How do you perceive wild animals? Do you think they will hunt or attack you? Utterly harmless? In between?
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Everyone just stays inside pretty much. As in... 99% of the population lives in a city and there just aren't any snakes.
There's a bunch of other reasons too though. Snakes are reclusive by nature. They're well camouflaged and easily hide themselves among leaves and bushes and plants on the ground. They actively avoid being seen by humans, they do not want an interaction with a human because it will always be a negative outcome, in that they can't eat a human.
You could walk 10km through the bush, be reasonably observant, walk within 2m of a dozen snakes, but not see a single one.
OTOH there's mountainbike trails where you'll encounter several in a day. You're moving quicker, and they can't feel your footfalls so don't have time to hide.
The thing is... 99% of the snakes I've encountered are deadly venomous. We have pythons but I never seem to see them. Here it's always Tiger snakes or Dugites which are both "stop moving and call an ambulance" type emergencies if you get bit.
Cam confirm. I (American) lived in NSW for a while and was way more outdoorsy than anyone I met there. I wasn't expecting everyone to be Steve Irwin or Paul Logan, but c'mon. To the point that when there were snakes in the back yard or spiders in the kitchen, I took care of them.
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Moose can dive and swim under water. That means there is a non zero chance that you will be killed while scuba diving by a moose.
Moose is a good example of an animal that might kill you for looking at him funny in rutting season. Especially if you have a dog.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
is it hungry? is it desperate? is it horny? does it feel threatened?
if yes, then they are a danger to me.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
Most will run, some will attack if cornered. Walk along the wind and make human noises and you won't be bothered.
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I hadn't seen fawn on there before either. I looked up fight/flight/freeze and saw I was out of date myself.
Now we know!
Solid addition to the "startle/scared" response. I've seen many animals do that thing, especially dogs. My tiny female boxer ran up on a tinier dog, it dropped, belly up, pissed itself.
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I'm from Newfoundland. Moose were brought in to fill the gap left behind by reindeer after we hunted all of them. Problem is that moose do not fit that niche, they destroy it. They're way too big so none of the natural predators of this island are capable of taking them down. They wander out in the middle of highways and roads at night and cause hundreds of accidents per year. Due to their size, they also tend to kill the people in accidents with them. Everyone on this island has lost family to those fucking things.
Thanks! I had no idea. Here in the American South we're a little leery of random deer in the road, but that hardly compares to a moose!
Are they destructive to the environment as well? That is why I will kill any feral pig I see. Invasive and destructive.
I have a pet pig, let a wild pig in the yard with him. I have seen firsthand how much they can destroy and how fast. Had to shoot her. Hated it. Sad about it. Had to. And to anyone hating me for it, the authorities basically told me, "Your problem, do as you see fit." I called twice. One small reason I own guns. Well, and the bear that walked in the dog door, but that's another story.
Didn't shoot him! He got away, thank god! -
Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
I like to study what animals are around before I'm in an unfamiliar habitat so I know what to expect. I'm not really afraid of any animals unless the situation calls for it. There's a number of potentially dangerous animals that live around here, all are incredibly unlikely to ever attack me. The risk of catching Lyme disease from a tick is what really concern me more than any wild animal I might encounter.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
wrote last edited by [email protected]If the animal can physically hurt me, i will keep my distance. E.g. i don't mess with cows in a field, even though they are likely harmless. I usually have to cross fields when going to fishing spots. During the summer they are full of animals that could EASILY kill me by mistake. Therefore i keep my distance.
Smaller animals and bugs that i know aren't venomous don't bother me in the slightest.
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I live in Australia
I find it hilarious how stupid Americans think everything here is trying to kill us constantly
Most people go their whole life never seeing a snake
Crocs are only in certain parts of the country, sharks aren't a problem unless you are really unlucky
Our spiders are fine
I live somewhere with wildlife all around me, and it's fantastic. There were three wallabies doing their thing where I was walking my dog yesterday and they're lovely
What about drop bears?
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
9 out of 10 if I leave them alone they will leave me alone.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
Where I live they mostly mind their own business but from time to time I have to yell to scare away some wild boars just in case, luckily they aren't used to people and run away pretty easily.
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Thanks! I had no idea. Here in the American South we're a little leery of random deer in the road, but that hardly compares to a moose!
Are they destructive to the environment as well? That is why I will kill any feral pig I see. Invasive and destructive.
I have a pet pig, let a wild pig in the yard with him. I have seen firsthand how much they can destroy and how fast. Had to shoot her. Hated it. Sad about it. Had to. And to anyone hating me for it, the authorities basically told me, "Your problem, do as you see fit." I called twice. One small reason I own guns. Well, and the bear that walked in the dog door, but that's another story.
Didn't shoot him! He got away, thank god!I haven't noticed them be any more destructive to the environment that humans are. We just have too many of them. They probably are. I would not be surprised if there's overpopulation and the size of them and everything else then it would make sense that there is some amount of ecological devastation. But I'm usually not in those areas. But the way I see it is that if there is no natural predator for this mistake that we brought to the island, then I will be the natural predator.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
Im in the UK so basically every wild animal is scared of humans. (Edit : Except geese. Theyre fucking bullies)
If I was in "The Wild" though, like a jungle or Savannah, I would shit my pants 24/7
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Im in the UK so basically every wild animal is scared of humans. (Edit : Except geese. Theyre fucking bullies)
If I was in "The Wild" though, like a jungle or Savannah, I would shit my pants 24/7
Came here to say this. Scariest encounter I had was earlier this year with a stag. He was standing on a footpath, it was dusk and he was shadow so I didn't see him until I was 5m away. I'm 1.9m and he was looking down at me. Had another 1m of antlers. Then my dog started barking and he just turned and walked away into the trees.
Same dog once tried to fight a pair of geese, she's similar size to them, they didn't back down.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
My feeling is pretty similar to yours, though I am also aware that there are animals that can and will hurt me. For example, for one of the trips I want to take above the arctic circle, standard advice is to carry a shotgun and surround your camp with a portable electric fence to protect from polar bears, since polar bears will actively hunt humans.
But in general I expect animals to not want anything to do with me. For this, I use what I call the "raccoon principle", which goes like this: Suppose you see a raccoon. It is hissing and growling at you, clearly pissed off. Do you want to fight this raccoon with your bare hands? Probably not - sure, you could almost certantly kill it. But not before it bit the shit out of you, possibly doing significant and permanent damage to your soft tissues and giving you an infection. So understand that for most large animals, you are the raccoon.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
I have watched enough memes to know that given the chances, wild animals will attack me.
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Came here to say this. Scariest encounter I had was earlier this year with a stag. He was standing on a footpath, it was dusk and he was shadow so I didn't see him until I was 5m away. I'm 1.9m and he was looking down at me. Had another 1m of antlers. Then my dog started barking and he just turned and walked away into the trees.
Same dog once tried to fight a pair of geese, she's similar size to them, they didn't back down.
My cousin had her wedding at her boss' farm. There were "Beware of the geese" signs everywhere. I asked about them and they told me their dogs were too friendly to guard their property or discourage the animals from other fields so they just got a bunch of guard geese.
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
Depends on the animal.
For the most part, deer are more afraid of me than I am of them. I'm really only scared that they're going to run in front of my car.
Raccoons just get left alone in the trash I usually find them in.
Saw what looked like Mother black bear and her cubs while on a hike. The bears didn't look threatening, but I turned around to keep it that way.
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I volunteer with wild animals, so I purposely do a lot of things animals may or may not like that most people won't normally do.
Very few animals will want to hurt you. Animals will do very little they don't have to do. This comes down to 2 main things: calories are precious, and there is no medical care. If you aren't food or pose a potential threat, they want nothing to do with you. Wasting calories and getting injuries makes it harder to get a next meal.
The classic fight/flight response has evolved into something more along the lines of fight/flight/freeze/fawn. Animals aren't dumb, and in almost every way their muscles and abilities are better than yours, so there are multiple options they have, and they will pick what they think is best.
They also have unique personalities, and won't all react the same. I have more scary squirrels at work than I do raptors.
It is also common to have small songbirds drive off hawks or owls, and the raptors just move on instead of fighting because the energy required and the potential for injury to fight isn't worth it. If you're messing with a nest, they may go after you, they may not.
Animals get dangerous when you take away some of their options, like the classic cornered animal. If you take away the option to flee, why wouldn't they think you're there to hurt them, and they will hurt you to protect themselves. Most will make noise to scare you so you go away or back off and give them an opening. If you get your hands on them and you are calm, they will often wait to see what you're going to do.
Learning how animals react to things and seeing how unique their personalities/risk tolerances are is one of my favorite parts of working with them. People act like animals are generic NPCs, but they've got unique minds that are the results of their collected experiences, just like ours.
Thanks for sharing! This is fascinating to me, do you have any resource I can read more about this topic?
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Thought everyone understood that wild animals can be dangerous, but mostly hide or run away.
Only laid eyes on a panther once. It had checked me out ahead of time, utterly ignored me. Only seen one gator that wasn't hauling ass away from my canoe or kayak. Saw a mama black bear with tiny babies galumphing along behind as she ran off. Went back the next day, couldn't see her, but I heard the warning! Water moccasins hiss and pitch a fit, run away. You'd have to be deaf and step on one. (I've come close!)
Then you got people like my wife. She went to meet me at the trail entrance the other night, saw a small animal cross the path, got spooked and ran back to her car. Daughter and I saw a roll of teenage armadillos, up close! My wife asked if they would attack us.
Wife's friend came over from England. She was choking down panic and the sun set on our camp in the swamp. I assured her that speaking in a normal tone of voice would scare anything away. Never been in wild woods and never at night!
I've had people online act like I'm an idiot for getting into the uncivilized places I often go. Many people here in NW Florida won't go on the water unless it's a large body and in a large boat. They think I'm going to get attacked in my kayak.
So, what's your perception of the animals where you live? Do you think the people in your area feel the same?
Let me modify a quote, "To believe all animals harmless would be folly. To believe none so, is something worse."
All manner of creature is variable. That which hungers shall attempt to hunt justly, that which starves shall hunt foolishly. This is to mean the threat is that which has to make drastic decisions.
That which is comfortably fearful shall let the traveler pass. That which is burdened by doubt, fear, and pain shall doubt the traveler. This is to say, the temperament of their emotions impacts the behavior. Those at a loss to something else will lash out to feel a fleeting sense of control.
All animals are capable of harm, however the animal of the wilds know it is better to let beasts slumber and pick your fights. Another day shall be won if you act without unbridled necessity, haste, or pride. The insect that stings is the insect that is killed, the lion who eats man is the lion that is hunted.
It is the comfort of living unencumbered that makes the creature insidious. Social living and the security that makes one desire more than what they have.
