What wild animals concern, worry, or even scare you ?

Edwood7 said:
I just recently started working in a jungle environment down in the south of Mexico. A lot of venomous snakes down here. But the leeches are a new thing for me, they are every were.
Click to expand...

Et we have them here all the time. We even have tales of them living inside our anus.
Well some said it's urban myth.
Leech_Sock_Cover_3.jpg


Leech socks help a lot and we try not to have too much sodium before we go into the jungle (funny thing is it dies in a pool of fluid whenever you spread table salt on it)
It's very sensitive to body heat.
A tribeman told me just in case of too many mossy just slam your machete into the termite's nest and squash the troops into pulps, apply over your body and not a single soul will come close!:eek:

The period when it's about to pour in the midst of the tropical heat, almost all reptiles will be out for moisture. I once stumbled 2 cobras in the same trail within 5 mins.
The tribesman here aren't shaken by panthers or tigers but whenever they hear elephants they cried and ran for their life!
 
Feral dogs.
No fear of people with the killer instinct of wolves.

Plus snakes. I hate snakes. All of them. You wanna see a 200 lb country boy scream like a 90 lb girl throw a snake at me.
 
Sharp_newbie said:
Bears. not so much now that i moved to central Alberta. and not so much that they where a big concern where i lived before in northern Alberta. Its more of a phobia for me. i have been ridiculously close to a few big black bears before(unintentionally). and once i stumbled upon a fresh kill while hiking, thankfully the bear was no around or decided not to show itself and i got out of there without incident. I just don't like bears, they scare the beejeezuz out of me. My solution is a slew of bear bell on my packs, bear spray and shout out loudly every couple of minutes to let them know exactly where i am.
Click to expand...

About the same story here bud. No close calls but I took the bear thing quite seriously. It made my hoop tight to walk back miles along a shoreline hours later and see fresh tracks. Having a back pack with my fish limit inside made me feel like a walking refrigerator.
 
About the same story here bud. No close calls but I took the bear thing quite seriously. It made my hoop tight to walk back miles along a shoreline hours later and see fresh tracks. Having a back pack with my fish limit inside made me feel like a walking refrigerator.
Click to expand...

Hahaha yup, can't think of all the times me and my brother would walk home from the lake through the woods with fish in our hands, like a homing beacon for bears and an easy meal.

Ah, to be young and careless again hahaha
 
Paddling_man said:
What scares me? (Beside people...) Stinking rabid raccoons. Even normal raccoons I'm not fond of. Those little leaping devils with opposable thumbs and sharp teeth. Too darned smart and the rabid ones will leap up and attack horses and cows.

Devils, I tell ya. Just like Facebook.
Click to expand...

Exactly right and well said! By the way, I'm using the last line as my new sig quote. Thanks ;)
 
to the OP, none... there isnt much a 454 cant take care of...:)
i live in griz, black bear, mountain lion, wolf etc. country. i camp by myself quite often and sleep on the ground without a tent like a happy baby at night. there is nothing to fear. its just all in your mind...
 
I respect moose the most. From stories I've heard and watching them my whole life I don't trust them. Other than being aware and making enough noise for the activity I put my faith in fate outdoors. (not that I pass out with a raw steak in my mouth or anything). I've walked up on bull moose within 20 or so paces that startled both parties, crested a hill to find 3 bull Musk ox staring back and start to paw the ground, had a grizzly walk up to our tents without waking anybody (tracks walked up to the tents and carried on to the ocean); but the only time I've been actually scared by a pair of Peregrene Falcons. I was sitting on a cliff face watching for signs of Eider ducklings going to the ocean. Suddenly a falcon rose from in front of me and swooped at me! I threw myself flat on my back as another rose from right in front again. They attacked from both sides to keep me confused. I had to scuttle on my back away as they kept attacking!

Not the most dangerous event, but it was the scariest; and 800km away from the nearest hamlet a nice claw gouge wouldn't have been a picnic with a 4 hour hike back to camp. Definately worth it for the whole experience, but close to changing my shorts.
 
Last edited:
Bufford said:
Man eating carnivors are certainly a concern/problem, but what about mice? Mice can move in and do alot of damage in short order. They move in take over and do allot of damage, stink up the place and chew everything to bits and spread disease. Every summer and fall they come crawling and chewing through the walls and one has to keep up steady baiting and replacing traps. Having served on our vollunteer fire department we have gone to several fires that were started by mice chewing through wiring.
Click to expand...

Please read thi s all the way through, as I do not think of myself as bullet proof to the stress large predators can bring on a human.
I'm a young guy. My wilderness experiences are nothing compared to many on this forum, but for me, I have at least chewed some of the same dirt as some well respected outdoorsmen. Recently Living up in the Appalachians, I consider bears a slight nuisance. I've encountered about 5 or 6 in the wild, all going the other direction once I professed hostility, or made my presence known. After purchasing a light weight 357 mag., I feel a little better even after that. Please keep in mind I don’t sleep in grizzly country, but Black Bears do not keep me up at night.
As far as mountain lions. I spent my adolescent life 1 mile from Mt. Diablo in California. Every weekend just about, I would mtn bike and camp up there alone. Never a problem. Sure the littlest rustle from whatever it was outside my tarp woke me up, but I never was really apprehensive just cause of a mtn lion threat. (didn't have a .357 then though :P). I never saw a Mtn Lion while I was there. I promised I wouldn’t become a statistic and slept close to a few knives I know I could grab when it hit the fan, critter wise. There, I was never kept up at night.
Coyotes? I now type on a dock, in the middle of no-where, South Carolina. I have internet connection (3g), but I can’t call my wife on the phone. Don't ask me how that works….Parallel from me, about 200 yards, is a camp site I like to stay at, where I was surrounded in a hammock (human burrito) by a pack of coyotes howling and carrying on. As soon as I moved, it was like walking in on a teenager that snuck their boyfriend into the room and didn't expect to get caught. They were dumbstruck, and then they panicked and scattered. Also happens every time I make my presence known when I'm in a stand. I type this and hear them howling. I’m not worried about coyotes unless my dog is missing. I’ve had a pack in my campsite, but once again, not enough to keep me up at night.
Everglades cured me of any python worries after catching a couple dozen. The Copperhead bite I've had, plus my love/ obsession for snakes and figuring out the biology behind them, writes me off for that. It isn’t fair to say I’m not afraid of snakes as I love and go looking for them. I just respect them.
Bugs....well, I wouldn't go stick my hand in a fire ant mound. or go to a place fervent with ticks that are known to carry Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, and Rickettsia thought I've done both on accident, and used knowledge (remove ticks within 24 hours) to help treat my stupidity at the time. I have a Minor in Entomology, so when an insect is vexing me I am morbidly fascinated. Not so popular with my friends.

Ok. I admit to having a few second thoughts in Mtn. Lion country, and even in places where bear problems have been, but what I am trying to profess is that none of these have kept me up at night…

But what has?
The biggest psychological onslaught, and the nights of torment that made me nervous, sleepless, restless, and awoken with my anger batter on full charge, were due to mice.
I'm a backpacker and an avid camper. In these situations, I've found myself in shelter after Shelter on the Appalachian trail, sea to mountains trail, and a host of other backwoods campsites. The problem with these is that the mice there have grown...well smart. Smarter than me ; to tell you the truth. Despite my love for animals and my degree in Zoology, Mice have robbed me more hours of sleep than I should like to admit. I remember one night, near Mt. Leconte off the AT, where it was my own vendetta, to stomp, smother, baton, and molest every mouse that was in the shelter. It all started with the previous night. I had mice skitter over my sleeping bag, and even across my face. I KNEW I had heard one chomping on my down bag even in 10 degree weather. Shouldn't that little twirp have been sleeping or hibernating? Hell no, these were human tolerant mutant x-gene mice that could work a residential redneck to lose their wits. They messed with me mentally until you could visibly see the brown puddles under my eyes spread.
The next morning, despite all the normal precautions and food cooking, I found 3 holes chewed in my $200 backpack. On my nice sleeping bag, there was a hole on the side, at the bottom, where some female vermin decided to extract my thermo-regulating fibers of my hollowfil bag to help insulate her progeny. Meanwhile, the bear bag outside, despite all my carefulness, had looked like it was set upon by surgical smurfs with chainsaws.
The next AT shelter had the same result. I was repeatedly awoken by these brave mice scurrying over my bag, not caring. Never before in my life had I ever had to combat such an enemy. My cabin mates dealt with it, in a symphony of uncomfortable sighs, mumbling, and shuffling.
I set up traps, threw rocks, and succeeded in killing 4 mice that night, in this shelter, in a combination of pan traps, violence, and patience. The sad part was we met a camper in a different shelter the next day, that had the same experience, despite my pest control attempt.
So, in my years of camping experience, in jungles, everglades, mtn. lion hunting grounds, mosquito infested, venomous snake saturated, bear habitat and even rednecks, nothing has robbed me of sleep, and made me paranoid, like the normal determined field mouse. I've found this experience on multiple occasions now, and if I am sleeping in an AT shelter, I now pack traps.


Those mice work people like a seasoned card manipulator in a Las Vegas Blackjack competition.
 
Well I'll be damned. Mice, go figure. I guess you never know until you go. Seems like every region has something to watch for.
 
Bears. I don't think I can beat up a bear.
Spiders and centipedes creep me out as well, as do ticks, but they don't so much scare me as seem gross.
 
Right where I live, really, just rattlesnakes. Coyotes don't really bother grown ups around here. Adult Male deer in rut can kill you, as can elk.

A little further north, what I really worry about are bear (had one try to climb into my landcruiser with me........let me tell you, old fashioned roll up windows are not quick enough when you need them to be. Same location, a bear followed me out onto a dock (shaped like a T. and luckily I was already in my swim suit. I dove under the water, and swam under the water to the next dock over, and came up underneath the dock. The bear was at the end of the dock looking for me, trying to figure out where I went).

Mountain lion up there, as well as moose, and all the other northern Washington critters don't really bother me as much as bear (though mountain lions do give me pause).

Actually, I had a run in with a bald eagle more than once too! For some reason, if you are too close to a nest (as in riding your motorcycle past, or fishing the bank in your boat, the eagles will actually swoop and harass when they young in the nest).
 
stabman said:
Bears. I don't think I can beat up a bear.
Spiders and centipedes creep me out as well, as do ticks, but they don't so much scare me as seem gross.
Click to expand...

I don't like to admit it, but snakes are creeping me out a bit more now, than when I was a kid.
 
The kind that wear baggy pants, bandannas and have gold teeth. Some sort of urban predator. Saw them on Animal Planet
 
upnorth said:
I don't like to admit it, but snakes are creeping me out a bit more now, than when I was a kid.
Click to expand...
I quite like snakes. I even played with a baby rattlesnake up near Toronto area before. It was really cute.:)
 
upnorth said:
I'm from Oshawa originally. Mississauga rattlers ?
Click to expand...

Yep. It was very newly hatched. I found it at a PPC shoot when turning over some stones while waiting to shoot. It was neat how cute they are when small.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top