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Suddenly Come Across Wild Animals

Brian Mcculloch

Seedling
Joined
27 Oct 2017
Messages
2
Location
Glasgow
This has happened to me a lot of times, most of the times it has been bears, deers, leopards. I want to know if you've ever suddenly come across wild animals?
 
Beers and leopards don't live anymore in my country.. But regularly crossing path with deers.. The times i still did mountain biking i one time had a herd with deers running with me for a few 100 yeards. That was awsome, it was at the woods edge, they had no other place to go than run paralel with me till the point they had no other choice than to cross my path deeper into the woods and they did in front of me, i had to stop. That was my best and most spectacular wildlife encounter ever. Riding with the deers.. :)
 
Lot's of deer here.
Once was walking through stand of tree's early in the morning and a whole flock of wild turkey's that were roosting in the tree's above me, suddenly too flight.
I nearly soiled my pant's.:rolleyes:
 
I've been blessed with a fair number of such encounters myself, but two immediately spring to mind...

I once crested a ridge at the top of a very long and arduous scree scramble/climb in the Taurus Mountains and came face to face with a very large wild boar with very large mean looking tusks...:eek:
We both froze and stared at each other for what seemed like a heart stopping eternity, but in reality probably no more than a second or two, I guess sizing each other up...:nailbiting:
I was just considering coiling up ready to spring to one side, incase it decided to charge, when it suddenly turned on its heals and bolted in to a nearby patch of garrigue. I didn't follow...

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Another time, long ago, I was cycling the 20 miles home in the early hours of the morning a bit worse for a few beers (don't ask). My route took me down narrow and windy country lanes, with only the dim light of a crescent moon to guide me; I didn't have any lights. When out of nowhere ( well, a hedgerow actually) I heard a very loud and unearthly growling accompanied by the scraping of sharp claws on tarmac rapidly heading my way. I very nearly sh*t myself, and sneaked a panicked glance over my shoulder. What I saw put the fear of God in to me; a black amorphous shape rapidly closing in on me (remember it was very dark). I immediately assumed the worse and decided I was being chased by a werewolf :eek::eek::eek:

I've never peddled so fast in my life, and would have easily won the Olympic Road Cycling Time Trials. Eventually, the werewolf gave up the idea of trying to catch an easy meal on wheels and I heard it head back in to the hedgerow, but not before I caught a better glimpse of it...it turned out to be nothing more than a startled badger :meh:

Werewolf are often confused with, and mistaken for, badgers by amateur naturalist and drunken cyclists alike.
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it turned out to be nothing more than a startled badger :meh:
:lol: Now i remember not so long ago, near my house is a creek delta and a paved but at night very dark path runs through it, always take that route with teh bicycle as shortcut. One night I also statled a batcher with my headlight in front of me and i also noticed it's nails scratch the tarmac when it took off. Remebering that sound, i can imagine sh*ting my pants hearing this behind me in the dark not knowing what it is..

I also know the Blair witch Syndrome.. I used to bike a lot in the woods at night with my super duper awsome 6 volt battery halogene headlight a had back then. When i went alone, i had it a few times, riding like hell through the dark woods with the idea beeing chased.. Actualy stupid to do these freaky things alone.. But young and wild, but still almost did sh*t my paints a few times, probably for nothing more than just an idea. :rolleyes:
 
i also noticed it's nails scratch the tarmac when it took off. Remebering that sound, i can imagine sh*ting my pants hearing this behind me in the dark not knowing what it is..
:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
I also know the Blair witch Syndrome.. i had it a few times, riding like hell through the dark woods with the idea beeing chased.. Actualy stupid to do these freaky things alone.. But young and wild, but still almost did sh*t my paints a few times, probably for nothing more than just an idea. :rolleyes:
That is wild...:eek: I know that feeling too. It grips you and won't let go. The hysteria rapidly builds to the point where the unthinking organisms fight or flight mechanism takes over...it's very exhilarating though :D
 
That is wild...:eek: I know that feeling too. It grips you and won't let go. The hysteria rapidly builds to the point where the unthinking organisms fight or flight mechanism takes over...it's very exhilarating though :D
It is indeed.. Beeing alone in the dark woods, senses run overtime.. Strange things happen in the brain, turning left on a path and 30 seconds latter getting a creepy feeling, neck hairs rising, hitting the brakes, turn around and take another route because it just didn't feel safe. Than start thinking 6th sense or not, was it real? It felt real, but i will never know..
 
:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:

That is wild...:eek: I know that feeling too. It grips you and won't let go. The hysteria rapidly builds to the point where the unthinking organisms fight or flight mechanism takes over...it's very exhilarating though :D
It is indeed.. Beeing alone in the dark woods, senses run overtime.. Strange things happen in the brain, turning left on a path and 30 seconds latter getting a creepy feeling, neck hairs rising, hitting the brakes, turn around and take another route because it just didn't feel safe. Than start thinking 6th sense or not, was it real? It felt real, but i will never know..
Our first solo trip my wife & I would be in the tent as soon as it got dark.
as we became more experienced we would sit by the fire lamping the bushes for watching eyes!
That was fine because you could see... But once in the tent no visual but listening to the animals inspecting your Land Rover & pots & pans you could feel the adrenaline pumping.
My wife could always go to sleep immediately where as I would lay there trying to stop her snoring..... Adrenalin was always at it's highest if you could hear breathing or something big brushed against the tent. I used trail cameras, it was normally Hyena, occasionally Leopard but once Lion!

Serengeti
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Botswana
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During a trip to the everglades as a 12 year old I was told off for feeding a racoon marshmallows, getting too close to a coral snake that we stumbled across and sitting on a bridge with my feet nearly in the water feeding an alligator my burger from a native American restaurant (it looked massize but was probably only 4-5ft). My parents weren't reckless but I was an inquisitive child who you just couldn't turn your back on, surprising I've made 30.

Since then it's been less worry some encounters but did have the crap scared out of my when a 6ft tuna bolted past me, much scairer than dIvinghoe wit sharks.
 
I met a hedgehog yesterday :)
Hedgehogs are awesome little creatures. I once found one flaked out on my lawn with its legs almost spread to the four points of the compass. It was a very hot summers day and it'd probably succumbed to dehydration and heat stroke. I picked it up and placed it out of the way in shade. I went to check on it later that evening around dusk and it had gone, hopefully it made a full recovery.
 
Not sure it's a real wildlife encounter, it was more intended.. It's a fishy one from the artificial lake behind my house. It more of a very huge sandpit, from the worlds most famous finest sand supplier. They are digging and sucking there since the late 1940's i beleive. so by now it is huge and very clear and rich in wildlife. It had at one time about an acre surface about a knee deep, with aqautic plants growing and large patches of reed growing at the banks. In the warm summers you could see from the higher banks very large schools of wild bred carp close to the surface circling the lake. After observing them for hours i noticed they followed a patern.. Every few hours the swam through the shallow part following the same rout along side the reed banks.

So i took my tripod stool and a bag of slized bread and sat myself down in the shallow water keeping very still waiting for them.. And they did.. :) A mate still sitting on the high bank over seeing it signaled me they were comming. So i threw pieces of bread all around me before the arrived and kept still again. This also was a awsome experience, sitting in a large school of carps sucking up all the bread around me.. I wanted to touch them. but ii knew i couldn't, one move and all would heve been gone again for hours.. :)
 
Adrenalin was always at it's highest if you could hear breathing or something big brushed against the tent. I used trail cameras, it was normally Hyena, occasionally Leopard but once Lion!
Reminds me of the Bear dude, Timoty something if i remember correctly, Werner Herzog made a documantory with his material. The guy always went to live among the Alaska bears. He did it for years and even gave them names and talked to them.. One day he invited a girlfriend to join him.. Big Fail, both got eaten that trip..
 
I recall a humorous event some year's ago while working in Texas for railroad.(probably thirty year's ago).
Three of us were riding in a truck to the job site with a single Mexican in the back of the truck when we ran over one of a small herd of Javelina.
One it appeared was dead, so we stopped and threw it in the back of the truck with the Mexican with plans to skin it and eat it later that evening.
Anyhow,,after a few minutes,, all hell broke loose in the back of the truck as it seems the small pig was only stunned rather than dead,and it began to chase the Mexican around the bed of the truck while we were traveling .
I can still see the Mexican who had pulled out his knife and was yelling,,"I kill you,I kill you as he stabbed at the wild pig.
We nearly wrecked the company truck we were laughing so hard at him.
We did eat the animal but it was not very tasty.
 
Reminds me of the Bear dude, Timoty something if i remember correctly, Werner Herzog made a documantory with his material. The guy always went to live among the Alaska bears. He did it for years and even gave them names and talked to them.. One day he invited a girlfriend to join him.. Big Fail, both got eaten that trip..

Timothy Treadwell who thought he was a bear whisperer.
Benjy saw a bear,the bear saw Benjy,the bear got bulgy,the buldge was Benjy.
 
Hedgehogs are awesome little creatures.

They aren't so lovely when you let your dog out at 4am for a wee and then she barks like crazy because of the big scary hedgehog (well she actually juSt sit's loozing at it braking whilt the tail is waging furiously). I think we had a few living under the shed as it regularly happened this summer. Glad she doesn't have the killer instinct.
 
They aren't so lovely when your dog barks like crazy because of the big scary hedgehog

It's all really just a question of scale...:eek:

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Wow, you must have had some great adventures. I think though I would have opted for one of these :)

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I only used a roof tent once, the trouble is it slows you down in the mornings, you have to stow it before heading out.
The good thing about bush camping is you hear the nights action & can head out in the right direction if your not in a National Park there are no rules so you can head out well before sun up, we used to make a flask of boiling water the night before & take breakfast on the drive........ Just make sure you have GPS so you can locate your camp. Just a basic Wayfarer as there are no roads or post codes! lol

Now where's that tent?"
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