re: Dangerous wild animal encounters

Jesus Christ!! Is that real?

Ended up in a tangle of banded sea kraits while diving in the Philippines. Nasty neurotoxin. They were as docile as could be.

Been face to face with many shark species, but bulls always make me nervous. Yes, you can sweat underwater.

Got popped by a stingray. It was dead and in a lab freezer. Person had placed it on a top shelf unlabeled with the tail facing out. Definitely will continue to avoid live specimens.

Stepped up on a log in North Alabama that just happened to have a rattlesnake on the opposite side. Had to kill it to keep my dog from taking a hit.

Kayak fishing in Geoghegan canal in March one year. Cold as hell. Feel a bump and look over to see a gator head that seemed to be several feet long. Scared the crap outta me but it was damn near comatose. Made a strategic exit. Fish around gators all the time, even had them charge my yak but there was no reason to anticipate a gator that day.

Numerous encounters while driving in Baton Rouge. Way worse than any of the above.

Most scared I ever was of a wild animal was a big arse wild dog that was pissed off at me. I didnt have anywhere to go or anything good to fight him with so I pulled out my pocket knife and went after him with it when he came after me. He checked out after i charged him, if I would have ran he would've been all over me. Pretty sure he thought I was fricked in the head once he figured out I wasnt going down on my own and it wasnt worth it

Otherwise, I've almost stepped on a whole bunch of cotton mouths.

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a big arse wild dog that was pissed off at me

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Are you talking about an African wild dog? or just some stray pit?

Watched a jap get gored by a bison in Yellowstone when I worked there. It was pretty fricking awesome because he was warned over and over. Most of them think its a fricking petting zoo and not wild animals


The bison would frequently walk behind our picnic tables outside our dorms and we would be out smoking a joint and have to remain as still as possible. As big as they are, you wouldnt think they could sneak up on you but in the pitch black out there, they do at night.

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The "I was Prey" show on Nat Geo

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I always think about the episode in Siberia where a hiker is 8 miles away from camp in knee deep snow. He recalls a Siberian tiger stepping out of a tree line and stalking him. Absolutely helpless feeling. He knew he couldn’t get more than two steps before he was mauled. Somehow he lived

You weren't in Gulf Shores were you? I helped pull a young girl out that was covered in tentacles about 20 years ago. She was messed up badly. Turned out she was also allergic to them.

When I was 30ish, I was on my BMX bike on a trail in the woods behind some houses. There was also a shallow canal between the houses and the woods. Two rottweilers were barking up a storm at the fence in their yard, then they seemed to lose interest and trotted back toward the house. Turns out they were just backing up for a running start. They ran through the yard, jumped the fence, trudged through the canal, and started chasing me and a neighbor’s kid. We’re hauling arse on the bikes, and they’re chasing us, right on our arses, barking, gnashing teeth, etc.

One of the scariest moments of my life, but of course I’m thinking, “I don’t have to be faster than the rottweilers - I just have to be faster than this kid.” After a while the rotts just stopped and headed home. Don’t think they had any ill intentions, but it was scary as frick.

Next most dangerous animal encounter was handling a copperhead, but that was intentional since I caught it. Quite the adrenaline rush though.

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Dangerous wild animal encounters

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Elephant charged our safari vehicle in Tanzania

Black and brown bears.

Those little pull string flares work well on black bear. Sounds like a firearm, shoots a ball of fire. Can carry them in your pocket

Sea lions and Orcas when kayaking. Sea lions are meaner than hell.