if bald eagle wasn’t an option, which America-native animal would represent the state you live in? and what’s your pick for national animal?

44 comments

  1. All the States typically already have a mascot animal, bird, and fish. Some break things down even further and have a mascot reptile separate from general animal, and may even have a small/large animal division, amphibians, etc.

    In Texas the State bird is the Mocking Bird, State Animals are Armadillo (small animal) and Longhorn (large animal), and State Fish is the bass as well as a few other animal categories.

    https://texasproud.com/official-state-animal-of-texas/

    As for a non-bald eagle national animal. I would probably go with American Bison aka the Buffalo.

  2. Bighorn Sheep is our state animal and honestly I like it. It’s so majestic looking yet powerful. National animal if it wasn’t the bald eagle I’d probably choose the American bison.

  3. Pigeon. Preferably one shitting because that’s all they seem to do.

    But our actual state bird is the Eastern Blue Bird.

    We also have state flower, mine is the rose.

    It oughtta be pigeon though let’s be real here.

  4. Each state already has a state animal. And tree and rock and flower etc.

    https://thefactfile.org/state-animal-list/

    One of our Founding Father’s Benjamin Franklin once wrote.

    >”For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. . . . the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.”

    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wild+turky&t=newext&atb=v286-1&iax=images&ia=images

    Not sure I agree

  5. The official state animal of Michigan is the White Tailed Deer, which is extremely appropriate I think. The state bird is the Robin, but I think Mourning Dove is a better pick personally. Then theres the state reptile being the painted turtle, which I think is also quite fitting.

    As for the national animal the Bison is the best pick.

  7. Lots of states have all kinds of official state animals and other things. Some of them are kind of weird and not that serious (for example the state I live in, New Jersey, apparently has an official state microbe: *Streptomyces griseus*)

    Here’s a list of official state symbols: https://www.state.nj.us/nj/about/symbols/

    Generally people will only know the animal or bird and flower without looking it up though as those show up a lot more. More in some states than others. For example I grew up in Virginia and the red cardinal birds and dogwood flowers are on a lot of state government signs etc. like when you drive on the highway the sign at the border often has them on it.

  8. Mythical creatures are okay picks here, right? Because I want sasquatch for the national animal. On the Great Seal, I’d like it to be in the same pose from that famous still in the Patterson-Gimlin film.

    If it has to be real, then a seal, I guess. They cute.

  10. The state animal Michigan is the White Tailed Deer, which definitely makes sense.

    But I would have gone with the Wolverine.

    As for the whole country, I’d have to go with the Grizzly Bear or Timber Wolf

  11. The America-native animal that represents the state I live in (North Carolina) is the [Northern Cardinal.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_cardinal) He’s a busy little guy, he’s the state bird of several states.

    If I had to choose another creature to be an emblem of the United States, I might go with the Golden Eagle or the American Bison. The former is kind of endemic to the entire Northern hemisphere but it would be easy to swap in for the previous eagle in a way I don’t think a buffalo would.

  12. A buzzard eating the asshole out of a roadkill deer.

    (For those who don’t know, if the deer has no open wounds, buzzards start with the asshole and work their way in.)

  13. I don’t think Maryland has a generic state animal, but it does have a few more specific ones like bird (Baltimore Oriole), dog (Chesapeake Bay Retriever) reptile (diamondback Terrapin, also the mascot for the flagship campus of the state university system), and apparently cat (Calico, because it kinda has the same colors as the flag)

  16. The horse as it’s already the official state animal, and is depicted in our state seal. The US national equestrian team is based here, and much of New Jersey is home to some of the top horse breeding ranches in the US.

  19. We have a state animal(the horse) but that is boring so I will go with our state dinosaur as my answer, the Hadrosaurus foulkii.

  20. I just wanna see the opossum on more things. Those ugly little shits don’t get the love they deserve.

  24. Oregon’s state animal is the North American Beaver, and I think it’s a perfect choice. The fur trade is an important piece of American history, plus the effect Beavers (and the subsequent lack thereof after said fur trade) have had on the wildlife in the US is insane

  25. The official state animal in Utah is an elk, state bird is the seagull, and the insect is a bee

  26. Each state already has it’s own bird. But if I had to pick a new national bird then I would pick the turkey, I think Ben Franklin was right, turkeys are cool

  27. pa’s state animal is already the white-tailed deer, which I guess is appropriate bc they are way overpopulated here lol. for national animal though my pick is the opossum. they’re just lil gremlins. lil dudes

  31. Canadian Goose. It represents our scrappy attitude and our open willingness to steal from other nations

  34. People have already answered your question so I’ll offer something unique instead.

    There’s a myth that Benjamin Franklin wanted the U.S national bird to be a turkey. There’s no evidence he wanted this but I like to believe.

  35. Kentucky’s official state animal is the gray squirrel, which I think is pretty cool, but far more beloved is our state bird, the cardinal, and our state symbol, the thoroughbred, which should have been the state animal but was disqualified by not being found in the wild.

  39. Badgers are pretty apt for Wisconsin. They don’t look menacing from afar, but if cornered, they’ll fuck you up.

  40. Vermont already has one.

    Vermont State Animal: The Morgan horse

    Vermont State Bird: Hermit Thrush

  41. I believe the cardinal is the state bird of Ohio (along with at least 2 other states 😒). If the bald eagle weren’t the national animal it would likely be the turkey due to some of the founders having a fondness for the bird.

  42. Our state animal is the bison and our state bird is the western meadowlark.

    I think we should have gone with a national dinosaur instead. Wyoming’s is the triceratops and one of my favorite Dinos.

  43. Minnesota doesn’t have a state animal, believe it or not. But really, it’s our state bird, the loon. The imagery is pervasive, beers and ciders are named after it, and our MLS team MN United is called “the Loons”. We love that lonely bird.

    I like the idea of the Bison as a national animal. Bald Eagle and Turkey are great – somebody mentioned Cardinal and that isn’t so bad. But bison 🦬 is big and represents so much of the middle of America.

  44. Probably the bison. If an eagle is supposed to be majestic and powerful (it’s not), a bison says “try me motherfucker”. They’re dumb and half blind but they’ll flatten you with minimal effort.

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