gators and reptiles. There's a reason they're still here after a million years.

My buddy hit his drive off the fairway into the crap aside and said he couldn't search for it as it was in poison ivy. I volunteered since I don't catch it. 2 feet in, something slithered along the ground (no doubt only a little garter snake), and I went 3 feet off the ground, and out. We've had the "raccoon squirrels come in the cart and steal our crackers and cookies down in Myrtle and Hilton Head, And I also saw a bear on Barefoot in Myrtle. The starter was explaining to us about there being a couple out on the back of the course but they " .......wouldn't bother you, they're kinda friendly". when he came walking across the 1st fairway. Never known any black bears to be "friendly".

I had an alligator walk across our fairway at The Ocean Course this weekend. Seen Coyotes and snakes in Scottsdale, bear playing in Colorado and a Moose at Banff Springs Golf Course in Canada. It's always cool from a distance, not as fun up close!

There are lots of alligators on hole number 10 at the Ocean Course. Not unusual to see a big buck running across the fairway. That is a paradise on Kiawah Island. The most beautiful creatures on the island are the piebald deer. Saw one in the late afternoon in the spring when I was there doing an event for FJ, but according to the pros, they are rather common. In the early mornings and evenings you should drive very slow because deer are everywhere on the island.
Feeding time. This picture is not the actual deer, just a picture to show the beauty of this wonderful creature.

That's awesome, I wasn't fortunate enough to see one of those!

We have lots of wildlife here in Michigan. I've had tom's strutting in the middle of the fairway, deer, bald eagles and hawks. I'm glad I haven't ran into any bears yet...

It was great timing on the post. I was out last Friday and had a doe, 3 fawns and a small buck run down the cart path right in front of us. I don't know who was more surprised - us or the deer.

Like Andrew K in MI, we have the same selection of wildlife here in WI that they have across the pond. I'd add the mink who live along the water at our place.

My most interesting encounter was in Mexico on vacation. I forget the creatures name, but it's a long tailed relative of our raccoon. We're teeing off and this cheeky bugger climbs into our cart going after our box lunches. Wasn't afraid of us at all. Had to prod it off the cart with my club and even with us getting in to drive away it was still trying to get the food.

Where I am Canadian Geese are considered golf course pests, but there's not much to be done. Scare them off and they just keep coming back.

At the club I used to work at there was a fox that lived in the woods next to the range, he wouldn't let me get too close but he'd come out and help supervise when I picked the range.

One time they also drained our lake to do some dredging, lots of seagulls showed up as well as a few bald eagles, which are a rare site around here.

I’ve came across loads of deer, hairs, rabbits, red and grey squirrels, ducks, pheasants, cats, dogs and a few sheep out on my golfing adventures over the years.

Although I previously posted an animal encounter story, here's a good one concerning a pretty good sized alligator.When my oldest con graduated from college my wife and I picked him up in D.C. and headed to stay with relatives in Swansboro NC. We were playing North Shore Country Club in Sneads Ferry NC. The ninth hole is a par 4 dogleg left with water on the left. My son overcooked a draw,and it landed near the waters edge. I'm driving the cart.As we get closer there's a good size gator sunning himself along the bank of the pond,as gators tend to do.We pull up to my drive in the middle of the fairway. I look over and my son has an iron in his hand and is walking towards the gator, and his ball! I call over to him and ask what are you doing,there's an alligator right there!. He comes back and says"Dad that gator isn't real, it hasn't moved in 5 minutes". Again, he heads toward the gator and his ball, about 40-50 feet away. I let him get a little closer then I take an old ball out of my bag and throw it in the gators direction, just missing him.The gator dove back in the pond, and my kid ran back to the cart at full speed.I couldn't stop laughing! Thinking back I still get a chuckle at the memory.I'm really glad he didn't major in zoology....that would have been a colossal waste of money!