Which animal would you pick as the national animal of the eagle of buffalo weren't an option?

[-]

OutrageousQuantity12@reddit

I would pick the bison. There are no natural wild buffalo in America.

[-]

I think that depends on how you define wild. If your definition is that they are not out roaming the plains in an unmanaged way I would agree. But there are buffalo that exist in a wild habitat. Yellowstone, Wind Caves, Badlands are all National Parks that have herds. I'm currently in Custer South Dakota and Custer State Park has a herd that's managed to about 1500. But they are out in the park in the wild. And every year a few considerably stupid people find out just how wild they really are.

Side note if any of you have never seen these herds you should make it a point to do so. The American Bison is really quite a majestic beast.

[-]

Vachic09@reddit

Eastern Diamondback

[-]

skynet345@reddit

Is no one gonna say the Grizzly Bear?

[-]

FilthyMindz69@reddit

Isn’t that russias?

[-]

MM_in_MN@reddit

Jackalope
I mean, if England can have dragons and unicorns, we can have a made up animal too.

[-]

jane2857@reddit

I like Wyle E Coyote then. Apparently they’re all over the country. They’ve even been seen in ‘Miami.

[-]

Bright_Ices@reddit

England doesn’t have the unicorn. Scotland has the unicorn

[-]

formykka@reddit

Dragons are Wales as well. England is the lion.

[-]

PashasMom@reddit

Bigfoot!

[-]

Decade1771@reddit

Hrm.... Why yes!

[-]

Clancepance22@reddit

Ben Franklin's choice was the stoic and hearty turkey. I suppose that

[-]

Mr_Kittlesworth@reddit

Wild turkeys are bigger and meaner birds than you think.

[-]

Mr_Noms@reddit

He was being sarcastic because he didn’t like the bald eagle being the national anthem and was comparing it to a turkey.

[-]

Beruthiel999@reddit

I frankly prefer the turkey VULTURE. A majestic soaring bird with a six-foot wingspan, close to the size of a bald eagle. Intelligent and social birds. Vultures are the cleanup crew of the world - if they didn't eat rotting dead things with their incredible ability to digest bacteria that would kill other creatures in a heartbeat, disease would be so widespread. Scavengers don't get enough credit. They rarely kill because they don't ever have to - there is so much death in the wild already.

They live in almost every state too. Common as crows in the southeast and west, migratory in the north.

[-]

_WillCAD_@reddit

There are scary large flocks of turkey vultures in my part of Maryland. A few years ago I looked out the back window of my office building, and the trees were full of them; must have been close to a hundred of them roosting in a copse of trees the size of a baseball infield, and they were there for a couple of weeks. I figured there must be a dead deer or two in those trees, or maybe there was just a lot of road kill in the area.

[-]

Clancepance22@reddit

One time I was walking by a river near my house and there had to at least a few dozen up in the trees. It was cool to see. That must have been wild to see near 100

[-]

FunTricky903@reddit

No, it wasn’t.

[-]

czarrie@reddit

He did not suggest it officially but did indicate in a private letter that its character was much more fitting than the bald eagle. I would still consider that an endorsement, albeit tongue in cheek.

https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/benjamin-franklin/national-bird

[-]

FunTricky903@reddit

The story about Benjamin Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a myth.

Glad we got there.

[-]

Decade1771@reddit

Came here to...

[-]

FondleGanoosh438@reddit

I agree heatedly. It’s a symbol of thanksgiving and working together.

[-]

privatefries@reddit

Beaver, I just think they're neat

[-]

DaSloBlade@reddit

Labrador

[-]

LFS_1984@reddit

Coyote. It is fairly unique to the U.S.

[-]

Seven22am@reddit

Moose or Elk. Would give the lodges a good boost too!

[-]

Eyore-struley@reddit

Beaver. It’s obvious.

[-]

kibbeuneom@reddit

Rattle snake, like on the Gadsden flag

[-]

Ponklemoose@reddit

I was going to say porcupine for the same don't mess with me vibe, but the snake is more attractive and messing with them tends to end worse.

[-]

purplepeopleeater333@reddit

Skunks or Racoons

[-]

ShoddyJuggernaut975@reddit

Canada Goose? Of course it'd have a different name. Damn things are everywhere, invade any tiny area with something they like (water), are annoyingly loud, get hissy with you for no reason, shit everywhere they go, think they're important... should I go on? Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I am in fact American.

[-]

gucknbuck@reddit

No Moose fans?

[-]

PaperboysDitty98@reddit

Trash Panda

[-]

HxH101kite@reddit

Canada specifically Montreal claims this dude as it's mascot. That and the squirrel with the burglar mask.

[-]

GSilky@reddit

The Europeans were quite taken with them on arrival.

[-]

cikanman@reddit

Black bears.

They exist everywhere. Super resilient, super adaptable, not as cuddly as they look.

[-]

Cant-think-of-a-nam@reddit

Turkey vulture

[-]

smurfe@reddit

Groundhog.

[-]

cikanman@reddit

Cougars. And i mean the cats, not the ones hanging out in NYC bars attempting to prey on young men.

[-]

Reliable_Narrator_@reddit

Grizzly Bear

[-]

Icy-Blacksmith-313@reddit

Crow.

If crows are unwilling, then I suppose Pigeons.

[-]

formykka@reddit

Polydactyl black or tuxedo cat. Traditionally considered lucky, widespread in New England due to them being preferred as ship cats, and it would be cool.

[-]

Actually10000Bees@reddit

My vote either goes to raccoons or opossums.

[-]

paintedsaint@reddit

Pronghorn antelopes are distinctly American. They're also the second-fastest land animal on earth.

Fun fact: they evolved their speed to outrun ancient cheetah-like big cats that have been extinct for thousands of years — so they're running from something that no longer exists.

[-]

GeneralBlumpkin@reddit

They're everywhere up in the mountains of Arizona. I was out hiking once and a herd of elk ran by me and then 2 minutes later a herd of pronghorn ran by me too. They were insanely fast and graceful

[-]

dwhite21787@reddit

Damn. May as well change the national anthem to Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty”

[-]

Prestigious-Toe9381@reddit

Give me the alligator, but I’d be okay with a bat.

[-]

False-Decision630@reddit

The house finch. Because they shit their own nest.

[-]

ThePoWhiteTrash@reddit

Turkey, obviously. It was actually in the running, but the bald eagle beat it out, which is a damn shame. The Canadians had the courage and common sense to pick Canadian Geese as their bird. We should have picked something just as synonymous with America.

[-]

FLOHTX@reddit

Why is the bald eagle not synonymous with the US? Yeah they're in Canada but Canadian Geese are all over the northern US too.

[-]

ThePoWhiteTrash@reddit

Half the world has an eagle as their bird. The biggest American holiday is colloquially (and affectionately) called Turkey Day.

I’m not saying the bald eagle isn’t American. I am saying the turkey is more American.

[-]

FunTricky903@reddit

What makes it more American?

[-]

Rj924@reddit

"The biggest American holiday is colloquially (and affectionately) called Turkey Day."

[-]

FunTricky903@reddit

So?

[-]

FLOHTX@reddit

But they dont have a bald eagle as their bird.

[-]

altarwisebyowllight@reddit

Cobra chickens make it all the way down to Mexico. They are North America's birb.

[-]

tetlee@reddit

I think the ones with the real chutzpah is Scotland choosing a unicorn

[-]

ThePoWhiteTrash@reddit

How you think the first Scot who saw a rhino reacted?

My guess: “They are real… and they’re dummy thicc…”

[-]