What’s the most dangerous animal you’ve actually touched?
I think my worst is an alligator. Some family of mine lived in the Tampa area, and on a visit we went to a wildlife sancuary/zoo thing called Homosassa Springs where they did some demonstrations with gators and manatees and other wildlife. One of the gators was small and chill and the kids got to touch it under strict supervision. So I can’t say I’ve ever really flirted with danger, but it’s a good question for a party. I’ve also touched a bunch of big raptor birds (hawks, owls, eagles) at various school assemblies and such.
Another question: what’s the most dangerous animal you’ve actually encountered in the wild? I assume most of you are like me and that you’ve only touched dangerous animals under heavily controlled circumstances, but what about out there in the great yonder? I’ve had a couple spooks while hiking alone in the Pacific Northwest. One was a big black bear that I thought was a stump until it looked at me and then shuffled up a nearby tree. I backtracked for a bit until I ran into a group of hikers and walked out with them just to be safe. Another time I am 99.9% sure I was being watched by a cougar on a different isolated trail area. All the birds and animals had gone silent all of a sudden and I felt like I was being studied. I think I caught a glimpse of it at one point behind some ferns, but I didn’t stick around to make sure, just grabbed a big stick, made a lot of noise, and kept going. I had a second encounter like that a few years later where my dog was clearly spooked by something for a stretch of trail.
Of course, all of this pales in comparison to the true most dangerous wild animal: the BMW driver.
