Scary encounters with animals

[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

[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....