How do you perceive wild animals? Do you think they will hunt or attack you? Utterly harmless? In between?
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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]In Britain we don’t have dangerous wildlife. Only thing close to spicy is the adder, and they’re extremely rare and shy, their homes are all signposted and protected. The most killing animal we have is the cow. Don’t wander into a herd like an idiot, stay away from bulls, and there’s no problems. So it’s a bit jarring to have to worry about animals.
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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'm from the PNW, my life has been spent in the outdoors and I have backpacked alone in the Cascade mountains. I'm of the opinion that wild animals are more frightened of me than I could be of them. I fear encountering a hungry cougar but otherwise I don't really have any fear of other animals. I don't want to encounter a momma bear and her cubs nor a mother moose with her calf. Those are two things I would be feeling is dangerous.
But snakes, wolves, or whatever other nasties that I might find in my neck of the woods, don't really make me scared.
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I'm from the PNW, my life has been spent in the outdoors and I have backpacked alone in the Cascade mountains. I'm of the opinion that wild animals are more frightened of me than I could be of them. I fear encountering a hungry cougar but otherwise I don't really have any fear of other animals. I don't want to encounter a momma bear and her cubs nor a mother moose with her calf. Those are two things I would be feeling is dangerous.
But snakes, wolves, or whatever other nasties that I might find in my neck of the woods, don't really make me scared.
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.
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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 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
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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?
Growing up rural gives one a healthy respect for animals. I once knew a banty rooster who was known to have killed 2 snakes and a hawk going after his hens. I saw that rooster chase grown men and I did not laugh. I would have run from that feathery violence too.
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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
Most people go their whole life never seeing a snake
That’s crazy to me. Are snakes just incredibly rare in Australia or does everyone just stay inside?
We have sharks, snakes, alligators, and bears where I live in the U.S. and I’ve seen them all in the wild. Snakes by far being the most common I’ve encountered.
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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?
Australia has a reputation for dangerous wildlife but... just don't touch them. The only animals that might deliberately come up to you and attack would be salt water crocs and drop bears but they're only found in very specific areas so just be careful when visiting up far north. Everything else (fresh water crocs, dingoes, snakes, etc) will keep their distance so keep your own distance and don't bother them and you'll be fine.
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Most people go their whole life never seeing a snake
That’s crazy to me. Are snakes just incredibly rare in Australia or does everyone just stay inside?
We have sharks, snakes, alligators, and bears where I live in the U.S. and I’ve seen them all in the wild. Snakes by far being the most common I’ve encountered.
Our snakes avoid humans. They're very rarely aggressive
They'll hear you coming and get away if they can
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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 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.
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Most people go their whole life never seeing a snake
That’s crazy to me. Are snakes just incredibly rare in Australia or does everyone just stay inside?
We have sharks, snakes, alligators, and bears where I live in the U.S. and I’ve seen them all in the wild. Snakes by far being the most common I’ve encountered.
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.
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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. The vast majority of them, I think, probably are just annoyed by our existence. However, I'm going to be real. If I see a moose and I have the opportunity to kill it, I will do so on sight.
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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?
The animals I see here are birds, lizards, snakes, bugs, bats, possums and rats and occasionally a raccoon, armadillo, or alligator.
In all cases (except the crows who sometimes come here for food) the animals disregard me or are wary.
I would say my feelings about them are that I leave them alone but am happy enough when they interact with me a little. One time I shared the condensation on my drink with a jumping spider and it's one of the things I'll remember forever. Whenever I set down the drink it would run over and drink from the outside of the bottle. It was so cute.
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Depends on the animal. The vast majority of them, I think, probably are just annoyed by our existence. However, I'm going to be real. If I see a moose and I have the opportunity to kill it, I will do so on sight.
That's my take on feral hogs, but mooses?! Did one bit your sister or something?
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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.
I see the personalities in my yard squirrels and the squirrels out back, way off in the woods. I can get about 20' from a yard squirrel, they're fairly tame. Their country cousins run so fast I usually only hear rattling leaves.
Never seen "fawn" included!
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That's my take on feral hogs, but mooses?! Did one bit your sister or something?
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.
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I see the personalities in my yard squirrels and the squirrels out back, way off in the woods. I can get about 20' from a yard squirrel, they're fairly tame. Their country cousins run so fast I usually only hear rattling leaves.
Never seen "fawn" included!
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!
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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've encountered wild bears while hiking and wasn't scared. They were just black bears, tho. The smallest and most easily frightened bear.
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Growing up rural gives one a healthy respect for animals. I once knew a banty rooster who was known to have killed 2 snakes and a hawk going after his hens. I saw that rooster chase grown men and I did not laugh. I would have run from that feathery violence too.
Those bastards have razors on their feet, so yea, I'd run too!
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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.
Lol, wow
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That's my take on feral hogs, but mooses?! Did one bit your sister or something?
Mind you, moose bites can be pretty nasty.
