Have you ever had a run in with a dangerous wild animal?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I'm sipping my coffee and dreaming about going camping in the wilderness. Somewhere really remote. It would be awe inspiring, but also in reality I'd be too scared of getting lost or being eaten by some of the local wildlife so will probably never actually do it.

Has anyone been wilderness camping or similar? Did you have any narrow squeaks with snakes/ jaguars/ crocodiles?

[TheyCallMeJustice]

Gorillas in Rwanda. They are allowed to touch you, but you can't touch them! You have to hike to where they settle. We were with a tribe of around 25 gorillas- different ages, including 2 silverbacks and newborns. None touched me, but a teenage gorilla lightly pushed my husband! The guides were able to communicate with the gorillas through sounds, it was incredible!

[Chemenger]

TheyCallMeJustice I am consumed by jealousy.

[Eivor]

Me too TheyCallMeJustice, that’s my dream.

[AzureHawker2]

No wild animals but last year we got charged at by a cow which then chased our dog along the edge of a cliff which was a bit terrifying. I grew up in a farm and always been quite confident around livestock but
I’ll never go in a field with cows again if I can avoid it!

[Ringsender2]

Love the pissing squirrel.
V jealous of the gorillas.
Brilliant and hair-raising tales from everyone.
Love the 'who's got the most badass critters' national pride

[cariadlet]

I'm also very jealous of @TheyCallMeJustice.


We had a holiday of a lifetime booked for last summer. Dp had worked out a route that involved travelling through Uganda, DRC and Rwanda. We had booked a hostel in Uganda where we could go on a walk with a guide and see chimpanzees in the wild and had also booked a camp which would take us trekking to see gorillas.


Covid completely fucked that up. ☹️

[TheyCallMeJustice]

@cariadlet

I'm also very jealous of *@TheyCallMeJustice*.

We had a holiday of a lifetime booked for last summer. Dp had worked out a route that involved travelling through Uganda, DRC and Rwanda. We had booked a hostel in Uganda where we could go on a walk with a guide and see chimpanzees in the wild and had also booked a camp which would take us trekking to see gorillas.

Covid completely fucked that up. ☹️

You were planning on trekking through DRC? I know of a family who visited DRC for the gorilla trekking and they had to be escorted with guns for the majority of the trip. Now the situation with the civil war has got worse, I would be surprised if it wouldn't be even more secure for tourists now. Two tourists were kidnapped in Volcanoes National Park a few days after we had done the trek!

I have been fortunate enough to go on a number of safaris in different countries, but Rwanda was special. I would definitely recommend it, although I appreciate the cost can be prohibitive- especially Rwanda.

[TheyCallMeJustice]

Hope you manage to get your trip back on track for next year!

To those who are jealous- book a trip!

[inigomontoyahwillcox]

Couple of occasions spring to mind:

Cape Point in South Africa. Lots of baboons about and warnings not to have visible food. Was on my way back to our car and grabbed a sandwich from a small kiosk, tried to stuff it in my pocket but was clocked by a particularly big baboon which I then vividly remember clearing car after car in the carpark towards me whilst I desperately fumbled with the keys to get the door open. I didn't succeed in time and it dive bombed me, grabbed the sandwich and dislocated my thumb in the process! Can only blame myself for that one.

Went white water rafting on the Zambezi river (started at the base of Victoria Falls - just incredible). Made our way through the rapids, all very exciting - and a little terrifying. Got to one of the more sedate rapids and the instructor said that we could get in the water and bob through that one for something different to do. I was the only one who took him up on the offer and in I got. Went through the rapid, floated around a small bend to find myself face-to-face with about 6 Nile Crocodiles! Fortunately the boat wasn't too far away and I was scooped up within about 15 seconds but it felt like an eternity and they definitely had lunch in their eyes whilst they made their way in my direction.

Oh and one more - final dive whilst doing my PADI in the Cook Islands. Just the instructor and I at about 18m. Saw a shadow looming in the distance which got a little less shadowy and a little more shark - shaped. The instructor didn't seem particularly bothered so I was fine, he did eventually decide to get on the boat though. It was an oceanic white tip - almost indistinguishable from a great white, and apparently responsible for more fatal attacks.

[cariadlet]

@TheyCallMeJustice We were going to DRC just for the gorillas rather than doing any other trekking there. We'd booked to visit Virunga National Park.

[Buggeredpelvicfloor2013]

Oh gosh these make mine look so tame..... driving to work one morning and a huge bloody bull had escaped from the local farm and was running down the road towards me. I literally slammed on the brakes and as it got to my car it stopped and started sniffing at the window (thank god it was early so no one was behind me). All I could think of in my panic was bloody jurassic park and if you stay still it won't see you move , so stupid given it wasn't a dinosaur! Anyway, after a minute or so it galloped past with umpteen farm hands running after it shouting and waving. Quite funny thinking back now but at the time I was terrified.

[inigomontoyahwillcox]

All I could think of in my panic was bloody jurassic park and if you stay still it won't see you move

😆

[Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady]

Charged by a herd of bullocks

Charged by horses (I jumped into a river to avoid them)

Aparently I'm very chargeable! 🤷‍♀️

When my brother was about 10 he killed an adder. He strangled it.

He said it was going to bite him but I just think he had been watching too many Indiana Jones films tbh.

[isthismylifenow]

@Buggeredpelvicfloor2013

Oh gosh these make mine look so tame..... driving to work one morning and a huge bloody bull had escaped from the local farm and was running down the road towards me. I literally slammed on the brakes and as it got to my car it stopped and started sniffing at the window (thank god it was early so no one was behind me). All I could think of in my panic was bloody jurassic park and if you stay still it won't see you move , so stupid given it wasn't a dinosaur! Anyway, after a minute or so it galloped past with umpteen farm hands running after it shouting and waving. Quite funny thinking back now but at the time I was terrified.

[LimpLettice]

Got bitten on the ankle by an enormous spider round a campfire in China. Think dinner plate enormous. I'm arachnophobic and only caught a glance as it galloped away. Not hugely toxic but the bite was very sore and my ankle looked quite bad for a few days. Expedition doctor gave strong antibiotics and antihistamines. Also saw several huge redhead centipedes climbing the wall. Fascination things but really quite creepy.

[Dullardmullard]

@Didiplanthis

At a zoo when a wanking Lorus ejaculated onto the glass as I stopped to see what it was...

Seems it a common theme with them

Many moons ago before they put in the glass plate one grab a lady all poshly dressed through the bars and wanked in her hair, she was screaming like a banshee but her offender didn’t give a shit. Zookeeper comes over and says “Roger you’ve to play nice “ I swear the bloody monkey grinned at him

[JudyGemstone]

I remember being at the zoo as a kid, a large chimp shat into its hand and threw it at me 🤣 luckily the screen was there as it’s aim was pretty good!

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

When we were kids, me and my sister went with our dad to hammer in a mooring post on the edge of a field opposite his boat. The field had very tall grass so you couldn't really see anything around you. Anyway, as we were finding our way there, we heard this snarling and dad dragged us out of there sharpish. We've no idea what made that noise but it definitely didn't sound like a dog, more like a big wild cat of some sort. We never found out what it was and no-one else ever reported hearing or seeing anything in that field. This was in the UK btw, North Lincs/Humber sort of area.

Not me but my home town, many years ago some lions escaped from a circus and one of them mauled a young boy to death Circuses were banned after that and it's only in the last 10-15 years they've come back to town.

[WeAllHaveWings]

My old place of work was a large chemical factory surrounded by greenbelt and we regularly had foxes in the buildings, came across a large snarling one once trying to get past me and I had nowhere to go. Thankfully if backed off in the other direction.

I get the occasional fb post from my cousin in British Columbia, Canada about black bears around the house (once one had got into her car through an open window, another was near her house when she got back from work so she couldn't leave the car!), a buck charging their dd walking to school or cougars spotted near the school - I guess it is just normal for them, but sounds terrifying!

[Snaketime]

This wasn't dangerous, but was hilarious. My 6ft 17st husband once got chased by a ............ Praying mantis 🤣🤣 he flicked water at it to get it to move from the middle of the path and it chased after him. I have never seen him move so fast in my life.

[fdgdfgdfgdfg]

Spent a year in Australia during which I spent a few weeks working on a little suburban farm. Spent the morning weeding, had this huge pile of weeds by lunchtime ( about waist high).

Went in for lunch and when I came back out started chucking the pile of weeds in a wheelbarrow. The third time I plunged my hands in this snake shot out and between my legs, before disappearing at speed.

The bloke I was with identified it as a Dugite, which is fairly venomous. Was very glad it decided to run away rather than attack!

[ajandjjmum]

I heard about someone digging a couple of holes for gate posts to be cemented in in NSW - fairly deep. When they came back the next morning, there were brown snakes in each of the holes! That too was on a farm.

[CaveMum]

Never had an encounter myself but a friend in Canada had a near miss with a Moose whilst driving. I'd never realised how big they are, I thought they were just like a large deer until she told me they were more like a small elephant!

[CaveMum]

Ooh, thought of another: DH used to be in the RAF and was in Iraq about 16 years ago. He was stationed at Basra Air Base and every now and then they'd find Camel Spiders sunning themselves (hint - do not google camel spiders if you are at all twitchy about spiders/insects).

Two things about camel spiders - they can run pretty fast and they can jump. One of DH's mates (big burly RAF Regiment guy) thought it would be amusing to poke one with a stick. Reader the camel spider was not impressed and jumped up onto the guys leg , who proceeded to (and I quote DH on this) "scream like a little girl".

To be honest if I got within 25ft of one of those buggers I'd be screaming like a little girl too!

[VetOnCall]

Moose are huge - this is a female, bulls are bigger. They sometimes like to lick the road salt off cars in backcountry hiking trail car parks