Scary encounters with animals

[Tommy]

Let's talk about our scary encounters that we have had with animals, I”ll start.

On a hike in the forest my wife and I came to a fork in the trail. As we turned the corner we came nose to nose with a bison (my wife could have reached out and touch it). The bison fled down one of the forks but could only go about 50 meters before the bush was too thick for it to continue. The bison then turned to face us and began scraping the ground with its front hooves like it was getting ready to charge. We decided to take the other fork rather quickly.

While hiking by myself I climbed down into a gully and sat on a log to take a rest. After about 15 minutes I climbed back out of the gully. Unknown to me a herd of elk had moved into the area while I was having my break. When I came out of the gully I was in the middle of the herd and I spooked them. The herd trying to flee me but also wanting to stay together as a herd began circling me. (like Indians circling the covered waggons). One of the elk came so close I felt a breeze from him. I can still picture in my mind staring into that big eye as he ran past.

On another hike by myself I had just smoked a big gagger when I came across a cow and bull moose. The cow took off right away but the bull's antlers were nearly developed and he was having none of that, he was standing his ground! Well if today was the day that I would die at least I would die stoned. I proceeded to walk in a big circle around him so I could continue on my journey. That bull never took his eyes off me until I was out of sight. I think if his antlers had of been fully developed he would have charged.

When I was a little boy I came across three black bears way up a tall tree. As I was standing at the base of the tree looking up at the bears I felt something wet on the back of my hand. I looked down to see a baby grizzly pressing his nose against my hand to sniff me. I then looked around for the mother grizzly and not seeing her, I backed off from the baby. The baby followed me and I began to run. Fortunately baby grizzlies run like human toddlers (all wobbly) and I was able to get away.

My wife and I made a survival challenge for ourselves. We went out with no tent or stove and no food for one night. We made a shelter and fire and had ourselves a nice camp. As the coals from the fire were almost out and we were just about to go to bed, a bear woofed us from about 10 meters away. I looked at my wife with blood shot eyes (high as a kite) and asked her if she heard that and she said yes. I grabbed the rifle and flashlight and pointed them at the spot that I heard the bear. I did not see a thing so I fired a shot into the air and still not a sound or movement that I could see from the bear. So I fired a second shot into the air and still nothing. I waited awhile until I was satisfied the bear had moved on (bears are incredibly stealthy) and we went to bed. We had a good nights sleep in our survival shelter.

I've had seven encounters with wolves, none of them were scary but two of those encounters were poopy. Once while my wife and I were sleeping at night the wolves came into our camp and one of them took a big poop where you couldn't miss it. The other time we came back from a hike and found wolf poop right by the door of the tent. Do you think the wolves are trying to tell me something?

My other wolf tales are very very cool and deserve their own thread (another day).

[Thumbcrusher]

Ah you see the problem here is that living in Canada you have the edge on us in the UK when it comes to scary animals! The best i can do is admit to being terrified on several occaisions by my hormonal teenage daughter. God forbid you ever get cornered by her:shocked:

Your fauna definitely have more "scare" factor than ours!

[blindgeekuk]

My worst would be drunken families at a campsite falling over guyropes, like Thumbcrusher says, not much dangerous wildlife in the uk

[f0rm4t]

Ah you see the problem here is that living in Canada you have the edge on us in the UK when it comes to scary animals! The best i can do is admit to being terrified on several occaisions by my hormonal teenage daughter. God forbid you ever get cornered by her:shocked:

Your fauna definitely have more "scare" factor than ours!

I was on a day hike across the North Downs once and came across a rather angry looking squirrel!

umm ...that's it. :(

[paulthefish2009]

Almost a nice post Tommy,hate to be a bore though but can you refrain from the "herbal cigarette" references,family forum and all that. Oh welcome by the way.

[Pryderi]

I got bitten by a Japanese deer once that count?

[Bernie]

Anyone who's been on a canal on Spring in a canoe or kayak will know that swans are about the scariest thing we get to meet in the wild here in England. Though I guess adders and spiders count too; they're just not aggressive like swans can be.

Still, I just use my paddle to keep them from getting hurt in a tussle with me. See, I tend to respond to attacks with excessive violence, which could easily be the end for the swan, leaving the poor signets unprotected. That won't do.

[Tommy]

Ah you see the problem here is that living in Canada you have the edge on us in the UK when it comes to scary animals! The best i can do is admit to being terrified on several occaisions by my hormonal teenage daughter. God forbid you ever get cornered by her:shocked:

Your fauna definitely have more "scare" factor than ours!

I'm sorry if I made any of you feel bad. I think you Brits have the best attitude of anybody when it comes to bushcraft. I wish that I could have you all over for a big bush party.

[Bushwhacker]

Two 'Jaws' like incidents spring to mind.
One was a dolphin that stuck it's head right out of some murky water right from under my feet whilst I was stood on a rock level to the water. I was fishing at the time and jumped backwards, landing on my ar5e and sending everything flying.
Another was a when I was collecting some water from a river in the jungle and I surprised a large Black Caiman, it thrashed about in front of me and swam off. Again, I shart myself and did the jumpy backwards thing, landing on my backside, sprawled across the river bank.
Pheasants are also very good at making you jump when they sit tight and wait until you nearly tread on them in long grass.

[Silverback]

Scottish wildcats.....scary...met whilst on stag at Cultybraggan Camp, secondly Hippos.....not scary...downright lethal !!

[Tommy]

Two 'Jaws' like incidents spring to mind.
One was a dolphin that stuck it's head right out of some murky water right from under my feet whilst I was stood on a rock level to the water. I was fishing at the time and jumped backwards, landing on my ar5e and sending everything flying.
Another was a when I was collecting some water from a river in the jungle and I surprised a large Black Caiman, it thrashed about in front of me and swam off. Again, I shart myself and did the jumpy backwards thing, landing on my backside, sprawled across the river bank.
Pheasants are also very good at making you jump when they sit tight and wait until you nearly tread on them in long grass.

Good stories Bushwhacker. I have never been to the ocean or the jungle. The jungle scares me just thinking about it.

Your story does remind me of a time when I was young and went skinny dipping with some girls in a beaver pond. One of the beavers swam right past me brushing up against my manhood, that was spooky.

[Tommy]

Scottish wildcats.....scary...met whilst on stag at Cultybraggan Camp, secondly Hippos.....not scary...downright lethal !!

Hippos! That is so cool. Some of you guys have been to some very cool places on planet earth. I've always stayed in my little corner of the world. Not by choice, I just never had the opportunity.

What are the cats like in Scotland? Here in Canada we have mountain lions and lynx. I have never seen either, just their tracks and kills.

[Silverback]

What are the cats like in Scotland? Here in Canada we have mountain lions and lynx. I have never seen either, just their tracks and kills.

Well Hard - they like their prey deep fried in batter ;)

http://www.highlandtiger.com/

[Tommy]

Well Hard - they like their prey deep fried in batter ;)

http://www.highlandtiger.com/

Thank you for the link.

What beautiful animals. It's such a shame they are endangered (only 400 left).

The Scottish highlands look beautiful too.

[Silverback]

Thank you for the link.

What beautiful animals. It's such a shame they are endangered (only 400 left).

The Scottish highlands look beautiful too.

Yup....Im from Yorkshire though...Gods own county although Canada comes a close second ;)

[JonnyP]

I was walking up the lane to the pub once. I was in a world of my own with my mp3 blaring away in me ears, when a badger ran across the lane about a meter in front of me. It frightened the hell out of me. It was still very light out too, I dunno what it was up to..

[JonnyP]

Well Hard - they like their prey deep fried in batter ;)

http://www.highlandtiger.com/

Nice link :0)

[butchthedog]

Two 'Jaws' like incidents spring to mind.
One was a dolphin that stuck it's head right out of some murky water right from under my feet whilst I was stood on a rock level to the water. I was fishing at the time and jumped backwards, landing on my ar5e and sending everything flying.
Another was a when I was collecting some water from a river in the jungle and I surprised a large Black Caiman, it thrashed about in front of me and swam off. Again, I shart myself and did the jumpy backwards thing, landing on my backside, sprawled across the river bank.
Pheasants are also very good at making you jump when they sit tight and wait until you nearly tread on them in long grass.

Hi Bushwhacker, That story made my day. I'm sitting here laughing to myself, brilliant fella. T^

[Tommy]

Yup....Im from Yorkshire though...Gods own county although Canada comes a close second ;)

LOL



I was walking up the lane to the pub once. I was in a world of my own with my mp3 blaring away in me ears, when a badger ran across the lane about a meter in front of me. It frightened the hell out of me. It was still very light out too, I dunno what it was up to..

I have never seen a badger but my wife had a run with one when she was a girl on the farm. Badgers are bad ass, I'm glad you weren't attacked.

[butchthedog]

The best I can do is, I had an old cupboard in the back yard which I kept sticks in for the fire. Well one dark evening I went to get some sticks to light the fire, I bent down to grab a handful and saw two eyes staring back at me, the sticks went flying and I tried to jump backwards and fell over. The mrs came out to see what I had screamed at when a frog jumped out of the stick pile and hopped across the yard. I felt like a right wally.

[Tommy]

the best i can do is, i had an old cupboard in the back yard which i kept sticks in for the fire. Well one dark evening i went to get some sticks to light the fire, i bent down to grab a handful and saw two eyes staring back at me, the sticks went flying and i tried to jump backwards and fell over. The mrs came out to see what i had screamed at when a frog jumped out of the stick pile and hopped across the yard. I felt like a right wally.

lol

[wildish64]

my two most memorable creature encounters, the first was when i went to the Adirondacks in the usa with my backpack and a friend,we didnt take a tent or very much to be honest,after being there for two months i had spent most of my money and was desperately looking for work,i managed to get a job at a water theme park concreting their new swimming pools,a cash job sorted i needed somewhere reasonably close to get to work from,i was pointed to a campsite about 3 miles north of where i was working,when i arrived their and spoke to the owner he said it was no probs staying there and asked me where i was going to pitch my tent.having informed him we didnt have one he had a rummage in his garage and pulled out a huge canvas tent a family had left behind as the poles had broken,after tying a few strings to it and suspending it from trees we were well happy.we thumbed a lift back into town for food and supplies,having got these we made the fatal mistake of having dinner in a bar...we drunkenly staggered back to the tent at 3ish,dumped the food in a pile and fell asleep.when we woke up with blinding hangovers we went to grab the shopping but to our horror most of it had been opened and eaten! we sat there trying to remember is it was either of us when about 20 mins later my friend noticed a hole about 2ft high ripped into the the side of the tent...to this day we never knew what came in and ate everything but to be honest i was glad i was too drunk to find out.

the other one was in Norfolk,me and a friend had got up at first light,packed up and was on the move just after sun rise,as we strolled along my mate suddenly stopped and said 'can you see that?' i looked over to where he was pointing and saw something looking back at us across a small clearing,it stood about 7ft tall and all i can describe it as is 'not of this world' (am getting goosebumps while i'm writing this)we sort of calmly walked off at a very fast pace without looking back.to be honest i sometimes get the creeps when im camping out at night remembering it. and no we hadn't been drinking.

[OakAshandThorn]

A few years ago on a clear, summer day, I went out to pick blackberries from the bush at the end of my street. I never got there, as I was startled by a rather large coyote, trotting along and staring at me - no more than 4 meters away. I let out a few cusses in fright, turned around, and went the other way...

But in all honesty, the drunken, creepy fools at night in the park scare me a lot more than any wild animal here...including the stray (and very rare) mountain lion ;).

[OakAshandThorn]

the other one was in Norfolk,me and a friend had got up at first light,packed up and was on the move just after sun rise,as we strolled along my mate suddenly stopped and said 'can you see that?' i looked over to where he was pointing and saw something looking back at us across a small clearing,it stood about 7ft tall and all i can describe it as is 'not of this world' (am getting goosebumps while i'm writing this)we sort of calmly walked off at a very fast pace without looking back.to be honest i sometimes get the creeps when im camping out at night remembering it. and no we hadn't been drinking.
A sasquatch?

[wildish64]

we dont get interesting things like that over here oakashandthorn i dont think it was a native to this planet let alone this country

[Ehecatl]

I once had a bat brush past me when cycling home from the pub. If you've ever camped in the New Forest then you'll know that some of the wild horses and donkeys can be quite hard (we still talk of the killer donkeys and gangs of squirrels with flick knives)

For those of you Coulrophobics then, would you rather be attacked by a badger dressed as a clown or a clown dressed as a badger?

M@

[butchthedog]

we dont get interesting things like that over here oakashandthorn i dont think it was a native to this planet let alone this country

That would definitely make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, I've seen some unexplained stuff and often wonder at what I was seeing and still can't make sense of it.

[rawfish111]

Working on the river Dart last week a Dolphin surfaced in front of the work launch, bloody thing was bigger than the boat and totally unexpected.... Not quite jaws but worth it for the 'surprise' factor.

Also the wasps in Bosnia were bloody strange critters big black things that looked like they were towing a trailer.

Many years ago I remember waking up and looking up at a circle of cow faces having electrocuted myself with the farms welder. Not the cows scary but scary enough :ashamed:

[OakAshandThorn]

we dont get interesting things like that over here oakashandthorn i dont think it was a native to this planet let alone this country
Perhaps the Good Neighbors (Y Tylwyth Teg)? :)

[FishyFolk]

I am quite worried by snakes. Luckilly we don't have any this far north. But when I have been on my little adventures overseas, I've met a few.

F.ex that time in Thailand when my mother-in-law wanted to inspect her rice fields. And wanted me and the wife to come allong as the river was threatening to break it's banks at it was just days before harvest so that wold have been quite bad as the rice fields should be dry for the harvest, or they won't get a good price for the rice.

Anyway the two ladies ushered me to take lead before entering the rice fields. I thought it was because thats what men where supposed to do....but halfway my wife told me it was because her mom was scared of snakes...no kidding, so am I!!!! NAd true enough we saw plenty of them. Luckilly they where just brown snakes nad fairly harmless. Only problem...brown snakes are what King Cobras eat!

And speaking of king Cobras. I was fishing on Chan Cheu lake in south Thailand. And the lodging for the night was a bamboo hut on a timber float out on the lake. My guide told me that I should not worry about the many cobras in the area. As they could not swim. As he said that, a king Cobra swims past behind his back. A true comical Ali moment. :-)

On that same fishing trip we explored obne of the rivers running into the lake. At one point we abandoned our boat and waded up river. Until we found fresh tiger tracks on the shore. And since our only weapon was my trusty leatherman ST 200 and a filet knife, our guide suggested we return to the boat, wich we did at some speed :-)

And then it 's the story of my brother, when we grew up in Longyerbyen at Svalbard. He was around 4 years old and got out of bed quite early in the morning, dressed himself and went outside to play...on one such morning a polar bear walked past on one side of the house while he played on the other. A neighbour had seen it and was in the window holding his breath while holding his rifle ready to fire. But the bear never cought wind of my playing brother...my folks changed the locks on the door the same day....

[FishyFolk]

Oh I forgot that time in Lebanon, when I had bar duty. The platoon bar was also our duty room where the morning brief was held, before we scattered to do our thing.
When you where on bar duty you tidied up the place and kept the coffee going during day time, collected the mail, answered the phone, and spent a lot of time in the sun outside.
And in the eveneing you where bar tender...

Anyway, I entered the bar in the morning, and wanted to fill the coffee maker...walked up to the kitchen sink and there a snake puts his head up and hizzzes at me. I am sure some poop came out!

Any I went for help...and the boys had a good old luagh when they found a gekko in the sink....I had only seen the head :-)

[Tigger004]

While in Cyprus my son and I swam out to a big rock which was just under the water, to see if was shallow enough to stand on, when we arrived it swam off (not sure what it was) but I did an olympic style swim back to the beach..never been keen on going out to far since.

[butchthedog]

Indiana Rune, I enjoyed them stories mate. Some good adventures you've had over the years.

[butchthedog]

Rawfish, that description of the wasp's made me smile mate, "towing a trailer" Ha Ha. Some good tales.

[Ehecatl]

All this talk of snakes reminds me of the time my wife to be and me were walking in Ash Down Forest and I spotted an adder sun bathing just about where she was going to tread. I put my arm up in front of the now Mrs Ehecatl and the serpent slithered off into the gorse.

This was soon after the mother-in-law of someone at the firm I was working at was bitten (in the UK) by a snake and it was touch and go. Police thought it was an escaped tropical snake the reaction was so severe. Tests later confirmed though it was an adder and she made a full recovery.

[Ehecatl]

...And finally (on snakes). One of my sister's ex-boyfriends complained (and he is what I consider him to be a tough guy) that when tidying the hedge in their back garden (in a residential area in North West Kent [chalk for Form4t]), the thorns on the hedge had *really* hurt his leg. He showed me his calf muscle and there were two puncture marls about 1.5cm apart and his leg has blue bruising and the little swelling (after a week).

When I told him that in my opinion he'd been bitten by an adder the colour/color (for our US members) drained from his face.

M@

[Silverback]

They had a 'Lion' prowling round Kent last year.........;)

on a separate note I have been challenged by a herd of cattle whilst out with the dog (they dont know hes safe round stock), not a pleasant experience and very dangerous, quite a few folks have been killed and seriously injured by cows with calves in the UK in recent years

[butchthedog]

Yep cows can be very protective towards their calves, it's better to go round another way.

[Silverback]

Yep cows can be very protective towards their calves, it's better to go round another way.

Not always that simple for some of us

[Tommy]

Great stories guys!

I don't know what to make of the Sasquatch story though. Without trying to offend anyone I'm going to say that I remain sceptical about the whole Sasquatch phenomena.

[Fraxinus]

Never had any life threatening, but a few funny ones, the best of them (IMHO) was when I agreed to go out to Spain and fit my sisters kitchen.
My sister + new husband, her stepson and I arrived to their newly built villa to find that not only the internal doors had not arrived and been fitted but the electric had not been connected either.
So with a stiff upper lip we resorted to thumb tacked curtain doors and candles for lighting....until about 2am.
At which point we were awoken by my six foot something, barn door wide nephew-in-law screaming..................

"SCORPION"

As first on scene, (opposite room) I found on the wall what appeared to be a Devils Coachman type creature, not a scorpion. The flickering candlelight made it look bigger.
Having lived in Greece I knew what Scorpions looked like first hand.
After calming him down the three of us retired back to bed..........to be awoken by a screeching scraping sound.
He had dragged two fold out chairs and a sun lounger across the tiled floors to construct a bed off of the floor, how the sun lounger failed to fold, twixt the two, we don't know!
A memorable first night in their Spanish home.

Rob

[OakAshandThorn]

Never had any life threatening, but a few funny ones, the best of them (IMHO) was when I agreed to go out to Spain and fit my sisters kitchen.
My sister + new husband, her stepson and I arrived to their newly built villa to find that not only the internal doors had not arrived and been fitted but the electric had not been connected either.
So with a stiff upper lip we resorted to thumb tacked curtain doors and candles for lighting....until about 2am.
At which point we were awoken by my six foot something, barn door wide nephew-in-law screaming..................

"SCORPION"

As first on scene, (opposite room) I found on the wall what appeared to be a Devils Coachman type creature, not a scorpion. The flickering candlelight made it look bigger.
Having lived in Greece I knew what Scorpions looked like first hand.
After calming him down the three of us retired back to bed..........to be awoken by a screeching scraping sound.
He had dragged two fold out chairs and a sun lounger across the tiled floors to construct a bed off of the floor, how the sun lounger failed to fold, twixt the two, we don't know!
A memorable first night in their Spanish home.

Rob
Ye Gods....sounds like my uncle encountering very large sand crabs in my grandfather's house in southern Florida - scared the **** 'outta him.

[rawfish111]

on a separate note I have been challenged by a herd of cattle whilst out with the dog (they dont know hes safe round stock), not a pleasant experience and very dangerous, quite a few folks have been killed and seriously injured by cows with calves in the UK in recent years

Catlle can be bloody downright dangerous... C1991 I was workimg on a farm on leave and the boss had a bull who was basically given free range (two tonnes of Aberdeen angus is not easily persuaded) and the last attempt of getting him in the crush for his shots was to wait till he was pointed in the right direction then 'tap' him in the bollocks with the cattle stick... we got him in the crush but from the look in his eye I never went in that field again!

[Tommy]

(Disclaimer – I am really drunk on red wine – thank goodness for spell check)

My father in-law (decease) was a farmer all his life and he was gored by a bull.

DON'T F*^#^K WITH BULLS!




When you F*^@K with the bull you get the horn!

[BJ]

A heard of young cows galloping, (yes actually galloping) it was like a wild west stampede, up until then I thought cows were nice placid creatures. Isn't it amazing how you retain your school high jump techniques over a barb wire fence at moments like this ?. When I looked back at the fence I had trouble believing I had just cleared it without pause. I still have no idea what the cows were up to but I have developed a health respect for them.
Also ninja seagulls in Rhyll http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/subject/t57122.gif (http://yoursmiles.org/t-subject.php?page=7)

[alvino78]

killer midges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[backlasher]

I live just south of Houston, Texas and I kayak fish. Since a kayak sits so low, I've been eyeball to eyeball with several alligators. We learn to watch for snakes (we have several poisonous ones), scorpions and angry cows. Alligator encounters are exciting but they don't seem to hurt anyone. It still makes me nervous when one about 5 yards away goes under the water.

[happybonzo]

Once on exercise on Woodham Common we were all terrified by loud snuffling and troughing around our bashas. Eventually one of the smallest was dicked to be go out and check...


- turned out to be an enraged hedgehog... :)

[Tommy]

I live just south of Houston, Texas and I kayak fish. Since a kayak sits so low, I've been eyeball to eyeball with several alligators. We learn to watch for snakes (we have several poisonous ones), scorpions and angry cows. Alligator encounters are exciting but they don't seem to hurt anyone. It still makes me nervous when one about 5 yards away goes under the water.

If one of those beasts rammed your kayak capsizing it, the beast could then bite you and do a death roll drowning you. And then swallow you whole.

Ya that would be real exciting! :shocked:

[shepherd]

Catlle can be bloody downright dangerous... C1991 I was workimg on a farm on leave and the boss had a bull who was basically given free range (two tonnes of Aberdeen angus is not easily persuaded) and the last attempt of getting him in the crush for his shots was to wait till he was pointed in the right direction then 'tap' him in the bollocks with the cattle stick... we got him in the crush but from the look in his eye I never went in that field again!

another man killed by cattle today in the paper, walking his dog... calving cows can be very dangouras.. especially when dogs ar around to get them nervous.

[Silverback]

another man killed by cattle today in the paper, walking his dog... calving cows can be very dangouras.. especially when dogs ar around to get them nervous.

We were challenged by a herd of calved cattle in the dales a couple of years ago...to be fair there were about 20 of us with dogs transiting to a training venue...we found an alternative route round..They present a significant hazard when searching too. We always try to avoid livestock when operational...they dont know the dogs arent interested in them its the most proper thing to do for both animals and also the farmer

[paulthefish2009]

I was challenged yesterday lunch time,I'm lucky enough to work in a place surrounded by woods and farm land.
During my regular lunchtime ramble i spotted some ramsons by a little stream,as I was gathering a couple to put in my sandwiches I happend to look across the stream to be confronted with 8 pairs of eyes and flairing nostrils,seeing how the stream was only about 4 feet across I did bug out rather rapid :ashamed:

[jus_young]

Thanks guys, I am currently working in the middle of a field surrounded by bullocks!

[shepherd]

aye, there funny things cows... on the hill tops up here its that cold we have alot of highland cattle and belted galloways... they can be tapped in the head, problem i find it they see very few people, except the farmer at feeding time... so as soon as people venture up there all the cows get excited and start jumping and farting about cos they think its feeding time getting very close to people and making very nervous, me included... haha

[paulthefish2009]

We got belted galloways out on our local common but there as good as gold

[shepherd]

imagine there used to seeing people alot ... only galloways iv come across are these ones up here that go crazy when they see people... so iv just associated them with being nutcases! haha