Wildest animal you've been confronted with?
- Thread starter cool9
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loopstick
Lunatic Member
Old thread but it comes up quick in a replies sort. When I was a kid I heard a rattler in the weeds but my feets didn't let me stick around for a visual. Got stung by a jellyfish which went through my nerves like a shock and left a bee sting on my back the size of a pancake. A buddy of mine had an uncle who owned a cabin on a small lake just outside the SW corner of Algonquin Provincial Park.
So one day using fire trails that only firemen and kids knew about we went into the park on our minibikes. My buddy was super paranoid about bears so every time we saw a big pile of **** he had to check it out. After a while through the trees we see a hermit cabin. We shut off the bikes and walk through the woods to the cabin. We get pretty close and there's a huge pots and pans type crash inside the cabin.
My buddy thinks it's a bear and jumps behind a wood pile. Being from the 'burbs I wasn't afraid of bears but I thought there might be a weirdo in there so I jumped behind the wood pile too. So we're real quiet and pretty soon out the front door steps Mr. Porcupine like he's looking for the Sunday paper. Certainly not a beast to be trifled with so we waited for him to leave. Inside the cabin we found boxes of old porn from the 1950's that would be worth $$$ on ebay today.
So one day using fire trails that only firemen and kids knew about we went into the park on our minibikes. My buddy was super paranoid about bears so every time we saw a big pile of **** he had to check it out. After a while through the trees we see a hermit cabin. We shut off the bikes and walk through the woods to the cabin. We get pretty close and there's a huge pots and pans type crash inside the cabin.
My buddy thinks it's a bear and jumps behind a wood pile. Being from the 'burbs I wasn't afraid of bears but I thought there might be a weirdo in there so I jumped behind the wood pile too. So we're real quiet and pretty soon out the front door steps Mr. Porcupine like he's looking for the Sunday paper. Certainly not a beast to be trifled with so we waited for him to leave. Inside the cabin we found boxes of old porn from the 1950's that would be worth $$$ on ebay today.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Fishers.
We have black bear, gray and red fox, coyote, bobcats, and occasionally a mt. lion/puma will stroll through the area. But, pound for pound there's nothing in our woods with the tenacity and voracity of the fisher. We had a pack of 4 of them wreaking havoc on our hill a couple years ago. After being given some incentive to re-locate, sightings are rare these days.
Make no mistake, they are 5 to 8 pounds of pure hell. They kill porcupines by flipping them on their back and attacking them. They hunt and kill by relentless pursuit, fear nothing, are excellent climbers and will pursue squirrels as easily through the treetops as on the ground. Not unlike the Wolverine, they will hunt and kill other animals purely for the sport, and will taint the carcass with their scent glands so that nothing will eat it. Nasty little bastards they are.
please don't call it a "cat", it's not related to cats in any way.
We have black bear, gray and red fox, coyote, bobcats, and occasionally a mt. lion/puma will stroll through the area. But, pound for pound there's nothing in our woods with the tenacity and voracity of the fisher. We had a pack of 4 of them wreaking havoc on our hill a couple years ago. After being given some incentive to re-locate, sightings are rare these days.
Make no mistake, they are 5 to 8 pounds of pure hell. They kill porcupines by flipping them on their back and attacking them. They hunt and kill by relentless pursuit, fear nothing, are excellent climbers and will pursue squirrels as easily through the treetops as on the ground. Not unlike the Wolverine, they will hunt and kill other animals purely for the sport, and will taint the carcass with their scent glands so that nothing will eat it. Nasty little bastards they are.
please don't call it a "cat", it's not related to cats in any way.
I was working graveyard shift about 5 months ago out. I went out for a smoke outside our building, east of Colorado Springs. Saw a rabbit, which isn't uncommon, about 30 feet from me then it started bookin' straight towards me. I calmly watched it coming closer as a Great Horned Owl swooped out of the darkness. The owl ended up swooping around 4 ft. away, the rabbit used a juke move and ran into a bush.
Was in Alaska last October on base at Ft. Greely. Went to the community center to watch Baseball playoffs, stepped outside the side entrance to have a smoke. It was dusk and after around 2 minutes I felt like someone was watching me. I turned around and momma moose and baby moose were about 20 ft. away grazing. Got some crappy iphone pics and video, but I didn't want to press my luck by getting any closer and getting better shots.
Was in Alaska last October on base at Ft. Greely. Went to the community center to watch Baseball playoffs, stepped outside the side entrance to have a smoke. It was dusk and after around 2 minutes I felt like someone was watching me. I turned around and momma moose and baby moose were about 20 ft. away grazing. Got some crappy iphone pics and video, but I didn't want to press my luck by getting any closer and getting better shots.
squirrelnest
Lunatic Member
A Bear in Yellowstone many years ago.
loopstick
Lunatic Member
Flesh this out a little bit.
A javelina one morning as I was squeezing in some house painting before work. These are otherwise known as a peccary. It was sniffing at me from about 10 feet away. I boogied as they can get nasty.
A couple of years ago a coyote trotted down the street as I was out in the garage in the evening. It just looked in at me and kept going.
A couple of years ago a coyote trotted down the street as I was out in the garage in the evening. It just looked in at me and kept going.
Switchblade
Super Member
Ah, I think you're lion.
soundmotor
super modified
Minimal dangerous wild animal stories for me. When I was ~10 at summer camp I ran out of my cabin and jumped off the porch right next to a rattlesnake. According to my bunkmates my feet barely touched the ground as I jumped back into the air. It struck, missed, and I came down again straddling it, and jumped away. Snake went one direction, I went in the other, both scared shitless (most likely).
I do have a good one about a former roommate. In the mid 80s I lived in northern CA. My roommate & I were both shooters and we'd planned to go pig hunting. For whatever reason the day we were supposed to go I bailed (likely girl related) and he went by himself a bit pissed by my backing out. Bad idea on his part to go alone. He spent the afternoon tramping around in the scrub not seeing anything and finally decided to head home. As he was hiking back to his car he startled one and it came out of the underbrush at him. Fortunately there was a small oak near and he was able to scramble up.....losing his .44 Ruger Super Blackhawk which landed on the ground. The pig then decided to camp out at the base of the tree and stayed there for over an hour before it got up and trotted off. By then it was dark and he had no flashlight so it took him a long time to grope his way back to the car. No water with him either. Where he was mildly pissed when I backed out, he was majorly pissed when he got back to our apartment. I however was laughing so hard as he told what happened he finally started laughing as well. Pretty sure I took him out for pizza & beer that night.
I do have a good one about a former roommate. In the mid 80s I lived in northern CA. My roommate & I were both shooters and we'd planned to go pig hunting. For whatever reason the day we were supposed to go I bailed (likely girl related) and he went by himself a bit pissed by my backing out. Bad idea on his part to go alone. He spent the afternoon tramping around in the scrub not seeing anything and finally decided to head home. As he was hiking back to his car he startled one and it came out of the underbrush at him. Fortunately there was a small oak near and he was able to scramble up.....losing his .44 Ruger Super Blackhawk which landed on the ground. The pig then decided to camp out at the base of the tree and stayed there for over an hour before it got up and trotted off. By then it was dark and he had no flashlight so it took him a long time to grope his way back to the car. No water with him either. Where he was mildly pissed when I backed out, he was majorly pissed when he got back to our apartment. I however was laughing so hard as he told what happened he finally started laughing as well. Pretty sure I took him out for pizza & beer that night.
75Center
Super Member
I just bought a home in a golf community. My home backs up to the woods, not the golf course. I have two coyotes who wander the woods perimeter every night about 20 feet from my patio. Before I moved into the home, I was inside painting, getting the home ready. Went out through the garage, apparently walked over a copperhead and kept going to my car to put supplies away. My friend who was following me - saw the copperhead, used my snow shovel to push it off my driveway, then killed it with a shovel. I have moved in to the Wild Kingdom!
When I was about 4 or 5, we lived in a rural part of the foothills near LA. My older brother and I were playing near some trees (on my grandpa's former turkey farm) and I had a stick and was pushing some weird thing around in the dirt. My brother said it was a rattlesnake and told me to watch it while he went to get my dad. My parents were all dressed up for a party and I remember my dad walking up in his suit, carrying a hoe to kill the snake. On later backpacking trips I had a few more close encounters with rattlers. But I never bit one.
We've snorkled around barracuda and moray eels, but it seems we both just like to look at the other one. A few years ago we were snorkeling off the north shore of Kauai and I was out farther than my wife. A volunteer lifeguard swam up to my wife to warn her of a shark sighting nearby and my wife said she was ok because she was swimming with some sea turtles. "What do you think the shark eats?" That's when my wife suggested the lifeguard go out to find me. Didn't see the shark, but the turtles were cool. But I guess to a shark, they're crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.
We've snorkled around barracuda and moray eels, but it seems we both just like to look at the other one. A few years ago we were snorkeling off the north shore of Kauai and I was out farther than my wife. A volunteer lifeguard swam up to my wife to warn her of a shark sighting nearby and my wife said she was ok because she was swimming with some sea turtles. "What do you think the shark eats?" That's when my wife suggested the lifeguard go out to find me. Didn't see the shark, but the turtles were cool. But I guess to a shark, they're crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.
Like others here I met a mother Black bear at about 10 yards with cubs on the trail early in the morning in the Smokies. We had seen other bears during our hike there but at a greater distance and they ran off pretty quickly. This one however stayed right in the middle of the trail and growled a bit. However once the cubs moved over the ridge she took off as well. Have had a few encounters with timber rattlers but they generally want to move away from you just as much as you want to move away from them... 
tri_pod
Active Member
A 2metre long Cape Cobra -very poisonous. I unfortunately had to kill it. By 6-pack.
I went to visit my gf (now wife) and she lived in a house with many steep steps. It was mid-summer and I was dressed appropriately in shorts and sandals.
Midway up the steps, the snake reared up and instinctively I flung the 6-pack of beer at it, breaking its back. It was a beautiful example and I still feel bad about it.
tri_pod
I went to visit my gf (now wife) and she lived in a house with many steep steps. It was mid-summer and I was dressed appropriately in shorts and sandals.
Midway up the steps, the snake reared up and instinctively I flung the 6-pack of beer at it, breaking its back. It was a beautiful example and I still feel bad about it.
tri_pod
CKDC
Super Member
Erik Tracy
Everyone's happy when the wizard walks by
I was stung by a stingray off of Mission Beach in San Diego years ago...never saw it, stepped on it while bobbing about in the surf and waves, but OMG it f'in hurt - the pain was a slow build to excruciating.
was about 100 feet away from 2 lioness while i was on foot in botswana. was with a small party in the okavonga river delta. we were exploring on foot with our guides and surprised the 2 of them while they were under an acacia tree eating a killed impala. once they sized up our group of 6 one of them let out a roar and took off -- away from us. scary in retrospect. our guides were pretty petrified.