What Local Animal Are You Most Afraid Of?

[doomsdave]

Wait!

I forgot about Great White Sharks!

Well, I stay out of the ocean. BUT. Be careful.

 

[ginny]

I'm afraid of wild dogs. I've seen some big pits loose every now and then. Very scary. I've never liked big dogs anyway.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Has anyone mentioned hawks? I'm pretty scared of hawks. Walking along the beach with my dog in the open and here comes a hawk circling above us...I've known of people who have had their dogs and cats picked up by hawks in their back yards. They just swoop down and grab them and then they are gone. I'm always afraid of that. My dog is small, but he's 24 lbs. Is that too much for a hawk to carry off? It could def get my cat but she's always on a leash.

Also afraid of all the loose dogs around. I have seen so many pictures on Facebook of dogs that have been killed by pitbulls and their owners post pictures of their clothes covered in their dogs blood. My dog has been attacked twice, and everytime I see a big dog, I fear Bosco could be attacked. and there would be nothing I could do to save him.

My husband walks early in the morning. He carries a small air-powered boat horn we bought at Walmart. It's been extremely successful against attacking dogs. The sound, very loud and unpleasant, startles them and they back off. He follows it with a loud "NO!". He also carries a small canister of pepper spray. Of course you have to be careful which way the wind is blowing so you don't gas yourself, but it's also an escalation of the air horn. Finally he carries a stick which he could place in front of him as a deterrent and then as a weapon against the dog's front legs. The head is too hard for a hit to be effective. An umbrella of the pop-open type will often startle a dog away and also prevent them from getting to you or your pet.

 

[Mother Dragon]

I'm afraid of wild dogs. I've seen some big pits loose every now and then. Very scary. I've never liked big dogs anyway.

See my reply.

 

[MeganLLB]

My husband walks early in the morning. He carries a small air-powered boat horn we bought at Walmart. It's been extremely successful against attacking dogs. The sound, very loud and unpleasant, startles them and they back off. He follows it with a loud "NO!". He also carries a small canister of pepper spray. Of course you have to be careful which way the wind is blowing so you don't gas yourself, but it's also an escalation of the air horn. Finally he carries a stick which he could place in front of him as a deterrent and then as a weapon against the dog's front legs. The head is too hard for a hit to be effective. An umbrella of the pop-open type will often startle a dog away and also prevent them from getting to you or your pet.

I never thought about an airhorn. I have pepper spray but never really thought I could count on that. one reason, like you said which ever way the wind blows... I should look for a horn and a stick. Especially when I go to the beach. You are SUPPOSED to keep your dog on a leash, but no one ever does. There are all kinds of unpleasant dogs. That's a good idea.

 

[arouetta]

An umbrella of the pop-open type will often startle a dog away and also prevent them from getting to you or your pet.

Billy the Exterminator had an episode where they went to North Carolina to work with an agency that keeps the Canadian goose population down by oiling eggs so less hatch. The women handed him and his brother an umbrella and said to use that as a shield.

 

[Mother Dragon]

The Postal Service issued every carrier an umbrella. Unfortunately, they went with the lowest (quality) bidder. Many of the umbrellas wouldn't open so the dogs ate the carriers and used the umbrellas for toothpicks.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Local animal...y'all are gonna laugh at me, but DOGFLIES! Those yellow sons of lady dogs that sneak in and bite the piddlysquat out of you. I get big raw patches every time one bites me. There just aren't many wild animals around here that I worry much over. I keep a lookout for snakes, but I'm not afraid of them. No bear, no panthers...buncha foxes, though. Most of the neighbors feed them. Sometimes you'll actually see the ferals and the foxes eating scraps together.

 

[danteshuman]

I live in an urban area. We don't really have local animals unless you go up in the hills 40-60 minutes away. I guess I would say rattle snakes (though if you leave them be and make plenty of noise they steer clear of you.) The deadliest wild life I have ever encountered was a large black widow spider (and a brown spider I killed on the off chance it might be a brown recluse.) We have coyotes I never see and hawks locally that I see occasionally. Not very wild.

 

[Willowy]

The Postal Service issued every carrier an umbrella. Unfortunately, they went with the lowest (quality) bidder. Many of the umbrellas wouldn't open so the dogs ate the carriers and used the umbrellas for toothpicks.

I've worked for USPS for 15 years and have never even seen an umbrella in a Post Office . I wonder if that's a Southern thing. The carriers here get loud whistles and pepper spray. Supposedly if you blow the whistle loud enough most dogs will back off. I don't know about that. The spray is dyed bright orange so Animal Control knows which dog you sprayed when they show up, lol. Also they're supposed to cram their satchel or some mail into the dog's mouth.

But mostly---dogs should never be allowed to roam freely!

 

[Shane Kent]

Squirrels bite badly, too. Don't mess with squirrels! I would never touch a squirrel. Not sure I'd say they're the scariest though .

I foolishly tried to pick up a chipmunk when I was a teenager, bit me right down to the bone. Cute little critters but one heck of a bite. I almost petted a skunk as I was sitting in my friends backyard and saw it out of the corner of my eye. Thought it was my friends cat at first.

The animal I dread running into would be a porcupine, that can't be good. However, I guess the animal to fear the most where I live would be black bears.

 

[Mother Dragon]

I've worked for USPS for 15 years and have never even seen an umbrella in a Post Office . I wonder if that's a Southern thing. The carriers here get loud whistles and pepper spray. Supposedly if you blow the whistle loud enough most dogs will back off. I don't know about that. The spray is dyed bright orange so Animal Control knows which dog you sprayed when they show up, lol. Also they're supposed to cram their satchel or some mail into the dog's mouth.

But mostly---dogs should never be allowed to roam freely!

I have a little seniority on you, having retired 13 years ago after 40 years of service. The umbrella debacle happened back in the late 80s or very early 90s. I worked as a clerk for 17 years and then moved into the offices, ending up as congressional liaison in consumer affairs for the district manager. Houston has the highest rate of carrier dog bites in the nation, a title it has held for many, many years.

I can see that the whistle might work the same way the air horn does. I've seen that in action and it even backs off packs.

I worked many cases where owners screamed brutality when a carrier sprayed their dog. We had pages of material regarding the strength of the pepper spray, its duration, etc. I remember one woman who swore her dog wouldn't bite the carrier. The supervisor who was visiting her remarked that the dog had teeth, didn't he and therefore was quite able to bite. The woman opened the dog's mouth to reveal only gums!

It used to be that we would curtail mail where the carrier was threatened by dogs. Those who got welfare checks soon got rid of problem dogs when the checks weren't delivered. Now they're mostly direct-deposit so we don't have that protection any longer.

I agree that dogs should never be allowed to run loose. It's bad for them and the public, especially when they form packs.

Make room for me on that soap box.

 

[Willowy]

Ah, before my time! They've tried everything, haven't they?

I think a toothless dog could still bruise you pretty badly if he bit hard enough.

 

[muffy]

You want to lend me $100 CAD to replace the bird feeders I lost to these rats? Oh and want to pay for the damage to my roof?

Not cute at all when the little pests nest and crap in your roof and attic and chew your wires. /QU

Those little tree rats did all of that to me and I still think they are cute. I spend almost half of my social security check feeding the little darlings nuts and sunflower seeds.

You can buy your own bird feeders and repair your own roof. When you feed the birds you have to expect the squirrels to show up. You may not like it but that's just part of life.

Muffy

 

[arouetta]

For an anti-squirrel birdfeeder, what about a smooth metal pole and no nearby trees/fences/other jumping areas?

 

[DreamerRose]

Those little tree rats did all of that to me and I still think they are cute. I spend almost half of my social security check feeding the little darlings nuts and sunflower seeds.

You can buy your own bird feeders and repair your own roof. When you feed the birds you have to expect the squirrels to show up. You may not like it but that's just part of life.

Muffy

I agree. Nothing deters the squirrels, so I buy what the store calls "critter food" and mix it in with the birdseed. There are shelled peanuts, cracked corn, and other large seeds in it, so the squirrels quickly get filled up, then the birds come. I feed all of them anyway just to entertain the cats. The cats enjoy the squirrels as much as the birds.

 

[muffy]

I agree. Nothing deters the squirrels, so I buy what the store calls "critter food" and mix it in with the birdseed. There are shelled peanuts, cracked corn, and other large seeds in it, so the squirrels quickly get filled up, then the birds come. I feed all of them anyway just to entertain the cats. The cats enjoy the squirrels as much as the birds.

I will look for that the next time I go to the store. I've been wanting to get something different for the animals. I buy stuff for the squirrels but if the other animals want to eat it then they are welcomed to it. I get a lot of cardinals, bluejays and some kind of black birds.

Muffy used to like to sit in a dinning room chair and watch the birds and squirrels come to the deck to eat. Sometimes she would get so excited she would fall off the chair.

Muffy

 

[arouetta]

I agree. Nothing deters the squirrels, so I buy what the store calls "critter food" and mix it in with the birdseed. There are shelled peanuts, cracked corn, and other large seeds in it, so the squirrels quickly get filled up, then the birds come. I feed all of them anyway just to entertain the cats. The cats enjoy the squirrels as much as the birds.

Weird. The squirrels never touched the bird feeder we had. I remember it was on a metal pole, between 10 and 15 feet tall, and my dad had placed it where no tree limbs nor our roof was close to it. I thought it was composition plus placement that kept the squirrels away. I suppose it might have been the Steller's jays though, those things are crazy aggressive, they'd make a squirrel beg for mercy.

 

[Norachan]

I've been told suddenly opening an automatic umbrella is the best way to scare of wild boar. Last time I saw a boar I was on horse back. I'm pretty sure the horse would have ditched me and galloped off on his own if I'd tried any shenanigans with an umbrella.

 

[catspaw66]

I have no fear of the local wildlife, and we have plenty. The bear does his bear thing, the wolves just meander around, the mountain lion loves to sleep on my car. Yes, my car. The coyotes and what I call wolfoytes (coyote wolf hybrid) although they sound like bigfoot attacking a chupacabra, they are harmless.

But for some reason, I have a death fear of crickets. Been that way since I was little. Go figure.

The wolf-coyote hybrid is officially known as the Coywolf.

I'm in the same mind as you are about wildlife. Mama bear and current cub visit once a month or so, the mountain lion is heard, but not seen, the lynx marks the tires on my truck, the snakes do their snaky stuff, and the possums and raccoons show up regularly. The two-legged animals in the area worry me the most.