Run-ins with nature. Tell us about your meet ups with the great outdoors.

[applegrove]

We used to have a cottage. It was partially build on stilts. One night I was trying to sleep when I could hear some chewing. Went outside and scarred off some critter. It was a porcupine/skunk (I can't remember which right now) eating one of the wooden stilts. Just knawing away for some reason. I went back to bed. Critter went back to chewing on my cottage. Needless to say I was up all night repeatedly trying to scare off that critter.

[struggle4progress]

1. Driving slowly down a narrow mountain forest road one night, caught a porcupine in my headlights.

Slowed and stopped. Surprised but not scared: it turned its back to me and displayed its quills. I kept a respectful distance and it finally ambled off

[peacefreak]

2. I was in the Gaspe with friends.

They took off to climb & mountain & I stayed at camp for a quiet day. I took a walk to a pond. I brought my lunch & journal & was ready to settle in. I heard some rustling in the bushes behind me. An moose exited the woods about 30 feet away from me. He regarded me & I did the same to him. He started off off to the other side of the pond, watching me. I moved slowly away when he was far enough away. On my way back to the cabin I ran into the ranger. He was very excited because a moose had been spotted. I said I knew because I had my own close encounter!
And then there was last night...I was about to put the cat out. I had my porch light on. Just as I was about to open the door & very healthy skunk waddled by. Had very little black & a HUGE fluffy white tail. I kept Lucy in my arms & we watched him. Apparently he was so well fed because he's been eating the cat food my friend has been leaving out for strays.

[Denninmi]

3. I had a doe chase ME through the yard and back to the house.

Kind of freaked me out. It was in June, so it probably had a fawn hiding somewhere. It wasn't a high speed chase, but it still bothered me - the thing approached slowly, snorting and hoofing the ground, and I backed away slowly.

I hate these damned deer here. I can get about 10 feet from them before they move off, and they destroy all kinds of things in my garden.

[Lucinda]

4. We live next to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

so black bears in the yard aren't uncommon. It's a quiet area, with few permanent residents (lots of vacation cabins around here) so the bears will often hang out for a while when they get to our part of their territory. Lots of fun to watch.

We do get deer from the park as well, but they are much more timid.

[applegrove]

5. Man I'd be so scared. There were only 3 bear sightings in my neck of the woods over 40 years

so I was never scared at the cottage. I could never live where you do.

[Lucinda]

10. I love it. But i'd feel differently if I lived near grizzlys. They are more more agressive.

Black bears will go out of their way to avoid people as a rule.

I've been within 10 feet of a mother black bear who was foraging for berries with her cubs in the park, but they came to where I was taking pictures. I would have never approached her and the babies. I wasn't at all afraid either. I just knew that she knew I was no threat. Sounds silly, I know, but it was an area of the park where the bears are more acclimated to the tourists that move through here. I'm still very cautious though. And we make noise if we have to go outside at night.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Theres fucking mosquitos in here!

As i type this. I'm getting bitten.

[Lucinda]

11. I have found the perfect mosquito repellant and fortunately

it works for my allergies as well. Mosquitos seem to avoid me when I take Zyrtec regularly. I've tested this a few times. And it makes a difference. Weird eh?

[siligut]

16. Zyrtec is an antihistamine

Antihistamines are used to treat mosquito bites. It could be, you are getting bitten and just not reacting. Here, in the NW, US, mosquitoes can carry west nile virus. I just want to suggest that Zyrtec is not protecting you from the bites, as you are in a state that is at risk for mosquitoes carrying the virus, here is a link to a map of the US: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/Mapsactivity/surv&control11MapsAnybyState.htm

[quakerboy]

20. Thats been my experience

I take Zyrtec for seasonal allergies. Actually, I take Wal-zyr the walgreens off brand because I got a bottle of 300 a couple years back for like 10 bucks on sale.

When I am not on antihistamines, I am crazy reactive to mosquito bites. they itch and i cannot stop scratching them.

When I am on a steady dose, the bites barely bother me at all.

[Lucinda]

22. Could be...but I don't even see them buzzing me when I am taking it regularly.

Thanks much for the CDC info!

[ellisonz]

7. When in Hawaii Beware - Leptospirosis.

I was working in a taro patch for a class project - cut my big toe on an embankment - walked back to base camp feeling ill - drove home - got in bed - couldn't get up for a week. Full course of antibiotics.

Beware the diseases carried by pig urine in fresh water.

[femmocrat]

8. We see all kinds of critters here.

On my walks, I have encountered deer, pheasants, wild turkeys, groundhogs, as well as the occasional cow or horse that gets out of its enclosure. I saw a red fox on the road once. It was gorgeous.

Also found some exotic pet chickens once. I don't know where they came from, but they were probably scooped up by some predator. :(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. A wild turkey chased my car once.

[mainegreen]

12. A mountain goat tried to chase me down once.

Glacier National park. Stupid thing thought I wanted to butt heads or something.
x(

[erinlough]

13. Live close to the lake in Michigan

My personal list:
Coyote: a pack while walking
wild turkeys daily
skunks
possum that lived in our wood storage and ate with our cats
raccoons
deer
grouse
pheasant
Red Fox
Grey Fox
wood chucks
quail
The newest was cougar tracks, documented and reported but denied by the DNR even though there have been actual sightings

[Brickbat]

14. Finding wolf tracks in the snow near the house and figuring that he stopped and turned toward the

house about the time I was leaving it with the kids to take them to school.

We have wolves, bears, coyotes, foxes, porcupines, deer, fishers, etc., etc. Previous owner had a moose go past the house, but they're rare here now.

[Mnemosyne]

15. Reached down to pet the cat when I realized it was an armadillo. Scared the hell out of both of us.

[Odin2005]

17. I got Giardiasis when camping, once.

I was puking, had diarrhea, and had abdominal pain for 2 weeks, UGH!

[Old Troop]

18. At Ft Benning, GA in the 70s I flopped down on the ground and came

face to face with a rattler. Luckily it was late at night in December and he could barely move.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. Got poison oak on my back acre.

I have since learned what it looks like.
I spray poison ivy.

[Kennah]

21. Saw a 12 foot alligator from about 25 feet away

Wife and I were walking down the trail at the Shark Valley entrance to Everglades. We'd been seeing small alligators fairly close by the trail. I'm looking right, she's looking left, and then my wife gasps. I look over, and parallel to the trail, about 25 feet away, is a 12 foot alligator with nothing between him and us.

He was lying perfectly still with his mouth open. I'm given to understand they do this to catch prey that might wander into their mouth. After the initial shock of, "That's a fucking huge alligator right there", we just stood still and watched for a few minutes. Then walked further down the trail.

When my wife relates the story, one would think it was a 25 foot alligator at a distance of 12 feet.

[shanti]

23. skunks, raccoons, possum, wild turkey, pheasant

i'm around a mile away from a major river. we get some of the critters in the suburbs. had a run-in with a raccoon who tried to reach his little paw in when i opened the slider screen door. i shut it with a scream! also have seen possum crawling along the fence line. thank god, no snakes tho!

[Digit]

24. No Bull

My first husband and I along with his cousin and her husband were driving north of San Diego in our new Toyota truck and decided to do some "off roading" in what appeared to be an old orchard. The terrain was hilly as we were east, almost to the mountains. I was in the back bed of the truck with his cousin's husband and my husband was driving. His cousin, being pregnant, was in the passenger seat.

We were toked up and hooting and hollering when a bull appeared out of nowhere and it was obvious he did not like us trespassing...or the noise we were making. The bull put his head down and began to do that thing with their hooves when they are about to charge. I was trying to scream to my husband that a bull is about to charge but he could not hear either of us. We were pounding on the glass, so he STOPS! The bull was almost upon us by this time.

It crossed my mind that I wished I was in an enclosed vehicle and I wish I hadn't smoked that last bowl.

My husband managed to get the picture and stepped on the gas. We were dodging the damned thing going around trees, bumping my ass hard on the bed of the truck and thinking I was going to be thrown from the vehicle.

We had a hard time ditching that bull.

....and NO, we never did THAT again.

No Bull