What animal do you fear most? And why?

[CJW]

The 2 inch drop when walking along stageing where the planks overlap has stopped my heart more than once.

The infamous 2" death drop. I know it well.

 

[CEO]

Ticks - Hated with a fiery passion. Sneaky, unnoticed, transmit horrible things and are just generally detestable. Other than that I’m fine........what was that itch?!?!?

I was hunting Nilgai in South Texas a few years back. It was one of those areas where you give yourself a once over after each hunt to make sure no ticks are stuck to you. Sitting in my chair one morning and swore I felt something on my upper leg...paid it no mind...a few minutes later I feel a sight twinge of pain on the end of my "manhood". I jump up, yank everything covering my lower body down, and a tick is trying to enter the exit hole. I squeeze as hard as I can with one hand to keep him from going in and pinch the tick off with the other.

I probably looked like some type of perv with an outdoor fetish, and it is funny to think about now, but I was terrified for a moment.

 

[PARA45]

I'm a tick magnet, it doesn't matter if there are no ticks within 1000 miles, I'll end up with one. Too bad I'm a tick and not chick magnet. LMAO!!!! When my wife and I went to SA, she slept on the ground while we sat in a hide, she played with the dogs, sat on the ground. Guess who ended up with a tick? That's right, me. The lodge owner freaked out, and asked me everyday if I had any fever, they were scared I would end up getting tick fever. I guess I must be immune to the little SOBs!

 

[Scott CWO]

Definitely have a respect for DG. I’ve seen the videos and heard the stories of following up wounded leopards and lions. I hope I never have to participate in such an affair.

Following up any wounded large animal is extremely dangerous and worries me. The animal has the advantage of the element of surprise until you see them. I’ve had to follow up wounded bears and mountain lions and have been lucky. The closest call I’ve had was a huge 6x7 gut shot bull elk that an older client wounded from 250 yards just before dark across a small canyon. It was dark by the time we got over there. We bumped it once in the dark but I heard it stop running. I took the rifle and held it with a mag light on the forend in my left hand with my right hand ready and finger on the trigger. I tried to find the bull again. It was a steep slope and I ended up walking just 6 yards below it. I heard a branch snap directly above me as the big bull stood up. I turned towards the sound with the light and rifle and as soon as the light beam reached the bull, it lowered its head and charged! I got one quick shot off and jumped behind a tree trunk. The elk almost collapsed on top of me, dead. I should have just come back in the morning and let it die.

 

[gizmo]

It depends if we are talking in general or hunting circumstances. In general I am shit scared of spiders, I hate them. In hunting my DG experience is limited having only hunted two true DG animals, Lion and Cape buffalo. I wasnt scared of the buffalo at all, though I should have been. However, once on the ground tracking my lion through thick bush on foot was truly terrifying. One of the few times I've ever well and truly been scared and I loved it. I would hunt lion every day of my life if I could, being on the ground with a 600lb pissed off cat is truly humbling and when the blow your face off with a big roar you can feel it through your chest all the way to your toes!

 

[PeteG]

Bats


and Chinese.

 

[spike.t]

Bats


and Chinese.

Oh yeah....

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Good point on the two legged predators, early 90s in National City a whole group of those two legged predators chased us for being "there" and a different color. Thank the Lord for that taxi squealing in and rescuing us when he did. Yes I was scared. A know your surroundings and situational awareness lesson driven home hard.

MB

@MarkB
There is something even more fearsome than that or any other animal, reptile or insect put on God's earth.
That being an angry WIFE. They are truly dangerous and frightening.
A friend of mine one asked me if I knew what big game hunting was.
I told him my answer but was told I was wrong.
His answer was.
Big game hunting was asking the wife if you could go hunting on her birthday or anniversary. Said you had to be BIG AND GAME to ask her that question.
A passed off wife is a truly frightening thing.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Nope! Not now. Not later. Not f'n ever.

View attachment 395825
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@RandyF
That's cute
Bob

 

[Randy F]

@RandyF
That's cute
Bob

You’re not right Bob.

 

[Opposite Pole]

@RandyF
That's cute
Bob

Aussie aussie aussie oy oy oy

 

[Newboomer]

Feathers. I'm not really scared but I hate anything with feathers. We had a big old rooster when I was a kid. That damn thing would chase us, jump on our backs and peck the hell out of us.
Missing or slipping off a step on a ladder. That's a heart stopping feeling.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I think circumstance has a lot to do with it. I live in robust brown bear country, and camp out quite a bit. In general I respect bears but they don't scare me, though I've had a few situations that made the hackles on my neck raise. I was camped in a remote drop off spot with my two young daughters, caribou hunting. There was a sub-adult brown bear that was lingering around camp as the sun went down. The weather changed just after dark. Wind and a bit of rain came up, and because I couldn't hear clearly, it woke me up many times that night, I think because my daughters were there. Probably the smart thing, in hindsight, would have been to touch off a round to send it scurrying, before it got dark, but I failed to do that.

Like many on here, I can't think of much that scares me. My ex did for a while, but she's now a distant memory. Normal stuff like insects, spiders, and snakes don't, though some of the stories I've read about mambas give me pause. Many members of Congress, some state legislators, and our own city council all somewhat frighten me, just because there seems to be enough of a "stupid" block of voters that they keep voting them back in, thus giving them power. Dentists scare the piss out of me, but that's my own personal issue.

 

[Chickenfarmers]

Bats


and Chinese.

@PeteG I am with you on this one.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

To the above, since bears have come up, my frequent hunting partner, and the pastor of our church... bears scare him not in the least. I was there one night when he killed a belligerent one... in the dark... in a driving rain... with his .44... in nothing but his underwear. And I guarantee it never crossed his mind that there was any reason to worry. It was an adult too, a bit over 8 feet and fat from eating fish all summer. Still one of the craziest things I've ever witnessed.

 

[crs]

Drunk drivers.

 

[Cervus elaphus]

For me it is the Grizzly bear. Any animal that plays with its prey for 2 hours gets my respect. Let's just get it overwith already !
Watching the revenant or the edge dont help the fear !

In Australia it's the saltwater crocodiles (salties) that are top of my list because any water with access to the sea up north is dangerous and if you're near the water, you're on the menu. Think Masai Mara river Africa although those Nile crocs are huge compared to our salties. The attached pic is of Krys, a rare 8.6m monster shot in the Norman river Queensland by a petite Polish woman, and is the largest croc ever taken in the country.
photo credit: dailymail.uk

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You’re not right Bob.

@RandyF
Mate I think spiders are cute. I can't help it If'n you don't like em.
Bob.

 

[Cervus elaphus]

Definitely have a respect for DG. I’ve seen the videos and heard the stories of following up wounded leopards and lions. I hope I never have to participate in such an affair.

Following up any wounded large animal is extremely dangerous and worries me. The animal has the advantage of the element of surprise until you see them. I’ve had to follow up wounded bears and mountain lions and have been lucky. The closest call I’ve had was a huge 6x7 gut shot bull elk that an older client wounded from 250 yards just before dark across a small canyon. It was dark by the time we got over there. We bumped it once in the dark but I heard it stop running. I took the rifle and held it with a mag light on the forend in my left hand with my right hand ready and finger on the trigger. I tried to find the bull again. It was a steep slope and I ended up walking just 6 yards below it. I heard a branch snap directly above me as the big bull stood up. I turned towards the sound with the light and rifle and as soon as the light beam reached the bull, it lowered its head and charged! I got one quick shot off and jumped behind a tree trunk. The elk almost collapsed on top of me, dead. I should have just come back in the morning and let it die.

I had a similar experience with a large wounded wild boar shot while spotlighting on a property. It went into a heavy wooded manuka gully and we could hear it grunting and gnashing. Should have come back in the morning with dogs but no, the boss insisted we go after it in the dark with weak torches and visibility 2 inches from the face. We could hear the pig as he crashed his way downhill but never caught up thankfully. Next morning we came back with dogs but never found him, dead or alive. Like most of us, I hate to lose a wounded animal.

 

[BC.Pat]

I throw my lot in with the folks with snakes, grew up dealing with rattlers. But mambas and fleur de lance are the ones that haunt my sleep, had close calls with all.
Fingers crossed those days are behind me.
Pat