Lifestyle

People Recount Terrifying Animal Encounters That Nearly Took their Life

16. This leopard encounter turned out pretty good, surprisingly. Leopards aren’t only brave and sleek, but they’re territorial and dangerous. Unlike most animals that run away… Trista - September 10, 2021

Animals are gorgeous creatures that have amazing features from vibrant feathers to giant blowholes. However, just like humans, all animals have defense mechanisms and methods to protect themselves from harm. A beautiful being can turn into a deadly creature in a matter of seconds. What’s even worse is when you are the target! These Redditors explain terrifying animal encounters that nearly killed them. They aren’t safe anywhere — air, water, or land! From birds with pointy beaks to sharks with horrendous teeth, there is no place to fly, swim, or run. Be careful where you wander though because you don’t want to end up like these Redditors!

29. Is that an alligator or a log?

Are you scared of gators? One Redditor named A sweet_boy shared a creepy animal encounter. “I’m from Florida, and I was volunteering at a local nature conservancy. One of our tasks was to remove fallen logs that were blocking up a creek after a big storm. The creek was about chest deep, 15 feet wide, and opaque brown (Many Florida freshwater ways are browns b/c of tannins leached into the river from trees).

“As I’m moving logs, I notice a ~12 ft. alligator on the embankment I hadn’t noticed before. It then slid into the creek I was in. I was with a land manager who was moving logs with me and a herpetologist (who was in the canoe). I asked them what to do, and they responded, “Well, those logs aren’t going to move, and that gator’s probably just trying to get away from us.” Still, spending 30 minutes in a creek, you can’t see anything, knowing an alligator is lurking near your feet, moving logs WHICH LOOK LIKE FRICKING ALLIGATORS was one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever done.”

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28. Rise and shine to a beary scary sight.

Bears can be pretty common to spot in forests and mountains. If you’re camping in these areas, it would not be surprising at all to encounter a curious bear. Most sites will also post warnings about bears and how to secure your food if camping. However, having a bear encounter is still a horrific experience. West Brink explained his encounter to Reddit, saying, “I’ve been woken up by a bear sniffing my head once. I was cowboy camping (no tent) in Lyell Canyon in Yosemite once when I hear something sniff right next to my head. My sleep-addled brain thinks it’s a ranger on a horse telling me to move my camp.

“I had hiked about 20 miles that day. You have to be at least 4 miles into the canyon to camp, and I wasn’t 100% sure I’d made it far enough since it was dark when I set up camp). Anyway, I say, ‘just one second,’ sit up, grope for my flashlight and turn it on to see a black bear a couple of feet away. I holler, he tears off. I get out and empty my bladder and try to fall back asleep. That is, until I hear him coming around again. I make a bunch more noise, decide I’m not getting any more sleep, break camp, and slowly night hike until the sun rises.”

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27. Getting your butt kick by a stallion — literally!

Getting bitten by anything — big or small — hurts. It doesn’t matter if it is a tiny insect pinch or a giant dog bite. Well, can you imagine where a horse bite would fall on the scale of pain? A stallion is a male horse. Like any other animal, it can become aggressive if it feels threatened. Not only that, but a horse can act out if it’s trying to escape what a human wants it to do. For one unfortunate person named colmwhelan, the stallion nearly killed him. “When I was 12, a young stallion decided he wanted to play with me and almost killed me. He kicked and bit me and tried to trample me. He was my pet and was only treating me the way he’d treat a peer.

“I even knew that while it was happening. I made a huge mistake by turning my back on him while he was playful. He bit me and pulled me down. It knocked me down a couple of more times with a forefoot when I tried to get up—reared up over me to stamp me a couple of times too. Still have the scar on my leg, and that was a LONG time ago. Literally peed my pants during.”

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26. Horses are beautiful creatures, but keep your distance.

Speaking of stallions, have you ever heard of a shire stallion? People originally bred them in Britain as a draught horse; it would also pull loads. These horses hold many records as the largest or tallest horse. The pitch of a shire stallion’s voice is similar to dinosaurs, which is extremely loud. These muscular male horses show love or aggressiveness through sounds, too. A Redditor named Horseshoesandkicks shared his horrific animal encounter online. We are happy he is here to tell it!

“Can relate. I got charged by a shire stallion who was in full play mode! Thankfully my horse (with whom I had a very strong bond) grabbed my jumper and tucked me behind him whilst he stuck his ears back and reared and struck out as a warning at this shire. The shire ended up skidding past and fly-bucking before going off and annoying someone else. I have never felt such a pant crapping and awe-filled moment like that at the same time. The thundering sound of that shire making his way down the field was like something out of Jurassic Park.”

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25. Another stallion attack should be enough for you to listen to us.

Breeding and mating season are pretty much synonymous. And horses mostly do so in spring and summer. Animal attacks usually increase during the mating season because they fear being attacked themselves. People should understand not to tease or mess with animals during mating season as it can increase the risk of an animal attack. inlatitude shared a scary story about a horse attack on Reddit, saying, “I was working on a stud farm in Argentina during the breeding season and was tasked with leading a young stallion down a barn aisle full of mares.

The stud planted and refused to pass a stall with a particularly fetching filly. I tried to coax him forward. He reared up and clubbed me in the head and arm. I fell, and he took off prancing and carrying on. It broke my elbow. He was tricky in general, though, and had dragged me twice while ‘jogging’ for the vet, and from what I heard, became more unruly as he got older and started covering mares. Nice to ride, though. They cut him eventually.”

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24. Opossums play dead for a reason.

Opossums can be dangerous to humans and pets because they transmit many diseases like tuberculosis, fever, and tularemia. However, opossums are good to have around because they help fight against other diseases, such as Lyme Disease. How? They eat the ticks! Don’t keep opossums as pets, though. These animals are not rodents, but they do play dead as a defense mechanism. Also, they are nocturnal creatures, making them active at night. Mathwards shared a creepy experience with one of these unusual creatures.

“I almost petted one on accident. I stepped out onto the back porch one night to get some air. Lights were out, but I saw the distinctive white blob of fur that I assumed was my cat, Frank. I went down to pet him, and he looked up at me, at which point I noticed that his face got a lot longer and his eyes a lot beadier. Well, it wasn’t Frank. I locked eyes with this possum, my hand about three inches away from its face. We both froze. Then it took off running into the yard and crashed into the back fence. I was so sure I was about to lose a finger or two.”

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23. Shark encounters are always terrifying!

Seeing a shark while swimming in the ocean is what nightmares are made of. Redditor alalalvador52 detailed a heart-stopping moment, saying, “A few years ago, I went with my then-girlfriend to the beach, and we were boogie boarding from the first sandbar back to shore. It was during the week, so we were the only people around for a good quarter mile. So, while she was riding a wave back to the shore, I was looking away towards the ocean to try to read the waves and see which upcoming one would be a good one to take back to shore.

“That’s when I saw the fins of a shark about 20 yards from me. I noped out of there as soon as the next wave came. And I didn’t want to freak my girl out, so I just told her we should hang out under the tent for the rest of the day. She saw through my bull and guessed what I saw right on the dot. It could’ve been anything from a sand shark to a bull, or a tiger, or even a hammerhead; the point is, if you see a teeny barrel of rampage and muscle, it’s best to get out of its way.”

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22. What the wombat!

Did you know that wombats are native to Australia? They are short-legged with stubby and small tails. However, wombats have powerful claws. Like opossums, they are most active during nighttime. These grayish-black or sandy brown creatures can easily blend with their surroundings to stay hidden from predators. Womabts are mostly slow-moving animals. Nevertheless, they can move up to 25mph if they feel threatened. Naturally, they target and hit their prey using their claws. Better stay alert, Australians. Allow1986 explained a horrific encounter with a wombat at a wedding of all places.

“I was very drunk at a wedding on a large property in rural NSW. So, I like to wander and explore when I drink. I was alone and suddenly confronted with a wombat. Wombats are massive balls of muscle. Being the drunk idiot I was, I was all like, “aww, hello me wombat,” and began to approach it. The wombat did not like this. It charged me. It was so fast. My heart stopped, and I turned and ran as fast as I could. The little bugger nearly caught me. I sprinted back to the wedding in fear for my life.”

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21. A howling dog attacks a kid.

Redditor RetroWillis had a scary encounter with a dog. He shared his animal experience, saying, “Growing up, my grandma babysat me. She lived with my uncle. He had a very friendly Rottweiler. One day, when I was 9-10, I decided I wanted to pretend to be a wrestler. I did this by putting white masking tape on my hands and arms. I ended up fighting stuffed animals and all that. When I got tired, I just grabbed some action figures and went to the carport, which had deer stands. This was where the rottweiler also slept.

“So, the dog was asleep when I got there. I started playing with the toys. A few minutes later, I heard the dog stirring. I pay no mind to it. Then, I hear growling. I turn around, and the dog is growling at me. I try to let her know it is me. But she is still growling. I then slowly back away, and she lunges at me. Being the somewhat smart kid I was, I noticed immediately she was going for my arms. I rip off the masking tape, throw it at the dog, and run back into the house. I avoided that dog for days until I was asked to feed her. She was friendly again.”

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20. A horrific experience with a rottweiler.

Have you ever heard of a rottweiler? It is another dog breed classified as a large or medium-to-large dog. Rottweilers are the eighth most popular breed in America. Like other furry friends of the family, they are normally not harmful. However, some encounters can be horrific, like noelcowardspeaksout explains. “I walked past a very dark open doorway in a corner shop. A monstrous Rottweiler leaped out of the shadows, rearing up towards my neck.

“It got to about a foot away before its chain became taught and yanked it back. I said to the shopkeeper that she needed to keep it on a shorter chain. The adrenaline was pumping away pretty hard for a while. I went in a week later, and she said the dog had bitten someone in the face. She then complained about what I had said and told me I should have been more insistent about shortening the chain, trying to make out that the dog bite was my fault due to my sloppy advice. I never had to revisit that shop, fortunately.”

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19. Big rottweilers are not for those who prefer cats…

Rottweilers, like any dog breeds, can be amazing members of the family. These strong creatures are excellent guard dogs. However, they are also lovable. Did you know that rottweilers tend to follow their favorite person from the room to keep them in sight? Nevertheless, if you aren’t a dog person, it’s always better to keep a distance. Bananus01 shared an unfortunate animal encounter with not just one rottweiler, but an entire pack. “When I was in second grade, a new family moved into a house on our street. One day, I was walking by the house on the way to the bus stop.

“I hear something from behind me. I turn, and it’s the family’s giant rottweiler running towards me, full speed. Sure, I love dogs. But I had never encountered one that big (especially compared to little seven years old me), and I had no idea what to do. So, I froze and just hoped that this horse-dog would not kill me. The dog gets to me. I hold my breath, trying not to pee my pants. She gets down on the ground, rolls over on her back, and waited for me to scratch her belly. It turned out she was the sweetest dog ever and was just wonderful with kids. That dog and I got to be great friends over the next few years.”

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18. A giant rat – enough said!

Rats transmit diseases to humans by biting or scratching them. Not only that, but by leaving urine and droppings around the home. Now, mice can do the same thing; however, those are much smaller. Can you imagine waking up at night to get some water, as RobFlint explains, and seeing a giant rat in your kitchen? “I lived in an old farmhouse that was set on an overgrown market garden. The place was overrun by rats, but I never saw them. You could just hear them rustling in the walls. I didn’t want to poison them because I was afraid that one would die in the walls and stink the place out.

“One night I went to bed and turned out the light. Immediately I realized I was thirsty and turned the light back on, and stepped out to the kitchen. I interrupted a giant rat as he made his way across the kitchen floor. He had heard me go to bed and figured that I was down for the night and the coast was clear. I don’t know who was more startled – him or me! But I’ll never forget the look of malevolent intelligence in his eyes. We bolted in opposite directions!! After that, I set traps in the kitchen at night.”

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17. Being chased by an elephant is just as scary as it sounds.

Elephants are giant, yes, but they are also one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth. They can show their emotions by laughing and crying. Sadly, due to their huge size, they can harm or kill people without intending to do so. A Redditor named suchascenicworld told of a terrifying experience involving an elephant chase. “I did fieldwork back and forth between the US/UK and East and Southern Africa for ten years and in that period. And I spent a good chunk of my life living at remote base camps, so I have a few ‘crap yourself’ moments that I can list off the top of my head.

“I was chased by an elephant. It was worse as she had a calf. I know for a fact that I was stalked by at least two big cats twice; one being a leopard as it was the only large species around at the field site, and the other was most likely a rogue male lion given that one was seen close by earlier and was known to hang out in the area. I have a few other stories, but none of them were as terrifying as those or made me feel that my life was directly threatened.”

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16. This leopard encounter turned out pretty good, surprisingly.

Leopards aren’t only brave and sleek, but they’re territorial and dangerous. Unlike most animals that run away and conceal once they are wounded, leopards become more aggressive. In turn, animal attacks are inevitable. They’re fast, vicious, and will attack humans. Chances are good you won’t come across one in the United States, but you never know. Redditor Mugsy_P shared his terrifying experience online. “I was studying orangutans deep in the Bornean Rainforest, three days travel from the nearest town. We lived in huts with limited electricity and no running water.

“I was up working late one night, and at about 3 am I needed to pee, so I put on my boots and went for a walk. On my way to the River, I walk by where we stored food waste. Just as I’m approaching this area, a large cat came out from behind a tree about two meters in front of me. We both stood there staring at each other without moving. I wasn’t afraid; I was just trying to identify it as there are a lot of different cats in that area. So, I reached to my pocket and got my headlamp out. When I turned it on, the cat turned and ran away, and no sooner did it run than I near shat myself in fear. All the adrenaline was gone, and I was just stunned and terrified. I had come face to face with one of the world’s most beautiful animals, a Clouded Leopard. I’ll never forget that moment or the relief I felt when I made it back to my hut!”

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15. When karma is on the dog’s side.

Redditor particledamage shares his scary animal encounter, saying, “As a kid, I spent a lot of time with my babysitter’s kids at their house, and they had a sheltie dog. This is a smallish, friendly breed, but my babysitter’s son was a nightmare to it and would do stuff like chase it around with a nerf gun or tackle it and was just abusing this animal while his family did nothing. I was seven and couldn’t do much, and tbh the family had worse abuse going on than a kid terrorizing a dog, so I kept quiet about it.

“One day, a fly is just chilling over my head (very clean household, lol), and the dog starts growling at it and ends up mauling me to get to it. It ate part of my upper lip. I can’t say 100% that it ate my lip, but this dog’s face was in my face, and we never found the missing chunk of flesh it gauged out, so I always just say it bit me because that’s the most sense I can make out of the blur of OH MY GOD DOG MOUTH AND TEETH AND FUR in my face. A triangular chunk of face and lip just… gone. The worst part is I’m afraid of shelties now, which is embarrassing.”

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14. Swan and geese go in for the kill.

Never approach a swan nest on the river. Or any nest for that matter. The mother is nearby and she could get aggressive. A mother swan will hiss and flap its wings. There is a saying that when this happens, the swan is going to break your leg with its wings. However, this is a myth. Redditor IndyEleven11 shares his animal story, saying, “They aren’t that strong, and it’s mostly show and bluster. It reminds me of my old job where they had a bad goose problem in the parking lot and the large retention pond, so they brought in a swan to scare off the geese.

“That worked for a while till the swan got crazy aggressive with everything that moved, including people and cars. I had a couple of brave guys that would distract the swan while others would run to their cars. About a month after that, they got rid of the swan and periodically have a guy and his trained dog come by and scare the geese away. The dog’s fun to watch because he knows hand signals and clicks. He’ll belly crawl all quiet like right up behind a bunch of geese, and then when commanded, he leaps out barking, snarling, chasing them all off, and then returns with a huge doggone grin to do it all over again.”

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13. If you think cows are innocent, think again.

Aggression in cattle is typically a result of fear and perceived threat. Nevertheless, aggression between cows is worse than that between bulls. Cattle with horns can strike the opponent, which can have a deadly result. The highland cattle are a Scottish breed that have wide horns. People also recognize them for their woolly and wavy coats. Not only that, but people in the area know these cattle have a number of incidents where the cow attacked humans. Apparently, the cattle were threatened, but still attacked the humans. Redditor SimonFish99 shares an animal encounter with a huge highland cow.

“I was cycling up a mountain in the Scottish Highlands (my gran lives there), and as I went round a corner, I came face to face with a huge highland cow which was running down the mountain the opposite way. Instead of jumping off the path, I thought the cow was friendly and edge over to let me by big mistake… it threw its head as I went by, almost impaling me and throwing me off the path and into a 20 ft tumble down the mountain.”

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12. When man’s best friend hates you.

Years back, people used rottweilers for pulling carts and herding livestock. They were also rescue dogs after the 9/11 incident. Probably because they are loyal, big, and strong creatures. However, today, the rottweiler is a domestic dog breed. Despite that, can you Imagine biking on the road, minding your own business, and one of these dogs starts chasing you? Redditor RioFL25 knows what that is like. This user faced an unfortunate incident with a rottweiler.

“When I was young, I too was chased by a large dog while biking. Someone’s large rottweiler got loose. I was gingerly riding down the street on my beach cruiser. I kept hearing a pat, pat, pat behind me. As I looked, this beast of a rottweiler was inches from my back tire. Before I even turned to see it, it made this deep guttural bark. I almost fell off right at that moment. So, I high-tailed it on that bike. I pedaled as my life depended on it. My chain jumped off the gear, and all I had was the rolling speed to take me away from this dog. Luckily, I got far enough to where the dog gave up. That was scary for 10-year-old me.”

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11. Being attacked by a dog is never fun.

Does your dog chronically bite, chew, or lick its paws or legs? You might think they are experiencing just a typical itch. However, it could be that your dog has developed an allergy. On the other hand, your four-legged friend might have an insect infection or a mycosis. Some people are afraid of dogs, especially big ones. After biting and licking their paws, they jump on humans, shedding hair and spreading germs. on_island_time explained a scary animal encounter involving a dog.

“I’ve had a few scary dog run-ins while walking. The most memorable one was a boxer that was normally behind a fence, but this time squeezed through and charged me. Your first instinct is to get out of there, but you can’t outrun a dog. You want to go against your instincts. Turn around, so you aren’t looking at them and standstill. The idea is that in dog speak. You’re saying that you feel so unthreatened that you don’t even need to bother keeping track of where the dog is. In my experience, it has worked too. That particular dog stopped right behind me, snorted loudly, sniffed my leg a bit, and blessedly then wandered off. I’ve had a few other times where the dog lost interest even before reaching me.”

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10. Everything is not Hakuna Matata with this wild boar.

Redditor TheReinsofFullnight shared his experience of an animal attack. He said, “My friend in Berlin when he was in high school was hanging out with a few of his friends. Of one, his friend’s dad had a brand-new company car, and my friend’s friend asked if they could take it for a spin. The dad said only around the neighborhood. So, of course, they take it further than that. Well, they hit a BOAR! And ruin the front of the new car. So, they do the logical thing and decide to put the dead boar in the back of the car, drive it to their neighborhood, and say they hit it in the neighborhood.

“A few minutes later, they’re driving back, and they all of a sudden hear some loud grunting and snorting in the back of the car. The boar was alive. They slam on the brakes and get the hell out of the car. The boar is tearing up everything inside all the seats and everything. So, they call the police. The policeman comes, and he has no intentions at all of opening the car doors. So, he calls the local hunter. The hunter comes with his gun, stands right in front of the car, and shoots the boar through the front windshield, killing it. He said his friend’s conversation with his dad later was an interesting one, haha.”

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9. Hunting elk can be dangerous.

Sure, elk are large animals. But did you know that they can weigh around 500-700 pounds? Not only that, but they can stand up to five feet tall at the shoulders. They often attack and when they do, elk can cause some serious injuries. Imagine getting attacked by an elk. It might be the scariest thing ever. Such an unfortunate incident happened to Redditor adairtd. “Getting charged by a black bear. I was hunting elk and walking on an old 90-year-old railroad grade in some dense forest, and I see some movement in a tree. I get to look, and it is two bear cubs. Oh crap.

“I look around. Through a somewhat clear spot for the trees, I see Mom, and she is headed right for me at this point. I was hunting with a fairly large rifle, a .375 H&H magnum, so I decided to give her one warning shot. If I had to shoot a second time, it would be in self-defense. I put one round into the dirt in front of her. Thankfully she decided that the cannon that just fired at her was something she didn’t want any part of, and she scrambled back and took off into the brush. I also ran out of there and didn’t go that way the rest of the season. She can have that spot.”

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8. When your friends laugh during a bird attack.

Birds are considered to be the friendliest of all creatures. Nevertheless, bird attacks normally involve dives, swoops, and chases. As a result, birds can gang up on the victims and harm them severely. It might be hard to imagine being attacked by a bird. However, such an incident happened to binshtok. This Redditor shared his experience, saying, “I was riding my bike to primary school one day and two streets away out of nowhere I feel the flap of wings on my shoulder, and it flies by in front of me.

“It was quite large, probably an adult, and it came back, but I saw it and ducked. After that, it flew by a few more times (repeatedly actually), and it hit me a few times hard and left a few beak dents in my helmet. I could only peg my bike as fast as possible to school until I was through its “territory.” Quite a few other instances being swooped by the black and white death birds, but another time with friends, I gave myself a bleeding nose after ducking and slamming my face on the handlebars of my bike. My friends thought that was funny.”

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7. Beware of a swooping magpie.

Magpie attacks can cause severe injuries. If you are unexpectedly swooped while cycling, you could be in a serious wreck. DareDare_Jarrah shared his experience when a Magpie was following during a bike ride. “I’ll never forget the time this kid rode into the servo I was working in. He rode into the store on his bike. He would have been about 10, and he is in tears. So he asked me to call his mum because he’d been chased for about a kilometer by a swooping magpie.

“I try to call his mum, but there is no answer. I buy him a lemonade because he’s out of breath and distraught and then try to phone his mum again. Still no answer. I go outside to see if the magpie is gone. It appears to be, so the kid thanks me and heads off again. He gets onto the footpath, and the magpie attacks. He drops his bike and just runs across the forecourt and back into the store. ‘IT’S STALKING ME!!’ He screams, and seeing that I know what he is going through, I call him a taxi and pay for it to drop him home.”

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6. Being charged at by a grizzly bear will change a person.

The grizzly bear is a North American subspecies of the bruin. Grizzly bears are typically brown, lending them their name. However, their fur can appear to be white-tipped or grizzled, which is another nod to the name. Grizzly bears are protected by law within the continental United States. Sadly, though, not in Alaska. Nevertheless, there are some controversial attempts to get rid of those protections in recent years. A Redditor, jakejork, shares a horrific incident when he was charged by a grizzly bear. “I was working on the same piece as another planter for about an hour, then heard a soft thumping sound.

“Then, I looked up and saw an adult grizzly bear running towards the other planter, whose back was to the bear. I started running towards it, waving my arms and yelling. The bear stopped, turned towards me, and stood on its hind legs. I stopped moving and was about 20-30 feet away from it. The bear stared at me for about 5 seconds (felt like an eternity), dropped back down, turned around, and bolted back into the tree line. Saw two cubs with it that we weren’t anywhere close to, so we figured it was probably a mother teaching its cubs how to hunt. I had to sit down for a while after that because my legs were shaking so bad.”

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5. Hello, bull shark!

A Redditor named TributeToStupidity shares his animal encounter story saying: “I have a few good animal stories, but the scariest was getting charged by an angry bull shark. I was down in Florida with my family, and my dad, brother (11), and sister (6) were all decently far out hanging out when we spotted the shark. It was probably between 4-4.5 ft. My dad and I went shoulder to shoulder with my siblings behind us and started quickly but calmly heading in. This thing must’ve charged us nearly half a dozen times at or near full speed and only broke off when it got within 10-15 ft. The feeling was were in its world, and if it wants one of us, it’s probably going to take one.

“So, we finally get in, and the shark heads down to the beach. I look down, and there’s another family with a small girl in a life jacket out in the water. So, I run down and yell at them, but they aren’t listening. I figured I’m bigger than it, and if it were going to attack me, it would’ve, so I start swimming out to them. I popped up about 15 ft from the girl with the dad on her other side, and that shark was right in between us. Without thinking about it, I jumped forward and slapped the water, and I think I spooked it. I jumped forward and grabbed the girl, which the dad, who hadn’t seen the shark, didn’t appreciate, lol.”

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4. Leave kangaroos alone.

You probably know that a kangaroo is a large-foot animal with a long muscular tail and powerful hind legs. However, did you know that these marsupials have special teeth that are very uncommon in other animals? Red Kangaroos are the largest breed of kangaroos. In Australia, there are more Kangaroos (almost double) than the number of people living there. Kangaroo attacks are rare but might be fatal in some circumstances. kzyang shares an intense experience on Reddit. “If you’re standing up, the kangaroo can kick you with its hind feet, which can just about rip you open. That’s extremely dangerous.

“This isn’t from me but my mate. Once on a school camp for 21 days in Alpine Australia, we were forced to sleep alone for 48 hours. So, at around 2 am on the second night, I heard a shout from where he was sleeping. He told me the next morning that a kangaroo stole his hiking pack and that in panic, he threw a water jug at it. Low and behold, the kangaroo regrouped after a short time and surrounded him in a circle. All he remembered were like five pairs of eyes staring back at him in the night. I have yet to ask him how he managed to fend them off. But yeah, that’s Australia for you.”

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3. Meeting a coyote isn’t a pleasant encounter.

Redditor BobisBadAss talks about a crazy deer hunting encounter. “I was bow hunting for whitetail, sitting in full camo on a downed tree, leaning against another tree, in a dark, thick cedar swamp. I dozed off for a while and woke to the crunching sound of footsteps. So, I darted my eyes around and saw the back end of a canine as it stalked through the trees within about 20 yards, going from my right to my left. From the reddish in the fur, I assumed it was a coyote and not a wolf, although I didn’t see it long, and it was a BIG coyote.

“As it got far enough to the left, I lost sight completely behind the tree I was leaning against and could only hear it. I sat there with an arrow nocked, just listening, when suddenly I heard and felt a thud of this animal jumping up on the log I was sitting on. I sat there and listened to sniffing sounds at the back of my head for a few seconds. It then jumped back down, and I heard it trot away as calmly as it had approached. My heart was racing the whole time, but it wasn’t “terrifying” since coyotes/wolves pose zero threat to humans.”

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2. Finding a massive green frog in your house will make anyone jump.

You might think frogs aren’t harmful to humans. A single “golden poison frog” harbors enough poison to kill ten adults. Perhaps these frogs are the most poisonous animals alive. They’re among the many species of toxic frogs, which people refer to as poison dart frogs. You will notice that they are all small yet deadly, making the encounters quite scary. Redditor jakiblue explained his terrifying experience.

“Just last week, I went to the toilet at home, only to discover a massive green tree frog in the doorway. Not scary to some, I know, but I have a phobia about them and was absolutely terrified, out of my mind screaming, scared. Hit the hallway wall whilst screaming for my husband and then sat on top of the kitchen table while he took the frog outside, in case it got loose and hopped around and attacked my legs. My family thinks it’s hysterically funny and continues to give me frog-themed gifts at Xmas and birthday. They’re all sitting in a box in the cupboard, and I refuse to look at them.”

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1. An ankle-bitter got the best of him.

Cuddy606 shared a scary animal encounter on Reddit. The user said, “It was grade 7, and for some reason, I was just a little late for school. As I started to walk across the big field in front of the school, this ugly little dog came out of nowhere and latched right onto my boot. He was ugly, like a cross between a chihuahua and a rat or something. It was winter in Canada, and I had big thick boots on. Well, it wouldn’t let go of my boot. It just kept growling and shaking its head.

“Luckily it was too small for its teeth to make contact with my feet. I didn’t want to kick it or anything, so I just kept walking, dragging this crappy little dog about 200m to the front steps of the school. As mentioned above, I was just a little late for school, and class hadn’t started. So, all the kids on that side of the building were in the windows watching this dog and me in mortal combat and laughing. So, it probably wasn’t terrifying in the traditional sense of an animal attack, just embarrassing. 30+ years later, and I still hate that dog. I’m glad it’s dead.”

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