When Animals Attack! Anyone?

I've had runins with a lot of animals over the years, as I guess anyone who spends much time woodsrunning would. Pretty much any animal can give you a fight if they feel threatened, cornered, or defending food or young. The fiercest encounter, the one that nearly did me in was....a beaver.

I was on one of my weeks long winter canoe trips one winter. Paddling along, enjoying towering bluffs, brilliant blue skys, and water so clear you could see every rock on the gravel bottom. In water that clear, it can be hard to judge the exact depth. I would occasionally plunge my paddle straight down to touch a boulder, improving my guestimations. Well, I noticed a beaver gliding along under my canoe, and for some reason I can't remember to this day, I decided to give him a "Dixie head pat". Bad move. He attacked. First he nearly yanked my paddle out of my hand, setting the canoe rocking. Then he disappeared. Wasn't to the left. Wasn't to the right. BUMP! Like a shark, he attacked the bottom of the canoe, grabbing the keel. Then he showed himself! Whack! Rut roh. He was one P.O.'d beaver with a headache. Every time I tried to paddle a stroke, he went for my paddle. He grabbed it once and shook it, me and the canoe. Then he disappeared again. As I went on downstrean, I replayed the unprovoked attack in my mind. KER-POW!! Ever heard a beaver slap the water with it's tail? A foot away? Well, needless to say I escaped, but I got to listen to beaver tails slap the water that night while I was camped. Can they chew through a tent? Will he and his buddies come after me? I did learn not to mess with beavers. An angry beaver is a dangerous beaver.

Codger
 
Smokelaw, Roscoe ? there's nothing dangerous here in Sullivan Co. You must have been attacked by a rogue snipe !!!.....Fonly, you have to get a copy of the Wallace and Gromit movie "The Curse of the Were Rabbit" !!!
 
haha, Ya when I first saw
quest for the holy grail" which was A LONG time ago, I freggin laughed my head off, and wallace and gromit is the one thats done with clay right?
I thought that looked pretty good, but just to many things goin on while it came out.

BTW, I got attacked by a rabbit BUT, IT WAS ONLY A FLESH WOUND!!!

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Had to coax a fer de lance into a sac in my tent while camping in Costa rica...Nerver racking!!!! I felt like steve irwin though...accidentally cornered a raccon in a chicken coup when I was younger Neither of us were happy He was hissin and started comin my way but unfortunately for him I was closer to the pitchfork. once got rushed bya a rottweiler while doing some raod walking after coming out of the bush in an unexpected area luckily for me he was all talk.
 
I was walking through a field at night a few years back, mid summer, when some sort of creature charged me from just a few feet in front of me.
It was pitch black, and the field was full of scrub and weeds, so I had no idea what it was, just that it was no taller then a foot or two, and it didnt make a sound. When I went left, it moved left, when I went right, it went right.
I had no idea if I was dealing with a rabid porcupine or what, but with the adrenaline I had from the sudden spook I dont know why I just didn't jump 30 feet over its head.
I just backed up and gave a very wide berth.
For some reason noone was as concerned for me as I felt I deserved, so I made a stiff drink and smoked a cigarette for the first time in 2 years.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Probly part of Bun-Bun's crew. ;)
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My old man used to shoot a beaver now and then when moose hunting. Whack the tail off and drop it in a pot of boiling water. In a few minutes you can easily peel the skin off. He would cook the tail meat after that and claimed it was tender like cow tongue. I have never tried it myself as it smelled like a dogs ass to me. But it would be a food option in the bush. I also remember shooting rabbits one time in a high numbers year of their population cycles. I had a sack full of them. I was nailing them with head shots using .22 shorts. I must have hit one poorly as it starting squealing like hell. A loud high pitched squealing. I ran over and grabbed it by the back legs and swung, smashed it against a tree to kill it. I also felt a little crappy as I do not like to leave a hunted animal suffering. So I am thumping this rabbit until it croaks. Then.......... dead silence and no more rabbits. I was seeing them here and there. Then after the rabbit terror screeching, they must have all buggered off.
 
Well, here is my best one. I lived in middle Georgia and sometime in the 70's me and my real cool friend who had spent a lot of time hunting and some time on the river, decided to drift from our town down to the next town downstream on the Okmulgee river. His wife would drop us off and pick us up. So we loaded up the little 10' jonboat (you know the kind that has around 3" of water to the top of the sides, the ones you can not lean over any) with I think a 5.5 Merc. So we loaded it with all the beer we could fit in it along with his white english bulldog. A few hours later we come around a curve and there is this huge 14' or so gator laying on the bank perhaps 40 yards off. When I say something like LOOK, I guess the dog sees him to and starts to bark at him. Well,this gator lifts up his head up and looks at us and then starts to crawl into the water toward us. I told my buddy that perhaps now would be a good time to fire up the motor and go. He tells me that gators are scared of humans and that we have nothing to fear at all and that he is just trying to avoid us, that it just there nature to do that. Well right after that this gator started to hit the bottom of our boat hard trying to tip us over or dislodge us. Man, I have never seen an expert on gators move so fast. The old Merc would always start on the first or the very worst the second pull. At least 7-9 pulls later and a lot of fumbleing to see if it was primed, it finally started. After reading about these attacks I am so glad I had to hold on to the boat to keep it from tipping over, what might have happened had I given him a "Dixie Head Slap".
 
mete said:
Smokelaw, Roscoe ? there's nothing dangerous here in Sullivan Co. You must have been attacked by a rogue snipe !!!.....Fonly, you have to get a copy of the Wallace and Gromit movie "The Curse of the Were Rabbit" !!!
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That's the odd thing. We were all (foir kids) pretty well versed on what was in those woods. I am even more so now. And I've done enough snipe hunting in my younger days (even led a few hunts) to know that those woods are pretty well cleaned out!
I remember when some of the weaker or younger kids told parents or camp leaders what had happened, there was talk of badger, wolverine, etc. Most of us mostly figure it might have been a raccoon or something, with a BIG dash of terrified juvenile thrown in!
 
I was coming up out of my favorite fishing spot, when I saw some bushes moving beside the main trail. I thought, "Cool! A deer" and kinda snuck over for a closer look.

Not a deer. A huge hiss like a Komodo dragon on steroids.

Cougar. She looked at me, I backed away real slow, talking gently & quietly (and placatingily)

She followed me once later in the year, but the birds gave me warning and she decided it wasn't worth it.
 
Not really a wilderness animal encounter but, anyway, the most afraid any animal ever made me was this:

Riding my BMW K75 motorcycle home via Hwy 9 to Boulder Creek, CA. It was just one more late night out of too many late nights at work. Pitch black. No moon. Butt-ass tired. Bit of rain on the road. I'm doing 40 mph when suddenly something rushes me from the side of the road. Just caught a dark streak against the darker pavement out of the corner of my eye. No time to react. BAM! Something slams into my front wheel. My entire front steering column vibrates and the bike does a little wobble and I find myself lurching across the center line, more from a reflexive attempt to avoid the critter, whatever it was.

Clench sphincter. Shove heart back down throat. Proceed on home, swearing mightily the entire way. The next morning I cleaned a bit of blood off the front brake disc. No hair, but that would have gotten scrapped away by the brakes.

I traveled that road everyday for nearly two years, but I never did figure out what it was that tried to eat my motorcycle's wheel at 40 mph. Damn critter.

I have since given up motorcycles. ;)
 
Just this past weekend I was walking my dog with my wife and 4 month old baby and we were attacked by a big mean mastiff (well over 100 lbs). It grabbed my 70lb dog by the neck and trashed him around like a rag doll and as soon as he let go he turned to get me (my wife and son were moving quickly towards home).
I shot the dog one time in the back and his hind legs dropped from under him. The fight was over and my wife and son were safe (my dog is shaken and has a few bad punctures in his neck, but he is doing better).

When the police showed up I immediatly told the police officer what happened. I asked him if he wanted my license and carry permit. He just asked where I lived (just a few houses away) and told me "OK"
about a half hour later the officer and the animal control investigator stopped by and just asked me to fill out a short one page report and send it to animal control. The officer told me I did what I had to do.

In New York or somewhere like that I would be sent to jail for defending my family. In Florida they consider it a community service because I got rid of an animal that has attacked people before:thumbup:
 
^^Good job!^^
I never understood why people owned pets that are bred for violence and destruction. If its for home protection, keep it locked in the house so it will turn on you instead of the neighbourhood kids.
 
Liam Ryan said:
^^Good job!^^
I never understood why people owned pets that are bred for violence and destruction. If its for home protection, keep it locked in the house so it will turn on you instead of the neighbourhood kids.
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The owner of the dog was a troubled kid in his early twenties. He kept the dog chained outside while he was working. My cat could have broken that chain!.

The day after it happened the kid approached me as I was walking my dog and he asked me how my dog was. This is about 5 minutes after 2 squad cars were in front of his place questioning him (turns out he was in a rage all night and was destroying his home and screaming all night).

The guy was still upset, but he approached me to shake my hand and appologize for anything that my family went through. I was very wary, on guard, but more than anything surprised. Nobody told this kid what happened to his dog except that someone shot it and animal control took it away. I explained exactly what happened to him. I told him I feel sorry for him loosing his dog, and that I never wanted to hurt an animal (even a mean one), but I had no regrets about doing what I had to do to protect me and my family.

He understood, and said he might have done the same thing if he had a kid who was there. We talked for about 30 minutes. He pet my dog and checked out the wounds on his neck... he may have wanted to kill me for shooting his dog, but he understood. He told me his dog had attacked people before but he really is a good dog. I told him he is lucky he isn't going to jail for assault (in Florida, we are responsible for the actions of our dogs), and I told him I don't want him to have to go to jail for this. I let him know how lucky he was that nothing happened to my wife or son... he seemed to get the message.

I would rather not have ever met this kid because now I feel sad for him. But it's probably for the better because now I think I am less likely to have a problem with him in the future. However, if I had to do it again I would hope I could do the exact same thing.


P.S. This didn't happen in the wilderness, but when an animal in your neighborhood acts like a wild animal, treat it as such!
 
I had a bear charge me while deer hunting. it came out into the corn field and saw me behind my bale of hay. It charged me(why I dont know) but my TC Omega didnt care. it was within 3-5 feet of me and when I shot it dropped and right infront of my bale of hay. I grabbed my knife and and waited.....it ran off down the hedge row and and went into the brush. I reloaded and cautiously went in after it. I found it in a thicket, it tried to get up and I hit it again. YES i know it was out of season but I have never been charge d like that before...scarred the hell outa me. Luckily this was on my own land in PA and there were no problems.

I have had wild dogs bother me on my land in KY, I have shot at them and killed several while hunting.They are worse than Coyotes as they dont shy humans. They travel in packs as people just let them loose near the road and they grow up running around.

I also had a beaver bite me and tare open my hand while i was trapping. i thought it was drowned and when I reached in to grab it.....it grabbed me. I needed 9 stiches down my left hand and finger. The pelt wasnt much good when I was done with that critter.
 
barrabas74 said:
I had a bear charge me while deer hunting. it came out into the corn field and saw me behind my bale of hay. It charged me(why I dont know) but my TC Omega didnt care. it was within 3-5 feet of me and when I shot it dropped and right infront of my bale of hay. I grabbed my knife and and waited.....it ran off down the hedge row and and went into the brush. I reloaded and cautiously went in after it. I found it in a thicket, it tried to get up and I hit it again. YES i know it was out of season but I have never been charge d like that before...scarred the hell outa me. Luckily this was on my own land in PA and there were no problems.

I have had wild dogs bother me on my land in KY, I have shot at them and killed several while hunting.They are worse than Coyotes as they dont shy humans. They travel in packs as people just let them loose near the road and they grow up running around.

I also had a beaver bite me and tare open my hand while i was trapping. i thought it was drowned and when I reached in to grab it.....it grabbed me. I needed 9 stiches down my left hand and finger. The pelt wasnt much good when I was done with that critter.
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AIN'T THAT LIFE....YOU SURVIVE GIANT BEAR ATTACKS AND VICIOUS DOG ATTACKS AND IN THE END IT'S A BEAVER THAT DOES THE MOST DAMAGE....SOUNDS LIKE MY LUCK.....LOL
 
I was jogging around campus one time and some nesting birds started dive bombing me, was more funny then scary, Wrapped my arms over my head and kept running.
had to make a detour around that tree on my running path for a couple weeks.


One time in Yosemite the people in the campsite next to us decided not to put all their food in the bear box and left some in the car. bout 2 in the morning I wake up and hear snuffling right next to my tent, I stick my head out and theres a big brown bear sniffing around the back door to their car. it stands up on its hind legs and grabs the top of the door and bends the whole top half of the door down, shattering the window. The bear proceeds to climb into their car and for the next hour sat in the back seat and ate generic fruit rollups. The owners tried banging pots hitting thecar door on the other side, nothing worked, the bear just sat there and ate his fruit rollups. Finally he wandered on down the campsite and the people packed up and left, not wanting to get fined for feeding the bears.

I dont have any sympathy for them... there was a perfectly good bearbox in their campsite... and its a known problem.


another trip in yosemite my dad and I were cooking/eating pasta at a picnic area and some bears were in the apple trees at the edge of the area eating apples and watching us, occasionally sniffing at the air.(deciding if they wanted our pasta or not I'm sure) after a while they wandered off, but its kinda cool saying I ate dinner with bears.
 
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