which animal

[the edge]

which animal in any location would you most be scared of?
me it probaly a spider biting i wouldnt ppay great attetion with my sleeping bag etc

[woodsey]

edge, spider are surely somthing to worry about here,but i watch out for copperheads during summer outings and do not have any kind of warning,as always watch your step,but these little devils have very good comoflage, they seem to love brush piles for hunting their food ,they very poisenous,when im gathering wood thats one critter i look to avoid....woodsey

[Bowcatz]

Ticks are a serious problem with the Lyme disease and mosquitoes are another with with the West Nile Virus problem. Fleas can give you tapeworms, so don't eat any. :p

[thinkfree3]

well sense you ask about animals and not bugs... around here if i was hiking in the water I'd be most concerned about where the gators were at. Especially if it's near a public area where they may have been fed. as long as i know where they are at i'm good. Also big snakes, down here the pet trade is a little out of hand and sometimes pythons and anaconda's find there way into the wild as well as many poisonous snakes that have faster acting venom then the local snakes.

[BSM]

Getting in between a Mother bear and her cubs.
Not the best idea.
BSM

[Sleazy_E]

around here the only animals that actually scare me at all are other humans..... Most animals in nature are easy enough to avoid a conflict with...... but I have had buddies get guns pulled on them on thier own property by tresspassers. That has never happened to me personally but i ahve had people try to kick me off of my own property claiming it was theirs one guy was even hanging No Tresspassing signs and threatened to call the police on me.... keep in mind the property is mine he backed down when I told him to go ahead because I actually owened the place.

[the edge]

wow sleazy that is pretty wierd

[bear]

I don't care for snakes myself but I am sure there are more dangerous things out there.

[the edge]

maybe a bear lol

[wolf]

Wild hogs in the dead of night would really freak me out.

[moses1moses]

homosapiens, a stupid hunter or well meaning idiot is more dangerous than any animal, because humans have disfunctional brains and the ability to carry out there stupid plans and half baked,

[FISHorDIE]

aminal id look out for would be bear or any large cat but im more scared of bees, im not allergic but if been attacked by them and it is nasty. you cant see um when there all over you. get stung enough times while in a remote area and it could be trouble.

[wolf]

homosapiens, a stupid hunter or well meaning idiot is more dangerous than any animal, because humans have disfunctional brains and the ability to carry out there stupid plans and half baked,

If I heard a rifle shoot out in the night while I'm walking around like a deer on my own property the human hunter would be more scarier to me than any alien bio-engineered nuclear waste product hog monster

[Muffindude27]

Ticks are the worst in my area, I almost always pull off two or three off of me when I get home from a short hike.

[wareagle69]

well being a fellow ranger i must stick with sleazey e the only animal i fear in the bush is a human


rangers lead the way

[trax]

Under the worst environment, I went with the ocean, and sharks are one of the big reasons why. They're just so good at what they do that it's almost impossilbe to defend oneself from them. An old Robin Williams joke about plane crash survivors floating on those little life rafts and two sharks watching them: "Oh look, dear, canapes"

On land, polar bears have been known to track people down for food, I don't think I'd want to rassle with one, but mostly in the forested areas, ticks. Bloodthirsty, disease-packing little ###%@$##:mad:

[spiritman]

The creatures I worry most about are the ones that affect my health in a non violent way, no I wouldn't mess with something that could kill me on purpose, but violent animal attacks are much less common than cases of serious, possibly deadly illnesses.

[Strider]

It depends on where you are. On the ocean, sharks and sting rays aren't too pleasant, neither are some jellyfish. In woods, small insects like poisonous spiders are annoying and so are most snakes. The last camping trip I was on, we went to the SC coast. We paddled for a bit over 5 hours straight carrying all our stuff in canoes thru alligator infested waters. We saw several, and saw a nest with little alligators. Fortunately we weren't attacked by those. Where we set up camp, there were hundreds of little fiddler crabs. (tiny crabs, inch long) You could hear them moving through the leaves, and in and outta the water. You had to wear shoes cause their little claws could get stuck in the bottom of your feet... that would hurt! Anyway, in the mountainous areas, i would be afraid of bears mainly. In a jungle, mosquitoes are the main enemy... this is just me of course...

[owl_girl]

The creepiest things I can think of are parasites, the stuff that get inside you. I’m sure being eaten by a bear sucks, but try being eaten from the inside out. :eek: *shivers*

[Strider]

The creepiest things I can think of are parasites, the stuff that get inside you. I’m sure being eaten by a bear sucks, but try being eaten from the inside out. :eek: *shivers*

lol:) Parasites don't really eat you, do they? (They destroy cells and alter the cells DNA for their own use.

[owl_girl]

lol:) Parasites don't really eat you, do they? (They destroy cells and alter the cells DNA for their own use.

Actually I’m pretty sure there are some worms that really eat you. I know there are some outer parasites that eat you like tics and lice.

[Xplosive22]

I'm on the west coast so I mainly have concern for Western Rattlesnakes and Mountain Lions. Although I believe the lions are every rare and generally there are only a couple for something like 50sq miles because of the environments carrying capacity. Rattlesnakes I have yet to see also.

Overall though I believe my greatest fear is sharks and water snakes/eels. In water I'm very vulnerable to predators or defensive animals. 360 degrees in every direction that something can sneak up and bite ya! :eek:

Ticks are a big concern here. Although they DO NOT eat you (they attach within several ours because they have to climb to the warm spots of the body and they leech blood until they are full. Then they drop off.), they can carry Lyme disease. According to an article on the Henry W. Coe State Park (located in Morgan Hill) website, Lyme disease is killed by something in the blood of Western Fence Lizards aka Blue Belly lizards. The percentage of ticks with Lyme disease at that park is 0.5%. In most other parts of California it is estimated to be 5%. Possibly because of what the lizards blood contains.

That was looong but maybe it dispels some of the fear people have of ticks. Although knowing that, I still check for ticks often. :)

To avoid any of the camouflaged or unseen hazards be SURE that you watch where you put your hands and feet. If you really have to be curious, rough things up with a long stick first.

[Xplosive22]

Oh yeah and parasitic worms are nasty. Tapeworms and ringworms uggghh. Thankfully the U.S. is pretty much free of large parasites besides leeches with the exception of southeastern states that contain swamps and bayous (I think).

[owl_girl]

My brother got Lyme disease a long time ago, it took a while for the doctors to figure out what it was. Also my mom’s friend’s son got Lyme disease. I do consider leech blood eating you.

[Xplosive22]

Sorry to hear that. Where did that happen? I'd like to stay away!

[owl_girl]

Sorry to hear that. Where did that happen? I'd like to stay away!

That happened here in southern Minnesota, in a valley were deer ticks were really thick. My brother’s ok now but when he was sick he couldn’t walk. It can affects deferent people differently so its not always easy to identify.

[carcajou garou]

Humans by far, the least predictable and most irresponsible.

[wareagle69]

carcajou garou meet volwest

now the rest of the pack r gonna sit back and enjoy this

[carcajou garou]

Volwest, humans hardly act rationaly at the best of time, they may act as expected for a while, them boom, they zig instead of zag.
Now is this my initiation?:D