Scariest animal in the history of man!

**yesdachi** · 09-12-2005, 21:24

Scariest animal in the history of man!

According to books, movies, folk tales and nursery rhymes the wolf is probably the scariest animal in the history of Europe, North America and Russia. The wolf is obviously not the most deadly but is there an animal that has caused more fear?

There are plenty of scary animals out there but which ones really strike fear when mentioned like the wolf did to Euro travelers lost in the woods back in the day? Or has inspired books, folk tales and nursery rhymes to scare children?

What replaces the wolf as the scariest animal in other areas of the world? China? Africa? South America?

As a general criteria, I would have to say the animal has to cause serious fear. Lots of people are afraid of spiders but you don’t run for your life if you see 6 of them, or even hear someone scream their name. Also, no mythical (dragon) or out of time (t-rex) animals. And finally, many people in the past might have run if they heard “The British are coming! The British are coming!” but I don’t consider them in contention

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**Kagemusha** · 09-12-2005, 21:31

One animal that scares almost anyone around the globe is the snake.It is a primal reaction for a human to be scared of snakes.

**Marcellus** · 09-12-2005, 21:35

I'm not sure if people would scream when the name is said, but I think that the Cayman is particularly scary: it just stares at you, still, for hours. But if something goes near it, it snaps. Rather Scary.

**dgfred** · 09-12-2005, 21:38

Yell 'Shark' around some swimmers and you will find a panic almost immediately

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**Kraxis** · 09-12-2005, 23:39

Yes, I believe the shark is the most feared animal. There are even some who hate it with a vengeance, like you hate rats.

When I say shark, I say the big bad sharks, not those small cuddly mouse sharks for instance.

**Taurus** · 09-12-2005, 23:41

Spiders imo. I hate the things.

**GoreBag** · 09-13-2005, 00:27

Deep sea fish. There is not a collection of more bizarre, grotesque and frighteningly and efficiently murderous creatures on the planet.

**Red Harvest** · 09-13-2005, 01:58

Originally Posted by Kraxis

Yes, I believe the shark is the most feared animal. There are even some who hate it with a vengeance, like you hate rats.

When I say shark, I say the big bad sharks, not those small cuddly mouse sharks for instance.

Not divers, we love sharks, the bigger the better. Problem is, sharks don't like us.

Seems that having something swim towards *them* sends the wrong message...so they flee. I still remember my first glimpse of a big hammerhead.

Scariest animal? Fear wise I would say snakes. They catch you by surprise. It isn't that they are a great threat, but more that they tend to be silent and surprise you. There is nothing quite like reaching into a chicken nest to collect the eggs and realizing there is a blacksnake in there, that you can't see, but clearly feel. Or running down a dirt path and realizing a fallen "limb" is actually a snake. Or having one make his way into your house with the laundry.

The one that concerns me when backpacking/hiking/camping is the bear. They are simply too big to contend with, they are attracted to your food, and they can climb if they want to. (Polar bears would be the ultimate...since they have no fear of humans and will stalk a person down.)

Wolves, coyotes, dogs don't concern me (only for my kids who are too small to kill animals like that by hand.) I would be much more concerned about a tiger or lion. I've heard mountain lions in our woods at night back in Missouri--they really spooked the cattle. Much scarier than anything else I've heard in the wild.

**discovery1** · 09-13-2005, 02:11

Humbolt squid. Imagine seeing one of these comng at you(they have been known to attack humans, and each other). Actually, I would say the Giant Squid, but none have been in waters we frequent for long.

**Productivity** · 09-13-2005, 07:10

Originally Posted by Red Harvest

Not divers, we love sharks, the bigger the better. Problem is, sharks don't like us.

Seems that having something swim towards *them* sends the wrong message...so they flee. I still remember my first glimpse of a big hammerhead.

Yes I can agree with that - I've actually had a hammerhead glide right past me on the surface once. I like sharks though, I just recognise that they are part of the risk of diving.

The ones that freak me out are big rays. Now I like rays - I really do. But when a 3m across ray sneaks up on you and then glides ~1m over the top of you it's worrying. I really would like them a lot more if they were polite enough to not sneak up on me.

Aside from that, junior yacht clubs are pretty scary. See that blue and white flag? That's a diving flag. It means there is an exclusion zone around the boat with it on it. DO NOT COME NEAR IT. Seeing the keel of a yacht come within a metre of you is worrying to say the least.

**Azi Tohak** · 09-15-2005, 06:59

"I hate spiders. I hate spiders. I hate spiders."

Come on now, I'm sure everyone knows the words!

Anyway, I think the Wolf is a good guess, but I think it varies according to the culture. When I was little I was terrified of Aliens (I'll refrain from an immigration joke). But now... just spiders.

Azi

**RabidGibbon** · 09-15-2005, 17:07

Originally posted by Lemurmania

Cows have their own menace

You better believe it. I remember a couple of cases of cow's killing people in the UK not so long ago, but the only linkage I could find was of foreign cows killing people.

Clicking Time

**master of the puppets** · 09-15-2005, 17:11

funny as it may sound a giant chicken would be lethal, they move like raptors and run astonishingly fast. you give them teeeth and some guts and they could do damage. my family used to have this one rooster that aytttacked my sister and brother, honestly attack charge them leap into the air and try to claw there eyes out but ui got him good oh yes i got him.

**Red Harvest** · 09-15-2005, 18:24

Originally Posted by master of the puppets

funny as it may sound a giant chicken would be lethal, they move like raptors and run astonishingly fast. you give them teeeth and some guts and they could do damage. my family used to have this one rooster that aytttacked my sister and brother, honestly attack charge them leap into the air and try to claw there eyes out but ui got him good oh yes i got him.

Yes, anyone who has been around chickens as a small child has probably seen this. The main problem is that little kids are afraid of them. If they would charge the bird it would run. The birds don't have much mass, and they have weak bones. They are not going to get into a real tangle with a dense boned more massive mammal. Still, I always had to run to the rescue of my little brother, since he always ran.

If you chase the rooster long enough it will ball up and go into a coma like state...

Dogs were a concern when distance running down country dirt roads, they were very aggressive. I picked up rocks and gravel along the way. (I'm a crack shot with a rock while running--I've killed rabbits and bullfrogs this way.) Yelp...yelp...yelp. If they got too close I would charge them. After running a route a few times I noticed the dogs would run up and bark, but stay discreetly out of my accurate range.

**LeftEyeNine** · 09-15-2005, 18:59

Well my friend had a rooster which was a lot taller than an infant. He said that the guy (?!!) was really furious, he could easily attack at humans. Well, you should have seen that.