Most Dangerous Animal You've Handled/Been Close To

[Catfood220]

My big fat cat. No, really. I'll rub her belly, and she'll grab my hand, dig those razor-sharp claws in, and stare at me for a minute or so, just to let me know that if I touch the belly again, she'll peel me like a banana. Little shit is vicious.

Sounds a lot like my first cat, imaginatively named Catty by me. That cat could be happily curled up on your lap one minute purring happily, the next it would have its teeth suck into your hand for no reason. I think it hated everyone for having a rubbish name. Probably the most vicious creature I've ever been around.

That or the wasp that sting me on the head last year. That was a sneaky bastard wasp, usually they buzz around your head before trying to sting you, this one actually landed on top of my head and the first thing I knew about it was the stinging sensation when I put my hands on my head.

So there you have it, a nasty cat and a sneaky wasp. I generally stay away from things that want me dead.

 

[Rabbitboy]

I was in the zoo once looking at the tigers and one of them furiously jumped at the glass. And since I was five I cried like hell

 

[SoranMBane]

I touched a Black Widow accidentally. I'm quite lucky it didn't bite me.

Not really. Black widows, like most spiders, are actually very non-aggressive. Even when confronted with a potential large predator, they'll almost never try to bite unless escape isn't an option. There have been studies done one the aggressiveness of black widows [http://www.scilogs.com/expiscor/what-happens-when-you-poke-prod-and-pinch-black-widow-spiders-you-might-be-surprised/], and the results are pretty conclusive; they don't like to bite, and even when they do bite, most of those will be dry bites where no venom is injected (venom is expensive for them to make; they don't want to waste it on anything they can't eat). So, you probably weren't in any real danger unless you managed to trap the spider against something so that it couldn't run away.

 

[Mr Fixit]

I touched a Black Widow accidentally. I'm quite lucky it didn't bite me.

Not really. Black widows, like most spiders, are actually very non-aggressive. Even when confronted with a potential large predator, they'll almost never try to bite unless escape isn't an option. There have been studies done one the aggressiveness of black widows [http://www.scilogs.com/expiscor/what-happens-when-you-poke-prod-and-pinch-black-widow-spiders-you-might-be-surprised/], and the results are pretty conclusive; they don't like to bite, and even when they do bite, most of those will be dry bites where no venom is injected (venom is expensive for them to make; they don't want to waste it on anything they can't eat). So, you probably weren't in any real danger unless you managed to trap the spider against something so that it couldn't run away.

Ah, I did not know that, but it makes sense. I did destroy it's web though, so it might have felt threatened. I know I pulled back quite quickly when I saw that red marking. I have to be more careful when working on old cars that have set for a long time.

 

[MrRaggaedeman]

Wild boar, twice.

First time when I was driving home though the forest at night. It just stood there, watching me getting more and more angry in the middle of the road. Took me 15 minutes to pass that annoying pig.

The second time was a bit more frightening. The day before my friends and I went into the woods to make a campfire and get drunk. We slept in an old cottage near a clearance in the forest.
The next morning I woke up and felt terrible. I went out, drank half a gallon water and went into the woods to take a leak.
Halfway through I noticed the beast that was standing not three meters away. Like the other pig, this one was just staring at me for what seemed a very long time.
After a while I started to back off REALLY slowly every time the pig looked somewhere else for a second. It followed me but to my luck it was keeping the distance. I made it safely back to the cottage, locked the door, woke up all my friends and together we watched the boar examining the remains of our campsite.

The worst thing was that it was mating season for wild boars and it could have ended far worse.

 

[zumbledum]

i love England we have extincted anything remotely threatening, although i have been indecently assaulted by a swan, not that i blame it for wanting some of this sculpted ass, but it was unwanted nibbling

 

[dumbseizure]

Lets see, I live in Australia so I've had red belly black snakes in the backyard, redback spiders in the house, and been around crocodiles a few times.

None of that was as terrifying as getting swooped by magpies.

Those fuckers are dangerous, one decided to make a nest in a tree in our backyard once when I was younger, so when I went outside to jump on the trampoline, it tried to swoop me multiple times.

Luckily every time it swooped, I was actually falling down from jumping and it missed every time.

Also had a willie wagtail nest on the back deck, but those things are quite docile, we used to have lunch out on the back deck and it would just sit on the nest underneath the roof of the deck and ignore us.

Fuck magpies, willie wagtails are so much more awesome.

Edit: Oh, and brown snakes, can't forget those little shits.

 

[porous_shield]

I've been near black bears, moose, and caribou. The bears have just sort of looked at me and walked away when I've encountered them. They are a particularly aggressive and I've never even heard of anyone near here attacked by a bear. The moose and caribou on the other hand can be aggressive certain times of the year. Halfway through a long drive I pulled off onto a logging road and walked around the car to stretch my legs and I heard something moving around and when I look there's a caribou barrelling at me. I managed to get in my vehicle and get out of there real fast before he slammed into the car.

 

[Padwolf]

Well if the local ignorant imbeciles of my old houses are to be believed, then the most dangerous animal I've ever handled or been close to is my rottweiler!

But really the most dangerous I've ever been near is a herd of deer. Seriously, if you go into a field where deer suddenly spring out, things get pretty damn tense and scary. Especially when you are trying to usher two big dogs out of the field while the Stag with the HUGE antlers is staring you down. It felt like this: By there were more stags and their antlers can be really terrifying.

Spoiler

 

[kingofkumquats]

I was only a few feet away from a bison at Yellowstone once. It was pretty scary, what with all the signs around the park saying "Bison will fuck you up." It was cool about it though.

 

[Private Custard]

We don't really do dangerous animals here in the UK.

I have spent time photographing adders though, which carry enough venom to kill a small dog, or make an adult quite ill. They really can be grumpy bastards!

Spoiler

 

[Michael Legault]

I've seen polar bears at the zoo, as far as dangerous animals go they are pretty near top of the list. Also have been backpacking and come across multiple Mississauga rattlesnakes while not necessarily deadly poisonous, they will still make a healthy adult feel like shit. Those little pricks like to sun themselves in the middle of the pathways and the ones I saw were very quiet even when rattling full blast, it sounded like leaves rustling in a breeze to me.

Some others can be dangerous in certain situations like I've had deer run alongside a car I was in, and have had others crossing the road within 15 feet of my bumper just after sundown. Hitting a moose would be far far worse however 800+kg of lanky deer monster will make short work of most vehicles.

 

[blackrave]

Horny cow
no I'm not joking
HORNY MOTHERFUCKING COW, BITHES!!!

Those who know, understand.
Those who don't know, won't believe me.
So I'll skip explaining and just give friendly advice
NEVER BEND IN FRONT OF HORNY COW!