Instances where you were startled by an animal

[Andersons Foot]

I run through the National Park near me and have had a couple moments where i run by an animal and see it a couple feet from me and it scares the shit out of me. Today i jogged over a Rat Snake that was about 5 feet, i noticed it mid-stride when i just happened to look down, otherwise i wouldn't have seen it right next to me. They aren't poisonous as far as i know but still. Other times I've ran up on Deer and Coyotes a few times. Damn Coyote ran out of the woods and onto the pathway about 10 feet from me once, it just jogged ahead for a few feet and cut back into the woods. I should probably stop running with headphones in and be more aware.

 

[HelloJapan]

Oh man, I played a gig up in Whistler Mountain years ago and was driving home afterwards in a brutal snow storm and juuuuuuuuust missed hitting a huge ass bear...I just sat there frozen, staring at it...then I yelled "get the fuck out of the way fatty".

 

[OneManOrgy]

I go to make some Mac N' Cheese, so I take out a pot to boil some water in. This motherfucking spider decided to lay her babies or whatever the fuck in there as I opened the lid to find out. God damn spiders. They just flocked everywhere and I yelled "Oh shit".

Sorry, not that exciting.

 

[EJAXXX]

I was walking through a park a while ago and a squirrel was on the path, it didn't move when I was waking by it, it just stood up and puffed his chest out like it wanted to fight me.
We starred at each other and I just kept it moving..I'm not sure what his problem was.

 

[Kalmah]

Ran into a large brown bear while hunting on a narrow muddy trail. Was on a side by side which is basically a snack on wheels considering there's no windows or anything to stop it. Stopped and waited to see if it would fuck off so we could get by it but eventually it just started walking towards us. Had my gun trained on it while we backed the fuck out of there just in case. Bastard was not scared at all. Came back through there a day later and it wasn't there going in but on the way back out we ran into the bastard again. Second time it at least kinda fucked off enough to just quickly get by/around it. Glad I didn't have to shoot it, but it had me pretty worried I was in a situation where it was either me or the bear.

 

[FadeLess]

When i was a very young kid , my parents took me to some natural park , and by being a kid i obviously decided to stray away from the main track. I was constantly looking at the ground cause there were alot of big and smaller rocks that could make me trip and fall down and i continued walking and walking.
At one point i just stopped cause less then a metter from me there were these 2 huge feet that looked like dinasour claws or something ... i didnt even looked up , i just started running like my life depended on it and to this day im still amazed how the hell i didnt trip on any of the rocks cause i couldnt see shit with all the tears in my eyes.
Later my parents told me that it was an ostrich and that she even chased me for some distance .... she couldnt catch me tho .... i think ive scared her off with all my screaming.

 

[Thai Domi]

When my face goes through a spider web.

Good times.

 

[IIIIIIII]

i bike-ride in a state park in the mornings, and there was one time when i was turning around a wooded area, and a fucking raccoon jumped out of a bush and scared the shit out of me. it had the meanest fucking look on it's face lol. i'm glad i was on my bike, cause if i was walking or running, it would have probably ran after me and bitten me and gave me rabies or some shit.

 

[SammyPops]

After drinking one evening I left a patio bar and threw up. I sit down to catch my breath afte the puke, and I look over and there sits a fat racoon. Was startled but showed no fear.

 

[Andersons Foot]

One of the times i was startled by a deer is pretty funny. I was on my bike riding on a trail with headphones in, i was at the part of the trail where there's a hill on one side. The deer was at the bottom of the hill a few feet away, when i rode by it he looked up almost exactly as i looked over and we made eye contact at about the same time and we both did something similar to this

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

turtle rolled up on me while i was surfing. thought i was bout to lose a limb


squirrel broke into my house and tried to steal a loaf of bread in the middle of the night. he pulled the bag down between my bed and an adjacent table, but because of the width of the bread itself, it was stuck there. he kept pulling and the loaf was swaying back and forth, knocking by bed and the table. i woke up and this might have been the first time in my adult life i questioned the existence of the supernatural.

 

[ShackleMeNot]

We have copperheads on our property, they occasionally startle the shit out of me

 

[Malvo]

Went to take a piss while in the woods. Bout to start and hear the rattle. Look down and see the leaves moving and ran for my life, cawk in hand.

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

My cat jumped out from under my bed one time when I was watching The Wizard with Fred Savage. It scared the shit outta me.

Wish you guys were there to see it.

I was 25.

 

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

i am a man i do not get startled.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

I was jogging in the presidio around 10 at night a year or two back. Turned down a trail and two coyote howls broke out in the bushes, about fifteen feet in front on the right of the trail and another on the left about thirty feet off.

I turned around the other way, like a bitch.

 

[BearGrounds]

I've posted this pic here before, but walking up on this Timber Rattlesnake definitely gave me a "whoa" moment. I was only a few paces away and the brush was knee to waist high. Luckily it was visible due to it taking in some sun in a spot where there was a gap. I heard it before I saw it. A hiss first, then the rattle.

Spoiler

And just for the lols, this dude's reaction always cracks me up:

 

[fightingrabbit]

I go to make some Mac N' Cheese, so I take out a pot to boil some water in. This motherfucking spider decided to lay her babies or whatever the fuck in there as I opened the lid to find out. God damn spiders. They just flocked everywhere and I yelled "Oh shit".

Sorry, not that exciting.

He said animals, not hellspawn.

 

[fightingrabbit]

Had a coyote run across the road from me. Like a couple feet away. My first impression was that someone just let their big dog run around off the leash, but then noticed that that gait was different from a normal dog. I wasn't really scared or anything, I think it knew I was alpha.

 

[PG29 red0 Jr]

So I used to live in Chicago about 3 years ago. I was parking my car at about 9PM, and I heard a 2 wheeled plastic garbage can moving. I look over expecting to see a neighbor taking out the garbage. I don't see anything though. Then emerged the largest rat I have ever seen. The rat was the size of a small dog, and had the stare of a game pit. I glare at it in an attempt to establish dominance , and it stares back with a blank stare with dead beady black eyes. I stomp my foot and lunge at the rat in an attempt to scare it off. Instead of it being frightened, it comes straight at me. I run away like a little girl.

I turn back and see the rat run under my car.

Flash forward 2 weeks.

My check engine light comes on in my LS400. I scan the car via the on board diagnostics port. It says the knock sensor is not working correctly. I google this, and because it is a V8 it is down in the vee and requires removal of the intake manifold etc. I remove the intake manifold and find that the rat made a nest, and there were bird bones, and other dead animal carcasses along with beading material. The wires for the knock sensor had been chewed off. Apparently the rat liked the warm engine and was living in the vee at night.