Animals* (all species, including most frightening and even pussy like) that I have been chased by (*Cows excepted)

[70014IronDuke]

NB - For exclusive being-chased-by-cows thread, see

Being chased by cows

I have been chased by a single cow once. About 6 years ago I was walking through a field of cattle, and they were on the footpath, so I could not really avoid them. One of the cows was staring at me, so I waited for it to move away. After 5 minutes it stayed were it was, so I decided to take...

www.railforums.co.uk

Since we are into being chased by cows today, I thought this was unfair and prejudicial on other creatures not to have their say and fair chance to gain fame and notoriety from chasing in RailUKforums. It could be anything from militant frogs and aggressive moth swarms to man-hating mambas or good 'ol favourites like lions and tigers (if you survived to tell the tale).

Extra points if you were engaged in some sort of rail-linked activity at the time.

My starter for 10: I was photographing in fields around Ephesus, western Turkey in 1986, and to get round and about, I'd hired a sort of motorbike-moped type thing for the day. Probably less than 50cc to be legal.

Stopped on a dirt-track, well, more like dust track, with the church at Ephesus 500 yards away on it's hill, I happened to turn round to see a bloody wolf-like hound bounding straight for me 30 yards away. I was lucky, no camera gear out, so I just opened the (very meagre) throttle and pushed the thing to its limits. I was sure the animal would soon be on me, as the moped thing was sliding and slithering in the dust, but I couldn't - daren't - look round.

After a minute of this, and still with no hound's teeth impaling themselves anywhere on my body, I stopped and looked back. I forget now if I could see the wolf-creature or not, but I was no longer in peril, apart from a heart beating like a Black 5 going up Shap.

I was rather careful going onto agricultural land in Turkey (and elsewhere) after that little escapade. (No rail-related activity in this instance.)

 

[Ostrich]

Neither rail-related and neither strictly animal-related activities, but both football-related ....

When I was at primary school, around 6 or 7 yo, we had use of a football pitch by the local church, and the first job on arrival was to shoo the rector's flock of geese off the pitch and into an enclosure. A high-risk activity, the job was usually delegated to one of the sports master's preferred miscreants.
I copped the duty one day, got them successfully up the right end of the pitch ...... but then they turned on me! I beat every Usain Bolt record back to the main gate with an enraged, wildly-honking, white-feathered mob in high pursuit. Never again!

The other occasion, last season I think, was at a local football ground in rural South Wiltshire. At half-time, I walked round the pitch and was happily tramping the final leg back to the benches when - a sixth sense, really - I suddenly became aware of something in front of me. I looked up and found a bee swarm barrelling down the touch line straight at me. I instinctively turned my back and crouched as something looking and sounding like the arrows from the Battle of Agincourt whipped past me on both sides and over my head. Then suddenly it was all over and they were gone. Longest 30 seconds I have ever spent, and thank goodness the Queen hadn't taken a liking to me .....

 

[Herefordian]

I was chased by a pair of sheep while camping with my Dad five or six years ago.

Last month it was an angry swan. My three year old granddaughter was very amused!

 

[ivorytoast28]

When in the slovakian tatras a friend and I were walking home on a dark forested road just after sunset. We heard lots of aggressive barking and could see shining eyes from our torch. We knew there could be wolves and were terrified as there were no houses around, we walked as quietly as we could onwards as didn't want to run and give chase to a battle we'd lose....
The next morning we walked along the same road, there were a few kennels in a field presumably belonging to some farm, they were just dogs, all completly chained up and secured. We thought we outsmarted wolves for an entire night

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

I was chased by a nasty dog in a local park when I was about five. Meanwhile, the useless owner stood there doing absolutely nothing.

Managed to bring about an irrational fear of all dogs for ten years which I'm still not over entirely. I still get apprehensive around certain dogs, although can appreciate a particularly cute and/or fluffy one now.

Have also been chased by countless horses when I've been feeding them, but that's a bit different... unless you're an equestrian, you probably wouldn't understand that the aim is actually to get the horse to chase you (to the other side of the field), otherwise you're left with horses attacking each other over food!

 

[adc82140]

Got chased by a horse seemingly with behavioral problems across a field. I had no idea I was able to vault a gate quite so athletically at my age.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Years ago I was in Conwy with my then girlfriend having ice-creams, when a seagull swooped down and stole her cone... does that count as being chased? It did give her quite a whack with one of its wings!
The squirrels in Thornes Park in Wakefield have been known to be quite bold in their attempts to steal chips, too.

 

[D821]

Years ago I was in Conwy with my then girlfriend having ice-creams, when a seagull swooped down and stole her cone... does that count as being chased? It did give her quite a whack with one of its wings!
The squirrels in Thornes Park in Wakefield have been known to be quite bold in their attempts to steal chips, too.

I hate seagulls. I regularly see them swooping down and stealing people's lunches outside where I work. I almost lost a bacon butty to one last year, but managed to hold on to it.
I've no idea how they are a protected species, there's more of them than pigeons in Liverpool (though considering I've seen gull eating a pigeon on more than one occasion, that may not be that surprising).

 

[Harvester]

If being chased by an off-lead dog counts, then many times when cycling through a local nature reserve.

 

[Ediswan]

Seals, while coastal kayaking. Not so much chased as followed. They seem to like sneaking up behind then snorting. For clarity, these were not cases of harrasing the wildlife.

A robin, while walking up the path opposite Swallow Falls, Conwy. It kept flying ahead to the next fence post.

A very angry red grouse while (legally) off road cycling in the Peak District. That kept on landing on the path ahead of us.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Yes, I was photographing chemical tanks coming onto our rail siding in Dalton, GA. Norfolk-Southern were the company. On occasion one last fall, a black bear was feeding on acorns and started to charge me, so I went inside the building. I will try and post a photo later.

on occasion 2 a snake came into the building and came towards me.

on picture 3 you will have to zoom in to see the black bear. Picture 4, the snake was run over.

Picture 5 was a different snake.

 

[DelayRepay]

I was chased by a nasty dog in a local park when I was about five. Meanwhile, the useless owner stood there doing absolutely nothing.

Managed to bring about an irrational fear of all dogs for ten years which I'm still not over entirely. I still get apprehensive around certain dogs, although can appreciate a particularly cute and/or fluffy one now.

I had a similar experience on a beach when I was little. Although I don't actually think the dog was nasty, I think it was playing.

Even now, many years later, I am still not entirely comfortable around big dogs.

 

[Tracked]

A Swan, somewhere down South (possibly Christchurch), was sat by a river and one swam up to me, got out of the river, waddled up and lunged at me. I got up, walked off, and it continued to follow me for a few minutes

Was eating a McDonalds burger & fries in Aberdeen years ago and had a seagull wandering up to me, it appeared to have a look at what I was eating and wandered off. I haven't had anything from McDonalds since then ...

 

[duncanp]

A Swan, somewhere down South (possibly Christchurch), was sat by a river and one swam up to me, got out of the river, waddled up and lunged at me. I got up, walked off, and it continued to follow me for a few minutes

When I was living in London, I used to swim in the ponds on Hampstead Heath.

During the spring breeding season, around March and April, we were warned by the lifeguards not to go too near the side of the lake where the swans had their nest, because they were very protective of their new born cygnets.

It can be very initimidating if you are swimming in a lake or a river and a fully grown swan comes flapping towards you making a big noise. They also hae the potential to do you a nasty injury.

 

[341o2]

Turkeys while working on a turkey farm. Most leave you alone, but there is always one that chases after you.
Likewise cockerels, the little bantams can be more aggressive than the bigger breeds
Geese can also be aggressive

 

[duncanp]

Turkeys while working on a turkey farm. Most leave you alone, but there is always one that chases after you.
Likewise cockerels, the little bantams can be more aggressive than the bigger breeds

...and geese whilst walking along the canal towpath.

Most will leave you alone or move out of your way.

But there is always one that will hiss rather aggressively as you are walking past.

 

[dosxuk]

Me and three colleagues were once chased across a car park by a seagull carrying a rather large pebble (probably closer to a rock) in it's beak.

 

[swt_passenger]

A Swan, somewhere down South (possibly Christchurch), was sat by a river and one swam up to me, got out of the river, waddled up and lunged at me. I got up, walked off, and it continued to follow me for a few minutes

A swan attacked my narrowboat while moving. Had its teeth firmly around one of the steel tubes holding up one of the seats at the back by the tiller. It didn’t seem too worried about the prop wash or noise, I think I was lucky that I moved and didn’t have a chunk taken out my ankle.

 

[D6130]

About 12 years ago, my wife and I did a charity walk for the British Heart Foundation along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath from Skipton to Shipley. Unfortunately it was springtime and we were chased by no less than four different nesting swans at various stages of the journey.

 

[swt_passenger]

About 12 years ago, my wife and I did a charity walk for the British Heart Foundation along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath from Skipton to Shipley. Unfortunately it was springtime and we were chased by no less than four different nesting swans at various stages of the journey.

I’ve seen signs up advising boaters against using the offside of a wide lock, (ie don’t pair up with another boat, and don’t move the offside gates), because of a nesting swan right alongside the lock chamber. At the time the nest was empty, so the family must have been out for the day…

 

[nw1]

Only the usual suspects, i.e. cows, dogs and wasps with the occasional horse.

I have been approached by sheep once while in a field, but as I didn't see them as a threat, I didn't consider that a chase.

 

[Essan]

Midges, clegs, flies .... and an arctic skua. The latter probably the only time I've been seriously threatened by a wild creature.

(I've been followed by sheep and cattle but never chased)

 

[nw1]

Not a chase in either case, but I've just remembered these two occasions in the US.

Apparently I did narrowly miss a black bear encounter when in the countryside immediately outside Boulder, Colorado, which is really not in the "sticks" at all and is well-frequented with hikers.

I walked in the hills surrounding Boulder on two consecutive days and passed a particular point, not far from the Flatirons (if anyone knows the area).

On the second day I got talking to someone who said that a black bear had been seen close by at around (IIRC) 4.30pm the previous day. I had more or less passed that same spot at 4.30pm the previous day!

A few years before, I had climbed a small, and well-frequented hill outside Bend, Oregon, while on a Greyhound bus trip down the west coast from Vancouver to LA. It was twilight and on the way down the hill I heard nearby rustling from what sounded like a rather large animal. I never saw what it was, but was a little bit alarmed as mountain lions frequent the western states of the US.

 

[Calthrop]

A few years before, I had climbed a small, and well-frequented hill outside Bend, Oregon, while on a Greyhound bus trip down the west coast from Vancouver to LA. It was twilight and on the way down the hill I heard nearby rustling from what sounded like a rather large animal. I never saw what it was, but was a little bit alarmed as mountain lions frequent the western states of the US.

There are those who would suggest in all seriousness, that it could have been a Bigfoot -- that being supposedly, a particularly good part of the continent for them.


Nesting birds having been mentioned in the "cows" discussion; and in this main part of the thread, particularly re swans -- an interesting experience of mine some years ago, when walking along a canal towpath at the appropriate time of the year. Close encounter (best view I have ever had of one) with a member of a usually very shy and retiring bird species, the water rail: this one, clearly with a nest close by, came right out and fussed around the feet of myself and my companion, making symbolic "pecking" movements. We made sure to tell the creature, "It's all right, we have no designs of any sort on your progeny"; and with all dispatch, walked on.

 

[nw1]

Nesting birds having been mentioned in the "cows" discussion; and in this main part of the thread, particularly re swans -- an interesting experience of mine some years ago, when walking along a canal towpath at the appropriate time of the year. Close encounter (best view I have ever had of one) with a member of a usually very shy and retiring bird species, the water rail: this one, clearly with a nest close by, came right out and fussed around the feet of myself and my companion, making symbolic "pecking" movements. We made sure to tell the creature, "It's all right, we have no designs of any sort on your progeny"; and with all dispatch, walked on.

In view of all the reports on here, strangely I've never had a bird attack.

Certainly I've never heard of aggressive behaviour by small birds, so interesting to hear that.

 

[Harvester]

Incredible behaviour from a water rail. They are usually such shy and elusive birds, rarely coming out into the open and quick to disappear if spotted.

 

[Calthrop]

I found it hard to believe; but I promise, it happened.