Sadly, not every encounter with a cat, dog, cow, or elephant goes the way we'd like. Perhaps the critter has already had a terrible experience with humans, or maybe our approach is too aggressive. There are many reasons why things can go wrong, but the point is to stay careful.
To show just how unpredictable the animal kingdom can be, we're diving into a Reddit thread where people shared their most terrifying run-ins with wildlife. If there's anyone who can humble us fast, it's nature.
#41
Late to party as usual, but here it goes.
800lbs of pissed off mama moose had me making piece with myself.
So there I was, riding my mountain bike, by myself, at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. I come around a corner and there is a cow and calf just hanging out on the trail. Not a big deal. See them all the time. I back up slowly to a trail crossing so I can dip out if I have to, but I can still see them. I planned to just wait them out like usual. It was a good time for a banana break anyways. From behind me I hear another cyclist coming. He has a dog, not on a leash. The dog sees the moose and sprints towards them. Mama and calf split in different directions. Fast forward 15 minutes and I come around another corner and there is mama, clearly agitated. Her calf is nowhere to be seen. She is standing in the middle of the trail. Ears back. Cackles up. Tapping the ground with her front foot. Uh-oh. There was probably only 20 feet between us. This part of the trail was particularly rough and there was nowhere to really to go but backwards. Slow movements and calm words got me to safer spot. I was really glad I didnt get trampled that day.
800lbs of pissed off mama moose had me making piece with myself.
So there I was, riding my mountain bike, by myself, at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. I come around a corner and there is a cow and calf just hanging out on the trail. Not a big deal. See them all the time. I back up slowly to a trail crossing so I can dip out if I have to, but I can still see them. I planned to just wait them out like usual. It was a good time for a banana break anyways. From behind me I hear another cyclist coming. He has a dog, not on a leash. The dog sees the moose and sprints towards them. Mama and calf split in different directions. Fast forward 15 minutes and I come around another corner and there is mama, clearly agitated. Her calf is nowhere to be seen. She is standing in the middle of the trail. Ears back. Cackles up. Tapping the ground with her front foot. Uh-oh. There was probably only 20 feet between us. This part of the trail was particularly rough and there was nowhere to really to go but backwards. Slow movements and calm words got me to safer spot. I was really glad I didnt get trampled that day.
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10points
#42
My neighbours had a rescue dog, a German shepherd and it was one mean dog
Anyways one day this demon dog escapes, and sees me walking past, queue angry barking ect then it starts running at me, now I knew there was no way I was running - I wouldn't outrun it plus running from an angry dog is never a great idea to start with.
So once the thing reaches me it jumps, mouth open going for my face, I don't know how but I managed to turn my back to it just before it reached me and it takes a nice bite into my back, but also rolls over my shoulder smashing into the pavement, this hurt the dog pretty bad from what I got told later.
It runs away, and sits on my doorstep watching me. The entire street and it picks my door to wait at.
Might not sound that scary but when you have a big animal like that going in to attack you it's not a fun situation
I got some stiches and a lot of injections from that, but the dog ( and owners) got a one off pass from the cops because I knew them and knew they did care about the dog and tried to help it but later it got put down after a different incident where it attacked and ended a cat.
Anyways one day this demon dog escapes, and sees me walking past, queue angry barking ect then it starts running at me, now I knew there was no way I was running - I wouldn't outrun it plus running from an angry dog is never a great idea to start with.
So once the thing reaches me it jumps, mouth open going for my face, I don't know how but I managed to turn my back to it just before it reached me and it takes a nice bite into my back, but also rolls over my shoulder smashing into the pavement, this hurt the dog pretty bad from what I got told later.
It runs away, and sits on my doorstep watching me. The entire street and it picks my door to wait at.
Might not sound that scary but when you have a big animal like that going in to attack you it's not a fun situation
I got some stiches and a lot of injections from that, but the dog ( and owners) got a one off pass from the cops because I knew them and knew they did care about the dog and tried to help it but later it got put down after a different incident where it attacked and ended a cat.
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9points
#43
My parents had a dog when I was about 8. My mom was cutting meat for dinner one night and then the phone rang so she went to answer it. The dog hopped it's front paws onto the counter and began eating the meat so I grabbed it from behind and tried to pull it off. Well it turned around and bit a chunk of my lip off. I had to get a bunch of stitches but besides a scar you can't really notice it 19 years later. The beard and mustache help.
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9points
#44
I was camping in Australia with some buddies back in 2009. During the evening we spotted a dingo pretty far across a field, thought it was pretty cool (since we aren't Australian) but didn't think much of it, other than that. After sundown we heard some movement not too far off, in the same direction of where we saw the dingo. We shined our flashlights out into the field, and saw multiple sets of eyes, glittering, looking our way. We decided to pack up some of the things into our car, and chill out a bit in our tents. They came through our site, and then went on their way.
In hindsight, they were more than likely just interested in our food. But it was still pretty creepy.
In hindsight, they were more than likely just interested in our food. But it was still pretty creepy.
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9points
#45
More funny than terrifying, but I was geocashing with my dad, and he went into a bush. Suddenly, a turkey vulture pops out, and we all nearly had a heart attack. It also pooped everywhere, so that's cool I guess.
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8points
#46
When I was younger we would always go to my grandparents house for the holidays and there were dogs outside and me being little plus seeing a dog I of course tried to pet it and it bit me on the arm and to this day big dogs still scare me slightly. Another time when I was also younger we had a cat that would always come to the back door when he wanted in. So late one night i get up to use the bathroom and hear scratching at the back door. So I open it thinking it would be my cat but nope it was not my cat it was an opossum it hissed at me and I screamed and slammed the door.
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7points
#47
Had an Australian Eastern Brown snake rear up and try to bite me. The Eastern Brown snake is the second most venomous snake in the world. Certainly got my heart beating faster!
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7points
#48
UP of Michigan. I was bow hunting for whitetail, sitting in full camo on a downed tree, leaning against another tree, in a dark, thick cedar swamp. I dozed off for a while and woke to the crunching sound of footsteps. I darted my eyes around and saw the back end of a canine as it stalked through the trees within about 20 yards, going from my right to my left. From the reddish in the fur I assumed it was a coyote and not a wolf, although I didn't see it long, and it was a BIG coyote. As it got far enough to the left I lost sight completely behind the tree I was leaning against and could only hear it.
I sat there with an arrow nocked, just listening when suddenly I heard and felt a thud of this animal jumping up on the log I was sitting on. I sat there and listened to sniffing sounds at the back of my head for a few seconds. It then jumped back down and I heard it trot away, as calmly as it had approached. My heart was racing the whole time, but it wasn't "terrifying" since coyotes/wolves pose literally zero threat to humans.
TL;DR: A coyote sniffed the back of my head.
I sat there with an arrow nocked, just listening when suddenly I heard and felt a thud of this animal jumping up on the log I was sitting on. I sat there and listened to sniffing sounds at the back of my head for a few seconds. It then jumped back down and I heard it trot away, as calmly as it had approached. My heart was racing the whole time, but it wasn't "terrifying" since coyotes/wolves pose literally zero threat to humans.
TL;DR: A coyote sniffed the back of my head.
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6points
#49
As a kid, I spent a lot of time with my babysitter’s kids at their house and they had a sheltie dog. This is a smallish, friendly breed but my babysitter’s son was a nightmare to it and would do stuff like chase it around the with a nerf gun or tackle it and was basically just hurting this animal while his family did nothing.
I was 7 and couldn’t do much and tbh the family had worse going on than a kid terrorizing a dog, so I kept quiet about it. One day, a fly is just chilling over my head (very clean household lol) and the dog starts growling at it and ends up mauling me to get to it.
It ate part of my upper lip. I can’t say 100% that it ate my lip but this dog’s face was in my face and we never found the missing chunk of flesh it gauged out, so I always just say it bit me because that’s the most sense I can make out of the blur of OH MY GOD DOG MOUTH AND TEETH AND FUR in my face. A triangular chunk of face and lip just... gone.
Worst part is I’m afraid of shelties now, which is embarrassing. Second worst part is I kept hanging out with the babysitter’s kids after they gave up the dog and like a year later they revealed they just gave it to their cousins; they revealed this by taking me to said cousins’ house where the “retrained” dog was. This was top 10 anime betrayal level stuff.
I was 7 and couldn’t do much and tbh the family had worse going on than a kid terrorizing a dog, so I kept quiet about it. One day, a fly is just chilling over my head (very clean household lol) and the dog starts growling at it and ends up mauling me to get to it.
It ate part of my upper lip. I can’t say 100% that it ate my lip but this dog’s face was in my face and we never found the missing chunk of flesh it gauged out, so I always just say it bit me because that’s the most sense I can make out of the blur of OH MY GOD DOG MOUTH AND TEETH AND FUR in my face. A triangular chunk of face and lip just... gone.
Worst part is I’m afraid of shelties now, which is embarrassing. Second worst part is I kept hanging out with the babysitter’s kids after they gave up the dog and like a year later they revealed they just gave it to their cousins; they revealed this by taking me to said cousins’ house where the “retrained” dog was. This was top 10 anime betrayal level stuff.
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5points
#50
Was at my Aunt’s wedding rehearsal about 15 years ago that was in a forestry kind of area. Me and my cousins were exploring the venue outside and ran into a bear, yes a bear. As soon as I saw it I booked it and didn’t look back.
We checked the same area again about 10 minutes later like geniuses and turns out the bear was tamed by a trainer. I have no idea why the bear or the trainer was there but it scared the hell out of tiny me.
We checked the same area again about 10 minutes later like geniuses and turns out the bear was tamed by a trainer. I have no idea why the bear or the trainer was there but it scared the hell out of tiny me.
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5points
