What Local Animal Are You Most Afraid Of?

arouetta

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Our sheriff has a completely different perspective on wild animals. Except for the wild dogs, he tells people, "If the animal is threatening you or your livestock, then kill it. Otherwise leave it alone, they were here first".
I would think it would depend on the circumstances. For example, I grew up in a very rural area, the type of area where that would work. When the pair of young cougars showed up, they were left alone as it looked like they were passing through to find some territory they could claim where there weren't people. The older one that was so old he couldn't hunt anymore and was raiding garbage cans, they tranquilized that one. I want to say they gave him to a zoo, since he really couldn't survive on his own. But in the Suffolk VA scenario, the bears were roaming around downtown, where there's lots of people, lots of businesses and lots of cars. Letting them wander back out on their own is *not* an option in that case.
 

kashmir64

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I would think it would depend on the circumstances. For example, I grew up in a very rural area, the type of area where that would work. When the pair of young cougars showed up, they were left alone as it looked like they were passing through to find some territory they could claim where there weren't people. The older one that was so old he couldn't hunt anymore and was raiding garbage cans, they tranquilized that one. I want to say they gave him to a zoo, since he really couldn't survive on his own. But in the Suffolk VA scenario, the bears were roaming around downtown, where there's lots of people, lots of businesses and lots of cars. Letting them wander back out on their own is *not* an option in that case.
If any of the wild animals got into town, I'm sure this wouldn't work. But I live 20 miles from town, my nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile to the east. So, except for the cougar (their territory can be up to 200 sq miles), this works out fine.
 

kittens mom

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Bears here are going to cause problems. We have areas 20 miles from here where there are thriving human, bear and cougar populations. I always know when someone has gone blast happy with the coyotes because we end up knee deep in bunny wabbits.
 

denice

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Some places have started doing hard releases for problem bears. The idea is to scare them enough that they stay away. They even have a breed of dog called a Karelian Bear dog that they use. These dogs have absolutely no fear of bear

 

kittens mom

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Yes I think they're doing that here in some places. Lots of the ranchers up where there are bears and big cats have some kind of hounds that will chase bears and cats without fear. The biggest problem here where bears and humans live in close proximity is the humans making their homes attractive to the bear.
 

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A friend of mine who lives down in the village had a knock at her door a few years back. There were a couple of police men there, saying they had been chasing a young wild boar and it had gone into her back garden. Could they go in and get it?

She agreed, thinking they were going to try and net it or something. But they cornered it and beat it to death with rocks. She was absolutely horrified. They left the carcass in her garden for a few hours while they arranged for a truck to come and remove it. The boar blood was left all over her patio and outside wall for her to clean up.

It's disgusting the way people treat wild animals that happen to stray into town. They've got as much right as anyone else to be on the planet.
 

kittens mom

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A friend of mine who lives down in the village had a knock at her door a few years back. There were a couple of police men there, saying they had been chasing a young wild boar and it had gone into her back garden. Could they go in and get it?

She agreed, thinking they were going to try and net it or something. But they cornered it and beat it to death with rocks. She was absolutely horrified. They left the carcass in her garden for a few hours while they arranged for a truck to come and remove it. The boar blood was left all over her patio and outside wall for her to clean up.

It's disgusting the way people treat wild animals that happen to stray into town. They've got as much right as anyone else to be on the planet.
I'm just speechless that had to have been horrifying not to mention inhumane for the wild pig.
 

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I live in Florida but I've never seen a gator up close. To be honest, I'm more concerned by mosquitoes than any animal that lives around here. They are far more dangerous.
 

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I've seen opossums, racoon, and skunks in my yard in the summer. The skunks definitely freaked me out because of the spraying issue. Once when I was walking on a nature trail outside of town I came across what I first thought was 4 puppies that came up out of this wooded ditch that runs along the trail. I sat down by them and they came up and sniffed my hand and they let me pet them....Well....a few seconds later the mother came up and she did not look like a dog...lol.....I was like you idiot...those are red fox kits not puppies... She sat down a few feet away and I slowly raised my head and and looked in her eyes for a few seconds...which was probably a stupid thing to do looking back on it.....She seemed to size me up and determine I was cool and meant no harm.....Then she gave me this slow blink.....looked at the kits and did the same to them...and they all walked off the opposite direction...Looking back on it I probably should have been seriously freaked out but I really wasn't.....It was actually one of the most amazing things that's ever happened to me as far as an experience with wild animals....very profound....
 

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I am afraid of the big tree roaches crawling on me when I'm asleep. They crawl on the ceiling. I'll knock them down for my cats to chase. They get it cornered and I try to kill it, when it gets away and comes toward me, I scream like a dork.
 

bodester413

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I am afraid of the big tree roaches crawling on me when I'm asleep. They crawl on the ceiling. I'll knock them down for my cats to chase. They get it cornered and I try to kill it, when it gets away and comes toward me, I scream like a dork.
omg....Don't even get me started on some insects.....mainly large centipedes.....they are horrifying...
 
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Mother Dragon

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I am afraid of the big tree roaches crawling on me when I'm asleep. They crawl on the ceiling. I'll knock them down for my cats to chase. They get it cornered and I try to kill it, when it gets away and comes toward me, I scream like a dork.
Yep, those things are big enough to saddle and ride. When we had our wood shingle roof removed, they were packing up and moving out in entire families. I couldn't be a roofer for just that reason.

Since you're from Houston, I'm sure you know they love pine trees. They like to come inside if it's too dry or too wet. One of our cats would catch one and eat it, crunching happily while I shuddered at the sound. I one came home from work to find my husband in the bathroom with a huge butcher knife in hand. He'd heard the rustling in the shower curtain and was thinking of a reverse Psycho. I opened the curtain to find a big roach in the tub. I made a good roach out of it. He looked sheepish.

I got a security call from our big boss' secretary one day. I have no idea what they thought we could do if someone went crazy in his office, but nevertheless, we had a security camera and were supposed to come running. The secretary's age and IQ matched, and she was young. I went bounding down the stars and rushed into her office. All 4'6" of her was balanced on her 6" high heels on top of her desk and she was screeching, "Kill it! It's a monster! Kill it!" "It" was a cockroach which was by now running frantically for cover. I located it on the sofa and sent it to roach heaven with my shoe. End of problem? No. She started yelling, "Ick!" "Get that thing out of here!" "How could you kill it on the sofa right in front of me?" "Oh, gross!" I finally got a tissue and disposed of it, but not in her trash can. I'm glad she didn't know it could fly. In truth, I sort of mishit had, right at her. Shame on me!
 

muffy

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omg....Don't even get me started on some insects.....mainly large centipedes.....they are horrifying...
I agree. I find that earwigs are horrifying.

This morning I was putting out corn for the deer and birds and I found a deer tick crawling up my arm. I had just seen a big deer eating the corn. I just brushed it off my arm. I don't kill bugs.

Muffy
 

muffy

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I went to BJ's this morning to get some nuts for the squirrels and cat food for the ferals. The lady checking me out said she had a fox in her yard with babies and she saw a coyote last year. She only lives about 15 miles from me. I've never seen a coyote but having all those foxes would scare me to death. She said coyotes don't bother anybody. There have also been sighting of coyotes in DC. which is about 20 miles from me.

Muffy
 

kittens mom

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Anyone who says coyotes don't bother anything either has nothing they're interested in or are feeding them.
 

kashmir64

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Anyone who says coyotes don't bother anything either has nothing they're interested in or are feeding them.
Or, they live in an area where there are so many bloody rabbits that there is no need for them to bother anything.
 

kittens mom

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Or, they live in an area where there are so many bloody rabbits that there is no need for them to bother anything.
yeah we had rabbits coming out or our ears last year. I was about ready to take some steps to remedy the situation but something made short work of them. I accept natural predation as part of living in a very rural area. A few coyotes are necessary to the whole system it's overpopulation through human negligence from outright feeding them to having unprotected livestock like chickens and rabbits in less than secure caging. That ready easy supply of food causes them to breed more and more of the pups make it to adulthood. Those pups see human dwellings as a normal food source rather than something to avoid.
What ever it was that cleaned up my bunny problem did so and moved on.
 

denice

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My father was a farmer in Kansas and one of the things that he really hated was people hunting coyotes. I don't know why unless it was just to kill something, I don't know if their pelts were worth anything or not. An overpopulation of rabbits can do an incredible amount of damage to plants that have just sprouted and coyotes keep down the rabbit population.
 

kittens mom

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My father was a farmer in Kansas and one of the things that he really hated was people hunting coyotes. I don't know why unless it was just to kill something, I don't know if their pelts were worth anything or not. An overpopulation of rabbits can do an incredible amount of damage to plants that have just sprouted and coyotes keep down the rabbit population.
Yes and on their own coyotes don't over populate. We have people out here that pour dog food out for them. I'm willing to bet that someone wiped out the coyote population early last year to have so many rabbits I mean we were tripping on them. Farmers and ranchers are conservationists by necessity. I'm talking about real lovers of the land. The bear upset me because we've had a wet spring and there should be food up in the mountains. To see one down here this early in the year is sort of scary. I'm seriously considering bear boards at the windows and doors. There's nothing here for them to sustain themselves on that isn't intruding directly on human property and livestock.
 
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