Nature is not a force to mess with, especially when it comes to animals that live in the wild.
All the animals out there are wonderful and serve their own special and important purpose, but it is often best for us humans to leave them alone, and to let them exist in their own habitats without disrupting them. Sometimes, though, crossing paths is inevitable.
Have you ever had a strange, crazy, or startling encounter with an animal in the wild? It can be incredibly unnerving to come face to face with a creature that could do you serious harm, but if you stay calm and get out of there safely, those encounters can make for some really incredible stories.
These 13 tales of wild-animal encounters are almost hard to believe, but they're all very real! What would you have done if you were ever in any of these folks' shoes?
Please SHARE with your family and friends on Facebook to see if they have any insane animal stories themselves!
[H/T: Reddit]
1.
"Walking past the slide glass door I notice my dogs are sitting there kinda antsy. So I decide to get ready to let them out. Only, I turn the outside light on and outside was a bear. Just standing there. Holding a bag of marshmallows…looking into our house.
"Most terrifying moment of my life knowing that bear was only a sheet of glass away from me, taunting me with those marshmallows.
"Besides internally freaking out, I felt ashamed knowing that I had no graham crackers and chocolate to offer Marshmallow the Bear." – RenRoar
2.
"I was sitting on my deck and talking on the phone (deep in conversation). I felt a nudge under my arm similar to what my dog does when she's trying to get my attention or to lay her head in my lap. I wave her away. Several more nudges later, I give in.
"I go to pat her head and it's not my dog; it's a raccoon. I flipped out, screamed and it ran away. No bites or scratches. I often wonder if it was really someone's tame pet." – tellchelle
3.
"I was backpacking up a mountain and there was this grassy pasture about 3/4 of the way up that had about 30 bighorn sheep on it. The switchback on the mountain cut really close to them and 3 males of the group started huffing and stomping their hooves.
"The moment we turned our backs to them, one started charging us full speed… we ran (maybe not the best idea). It would've totally bowled me over and probably a ways down the slope but it decided to bluff. Turned around and went back to its family." – SmootherPebble
4.
"I was biking to my local library when I saw a small flock of geese ahead by the sidewalk. I thought nothing of it, and continued to bike forward, until one started to hiss at me.
"I ignored it and continued forward, but then the goose got up and flew into my side, knocking me clean off the bike, onto the pavement." – ylons
5.
"A monkey jumped on me in Gibraltar. I saw it flying through the air toward me so I bent over at the waist and it landed on my back. A second monkey joined it and they had a little scuffle so one left again. Meanwhile, I'm bent over with the one monkey chilling on my back.
"My uncle, whom I had been chatting with when this happened, was able to shoo it off after a few moments of stunned silence, don't think he could quite believe what he had just seen." – homerBM
6.
"Might have been the time a frog hopped onto me and wouldn't get down…onto the hand, up the arm, and then into my hair. Little guy was totally mellow, not panicky at all.
"But it's really hard to get a frog out of your hair/off your head when it doesn't want to leave and you don't want to injure it.
"Husband and son were no help at all; all they would do was laugh hysterically and make remarks while I tried to gently de-frog myself.
"Eventually I got it off me and coaxed onto a nice damp patch of grass by the side of the house." – acorngirl
7.
"Not sure if a grasshopper is a wild animal, but this little dude was certainly wild. I was walking on campus towards the art building when I see this massive grasshopper sitting on the sidewalk. I live in the southern states. Our grasshoppers don't mess around. This dude was huge.
"I stop a moment and watch him. He just looks at me. I couldn't physically see his little tiny, microscopic eyes, but I could feel them. Its was sort of like an old western stand off. The preface of a duel. A tumbleweed skirted across the ground somewhere in the near distance.
"I decide to be evasive. I walk on the grass and gave him space. His head follows me. This grasshopper is watching my every move.
"He waits until I'm close enough and flies straight into my face. Without thinking I scream, 'What the [heck], grasshopper!?' and flail around a bit. I can only assume it made a conscious decision to attack me.
"There was literally thousands of other directions it could have flown in. I now live in fear of unsolicited grasshopper attacks." – cxwash
8.
"I was sleeping in a tent when I felt something poking me on top of my head… it was a bear investigating what this tent thing was doing there. My dog, who was in the tent with me, went berserk, and the bear left." – themcp
9.
"A friend of mine was hiking when his appendix ruptured. He was with his wife who luckily had cell phone service and was able to call for an ambulance. While they were waiting for the ambulance they noticed a mountain lion that was watching them. They got the feeling that it was waiting for his wife to leave.
"Once the paramedics arrived and they were taking him back down the trail on a stretcher, the mountain lion followed them the whole way." – Johny_P
10.
"Big old saltwater croc bit our [boat] while [my dad] was fishing alone. Didn't fall in, got the motor started, and still managed to reel in the barramundi he had on the line at the time. My old man's a bit of a legend." – mlcyo
11.
"I was camping with my son. We were riding on my quad through the woods. I suddenly have to poop, not able to hold it. I run to the trees and squat. Midway, I hear a snort.
"I turn my head and there's a moose staring at me right behind me, watching me closely and with interest or disgust." – UbiquitousIncinerate
12.
"I once got attacked by a kangaroo, I was feeding her Joey some biscuits (normal occurrence where I was living at the time) and didn't see the mother around at all. Hear this awful growling noise and turn around to see the mother standing up over me and she is pissed!
"She started kicking me and I just dropped the rest of the biscuits and ran. She chased me about 300 metres back to my unit, and then tried to kick the door down to get me. Would not recommend." – Lukin4
13.
"Was on a hike and a young squirrel came rushing out of the bushes, climbed up my leg up to my waist, realized I wasn't a tree and let out a horrified squeak, then leapt off and ran away.
"The little [guy] then started swearing at me from a nearby, actual tree." – Reddit user
Have you ever had an encounter like any of these? Please SHARE and tell your story, too!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
