Wildest animal you've been confronted with?

[PickyEars81]

I had a bear sniff me through my tent one night. He ate some of my food, managed to open some pepsis, and then took a giant ****.

I've also come pretty close to some mountain lions, and I nearly stepped on a huge rattlesnake the other day.

Encountered a red fox not too long ago.

 

[SA-708]

Back when I worked in Yellowstone National Park, a ranger told me that the most dangerous animal in the wild was a mother.

Had an encounter with an elk and her calf that summer, and would have to agree.

 

[P. Shivers]

Got attacked by a cougar in an elevator. That was an experience.

:lmao:

My wild animal encounter was years ago. We came upon a mother black bear and two cubs swimming, while on a canoe trip in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. We stopped fast, and let them swim by, not wanting to get between momma and her babies.

 

[Texun1]

Back when I worked in Yellowstone National Park, a ranger told me that the most dangerous animal in the wild was a mother.

I had one tell me the most dangerous in the park were the people driving the rental RV's.

 

[tomrich22]

Saw this guy attacking a rabbit in our back yard (photo blurred in my haste to grab the camera). He was the biggest fox I've ever seen.

Saw one of those guys in my back field when I was mowing it.....my luck he was chasing a rabbit also....and did not even notice me.

 

[jetblack]

I've had a few, and most of them while I lived in CA.

I had a couple of black bears cross the road in front of me when I was riding my MC. The bears were not inclined to be sociable, and neither was I, so we went along our merry way w/o incident.

I had a squirrel fall/climb down my chimney (covered in soot). Fortunately, I had a folding glass plate in front of the chimney, and it was closed. When I realized the situation, I opened the front door, opened the glass plate, and stood on the opposite side of the living room from the door. I was hoping that he would be attracted to the sunlight and trees, and not want to have anything to do with me. He chose the sunlight and trees. If he had picked the other option, I would have had soot all over the inside of my cabin.

Had some visiting raccoons. Had one that was on a portion of my roof with a shallow grade. I started throwing peanuts at him. It was funny watching him chase after the peanuts, before the peanuts rolled off the roof. He had about a 50% success rate. Fed another raccoon a steak bone. When I saw his nasty teeth knawing on the bone, I realized that if I keep feeding them, nothing good will come from this endeavour.

I was walking my neighbor's dog, and she ran down the slope, out of sight. I heard her barking, but it didn't sound like barking. I had never heard this sound from her before. It sounded like she was half happy, and half confused, so I walked over and looked down the embankment. I saw the dog and a coyote. From appearances, the dog wanted to play, and the coyote wanted dinner. It was a good thing that there wasn't a pack of coyotes...............

 

[similost]

The wildest one I came up on I didn't even see, and really never did..

Going out squirrel hunting one morning. It was still dark out, and just wanted to get there before sun up to watch the sun, spend some time in the woods, and wait for the squirrel to wake up..

I was walking along the edge of the woods in a filed looking for the spot I always walked in... it was really dark out, so I was having a hard time finding it...

Then suddenly just a couple feet from me I hear all this loud rustling, then all of a sudden a couple of shorts, and a couple stomps.. and I could feel the ground shaking...

I knew I was face to face with a deer, I'm guessing maybe 4 feet from me at most, but I couldn't see him. I was just way too dark.. .then suddenly I saw just a slight glint off his eye.. that's all I ever saw..

So I start to back up, and he starts snorting and stomping again... Now all I am picturing is atlers going through me.. .THANKFULLY I had my shotgun loaded, but it was only bird shot.. #8... so I knew I was screwed. That would just bounce off his skull..

So I figure WTF, I'm gonna take a shot over his head.. .so I start to raise my shotgun up real slow, and the damn thing didn't like that.. started snorting and stomping again... so I went for broke raised it really fast and let one off... THANK GOD he took off the other way...

I sat down against the tree right there and caught my breath... After the sun had come up enough for me to see, I took a look around the spot to see if I could see any hoof prints and found a bunch.. and man were they big... I'm so happy that guy didn't decide to charge me, but that was about the longest one minute or so I've ever stood frozen hoping something would go away..


And other than that.. I'm gonna say my bird.. That thing has taken more chunks outta me than I can count... but I have shot a couple rattle snakes, and killed a few copper heads in my time too... and yes I do eat rattlesnake..

Oh, yeah and as noted, the two legged kind have been my biggest fear. I didn't used to run around with the best people in the world, and have been in more than my share of bad situations... and I'm pretty lucky I'm still around.... More than a couple occasions I thought I wasn't going to see tomorrow... But ya know what's funny? I never felt the fear like I did facing down that deer... I guess maybe my attitude about life had changed since those old times of being young and stupid.

 

[cgutz]

Two of them:

Angry badger in Wisconsin, I was walking through my neighbor's hayfield and stumbled upon it. Fortunately it didn't chase me as I turned and fled.

5 foot rattlesnake in a patch of grass while hiking in Badlands of South Dakota. My buddy was alongside the grass and I was two steps away from stepping into the grass, when his presence caused it to rattle. I was literally 2 steps from real trouble.

 

[spaceman]

I guess I've actually been face-to-face with a lot of different critters, through life, mostly not very dangerous. The two most unpleasant were both snakes, those things give me the willies. :thumbsdn: The one that scared me the most, or at least surprised me the most, was just a year or 2 ago, outside my back door. I went out on the back deck for a smoke, at night, & came about 2 feet away from a big ole possum, who was obviously trying to get into the holly tree next to the deck. I think I scared him about as bad as he scared me, cause we both just stood there lookin' at eachother, for a good half a minute or more, though it FELT more like 10 minutes. Those things are a lot uglier & meaner-looking than they seem on TV, LOL.

 

[Urizen]

Rabid 'coon. It didn't survive the encounter.

 

[ebacon]

Possums are wicked. Went coon hunting one night with a buddy and his dogs tore up a possum. It was laying on the ground with its gut pile laying in the dirt and still hissing up a storm. It was like witnessing the last great act of defiance.

 

[Sandy G]

Me 'n' Lauriann were blastin' up I-95 to Bangor to see her brother in the Mighty Valdez, a few yrs back. She was drivin', I was about 2/3 asleep, riding shotgun. All at once this Hughmongus, GINORMOUS Bullwinkle J. Moose ambles across the interstate, pretty as you please. I came ALIVE-"Its-its-its a MOOOOSE !! DON'T hit it !" I blurted out. We were far enuff away that hitting it really wasn't an option, anyway, but Lordy, that thing wuz BIG...He was EASILY big enuff to have been able to look DOWN on The Mighty Valdez, & that's an accomplishment. Full rack of antlers, reminded me of a Norad radar array, he prolly could get Radio Nibi-Nibi by just cockin' his head the right way. MAGNIFICENT animal.

 

[Taowolf51]

And other than that.. I'm gonna say my bird.. That thing has taken more chunks outta me than I can count...

Ain't that the truth.

 

[similost]

Ain't that the truth.

Hard to tell, but is that a Grey in your avatar?

Mine's sitting here now dancing to some Alice Cooper, and he's funny as hell, but I was just petting him and he decided he wanted to play too hard and nailed me again.. Guess you can't get between a bird and his tunes..

 

[Sandy G]

Can't you like Flip him on the Beak-GENTLY-to let him know that's NOT Acceptable Behaviour ? I've heard these guys are QUITE smart, after getting rapped back a time or 3, he MIGHT get the message....

 

[rjag46]

wildest

ok, now that,s funny !

 

[rnorton]

I was walking the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass, Texas with a dog and a shotgun. (Oh the stories I won't mention) I stopped walking about 3 feet from a tree just to look around. When I turned left towards the tree I noticed a javelina backed up to the tree, motionless with hair standing up on its back, teeth no more than a foot from my knee. A primitive adrenaline rush must have filled both of us. From the time I noticed the javelina to the time I realized my 12g was pointing directly at his head must have been less than a second. I didn't get bit.

Javelina stink so bad (and that's just on the outside) that you usually can tell if there's one within 50' or so unless the wind is wrong.

Me? Rattlesnakes, brown and black bears, bobcats, bison, a tiger in Viet Nam (don't ever get off of the boat!), kraits, cobras, a moose, an alligator and an amphetamine-crazed Albuquerque cop.

In my young punkhood I once had a job being the 'bad guy' that attack dogs are trained to attack. Lost the job because the dogs liked me.

 

[rnorton]

Possums are wicked. Went coon hunting one night with a buddy and his dogs tore up a possum. It was laying on the ground with its gut pile laying in the dirt and still hissing up a storm. It was like witnessing the last great act of defiance.

Always make sure a raccoon is really, really dead before tossing it into the cab of your pickup. A friend got 70 stitches and crashed his new truck into a tree for breaking THAT rule.

 

[rnorton]

I had one tell me the most dangerous in the park were the people driving the rental RV's.

I saw a mainland Chinese gentleman back a 30' rental into 3 other cars while leaving the Fishing Bridge campground. Didn't stop until they caught up with him an ran him into a ditch.

 

[spaceman]

In my young punkhood I once had a job being the 'bad guy' that attack dogs are trained to attack. Lost the job because the dogs liked me.

Ha, that sounds weird enough to be true. I'm like that too, animals like me a lot more than they do most people. Even so-called mean dogs. I figure if you're nutty enough, they probably don't see you as a food OR a threat. :scratch2: