Rhinos on the Rooftops

[LossForWords]

Ok...so last night in chat we somehow got on the topic of animals and how they are prone to attack for no reason. It is an inate fear of mine (yes, I think this fear has been present from birth) that I will some day be attacked by a wild animal...or attacked by a person dressed in an animal costume, but that is another story all together.

So far I have not been seriously injured by a large animal. Let's see...I have been stung by wasps, bit by snakes, bit by a bat, cut by a cat fish, stung by a sting ray, stepped on a jelly fish, stalked by a panther, and the list goes on...but never anything life threatening.

My question for you faithful reader is...have you ever been attacked by a wild animal? Or ever been close to becoming a victim of animals gone wild? (no pets, just animals that are running loose and thirsting after blood).

Last night I heard about bears eating ATV seats, bears eating stems out of people's mouths and then wrestling them to the ground, I heard about rhinos charging people, cougars attacking...

Do you have an animal attack story?!?

Tell me about it!!!

[Gerioke]

I have been chased by several bears. One in particular was scary.

Mmom and stepfather were working at a fly-in fishing camp in Northern Manitoba one year and it was a bad year for forest fires. The bears were ecceptionally bold this year and we had one bear become quite a nuisance. My stepfather decided one day to be a bleeding heart (he was almost psychopathic with his love for animals), and he left a box of soup bones at the edge of the bush for this bear. I went out a couple of hours later to see if the bear had cleaned out the box. I walk up to the box and look in then I hear this noise behind me. Out from under the lodge comes this medium sized black bear charging right for me. Fortunately for me, one of the guides( his name was Phil and he was from Maryland) came outside, for what I don't know, but he let out a yell and as I was trying to run from the box to the back of the lodge, I guess the bear figured Phil was bigger than him so he stopped dead in his tracks and strolled casually over to his box. I nearly lost my life that day and was really glad to have Phil around.

I've also been bitten by a handful of dogs, a squirrel, a sculpin and was chased by a couple of racoons.

I love the wilderness.

[EricH]

Once, I had started a new job and was on the way to work on my first day. I was heading down a four lane highway, when I heard a loud bang behind me and felt a rush of air enter the car. I also began to feel warm liguid running down the back of my head and onto my neck. I put my hand behind my head and felt the liquid. It was blood.

I pulled off the next exit ramp and into a gas station. The entire back end of my Escort station wagon was full of blood. The back window was covered on the inside with blood. I noticed feathers floating all over the car. In the very back of the station wagon I found a heart, lungs, liver, and goose feet.

It seems that a low flyinig goose gotten too close to my car and hit the window right behind the drivers side window. When he hit the window, the breaking glass cut him open. His guts went in my car, and the shell went on the highway.

I went to work and told my new boss what had happened. She could not believe it, until I showed her the car. It was 97 degrees, and the smell was unbelievable. The state police came to take an accident report. Trying to be funny, he offered to go in for half with me if we sold the goose liver to a French restaurant down the street.

I took the car to 7 detail shops before I found one who would clean it. The one that did take it on had 2 guys quit, because they did not want to touch the car.

That is my animal story

[Scarletprayers]

I got chased into the laundry room by a possum, one night. I heard a noise outside and opened the door to see what it was. I got to sit on the dryer for about and hour before he went away so I could close the door. My kids were little and asleep, and my husband was as usual.

[Gerioke]

I got chased into the laundry room by a possum, one night. I heard a noise outside and opened the door to see what it was. I got to sit on the dryer for about and hour before he went away so I could close the door. My kids were little and asleep, and my husband was as usual.

Yes, I heard that possums were ravenous killers.

[LossForWords]

I have been chased by several bears. One in particular was scary.

Mmom and stepfather were working at a fly-in fishing camp in Northern Manitoba one year and it was a bad year for forest fires. The bears were ecceptionally bold this year and we had one bear become quite a nuisance. My stepfather decided one day to be a bleeding heart (he was almost psychopathic with his love for animals), and he left a box of soup bones at the edge of the bush for this bear. I went out a couple of hours later to see if the bear had cleaned out the box. I walk up to the box and look in then I hear this noise behind me. Out from under the lodge comes this medium sized black bear charging right for me. Fortunately for me, one of the guides( his name was Phil and he was from Maryland) came outside, for what I don't know, but he let out a yell and as I was trying to run from the box to the back of the lodge, I guess the bear figured Phil was bigger than him so he stopped dead in his tracks and strolled casually over to his box. I nearly lost my life that day and was really glad to have Phil around.

I've also been bitten by a handful of dogs, a squirrel, a sculpin and was chased by a couple of racoons.

I love the wilderness.

What in the world is a sculpin?

*types ask.com into the computer to figure it out*

Is it an odd/ugly fish?

If a bear charged me I would probably freeze...thinking "I should run, I should move, I should do something." And by this time I would have been devoured by the bear.

I put my arm into the mouth of a bear skin rug...just to feel the teeth. A black bear...sharp, but not as gruesome as a GRIZZLY bear...those teeth are massive, I could only imagine what that would be like...

[LossForWords]

Once, I had started a new job and was on the way to work on my first day. I was heading down a four lane highway, when I heard a loud bang behind me and felt a rush of air enter the car. I also began to feel warm liguid running down the back of my head and onto my neck. I put my hand behind my head and felt the liquid. It was blood.

I pulled off the next exit ramp and into a gas station. The entire back end of my Escort station wagon was full of blood. The back window was covered on the inside with blood. I noticed feathers floating all over the car. In the very back of the station wagon I found a heart, lungs, liver, and goose feet.

It seems that a low flyinig goose gotten too close to my car and hit the window right behind the drivers side window. When he hit the window, the breaking glass cut him open. His guts went in my car, and the shell went on the highway.

I went to work and told my new boss what had happened. She could not believe it, until I showed her the car. It was 97 degrees, and the smell was unbelievable. The state police came to take an accident report. Trying to be funny, he offered to go in for half with me if we sold the goose liver to a French restaurant down the street.

I took the car to 7 detail shops before I found one who would clean it. The one that did take it on had 2 guys quit, because they did not want to touch the car.

That is my animal story

OH MY WORD! I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that one. That is crazy!!

Birds are so strange and fragile. It's amazing how they almost disinigrate on impact (heart, lungs, liver...and FEET!) I remember watching a sports clip of Randy Johnson delivering a pitch to the mound and hitting a bird mid-flight instead. The bird actually blew up and all you saw were feathers flying. That goose that went though your window was probably HUGE though! What a mess! Another classic story for my "when animal's attack" archive!

[LossForWords]

I have an odd reaction to scary animal situations...I run...in circles.

Three examples:

1. When I was a teenager, I was at home for the weekend and my dog was out on the back deck having a mad bark session with the grill. I thought it was strange, but tried to ignore it...but she kept going. So I finally went out with my mom to investigate. My mom took a broom stick and opened the lid...and out jumped (what I believed to have been a) rabid squirrel. My mom screamed and ran inside to get away from the crazy thing...I, being the clever one, ran around in circles screaming until my brother rescued me by opening the grill and letting insane squirrel out.

2. I was at the beach during the early summer months, and the signs were up saying "careful of sting rays" or some such nonsense. We had been to the beach so many times without seeing sting rays in the water that we really didn't pay attention to it anymore. We did the sting ray shuffle and went swimming. Well...I was floating along on a raft, belly down, paddling along. I got close to shore and suddenly saw all these STING RAYS! I began paddling to get away, but they were all over the place!! Along comes brother again to tell me to stop paddling in circles. I had been paddling around the same little school of SKATES (not stingers) and thought I had been surrounded by killer rays.

3. Just last year my husband and I were out walking with his brother. His brother was looking for raccoons (he hunts with dogs)...I must mention that we were not out hunting, his brother was just looking for new tracks and other clues he looks for (I don't know). I was walking one way, and my husband was walking the other way, and his brother was walking another way. We kept calling out "pig pie" to let each other know where we were. So I walk up on a pair of raccoons. I have never seen a raccoon in the wild, and I think "awwww, how cute, with their little burgler masks on, and their little hands..." Until one HISSED at me. And got all arched back. And of course, I ran...in circles. I think I confused the little rascals and they ran off. But my husband and his brother are still laughing at my reaction to the "cute little things."

I can't imagine what would happen if it was a real threat. I'm hoping the circles would confuse the enemy!

[Scarletprayers]

I got chased into the laundry room by a possum, one night. I heard a noise outside and opened the door to see what it was. I got to sit on the dryer for about and hour before he went away so I could close the door. My kids were little and asleep, and my husband was as usual.

Yes, I heard that possums were ravenous killers.

SMARTY!

They bite, and they quite often carry rabbies!

[Northern lass]

I've not really come across possums, rabid squirrels, snakes or bears in the wilds of Shropshire!!

There are SOME advantages about living in the UK! However, my brother got bitten by an adder once on the moors and had to be rushed to hospital.