Interesting animals or close dangerous encounters on a trail run?

Stalked by Mtn. Lion just north of Washington/Oregon border (White's Pass). Circled my camp late at night and got within 15 yards of me. I had a resupply in the morning and was about 4-5 miles from the road. I just hiked down, and he/she followed me. I slept in a ditch next to the highway.

Local gas station where I had my food drop waiting said that there had been a handful of recent sightings on that mountain, and that the fall before a man and his wife had been mauled in the area.

Seen more bear than I can count. One close encounter in southern virginia--mom and 2 cubs, and i had my dog off-leash

Rounded a blind corner near Sonora Pass (very windy day) and a bear and I came face to face--20 feet or so. We both turned and ran

Few hundred rattlers out in the desert southwest. No biggie--just grab a stick and poke 'em till they move. Came across one with a rodent halfway down his throat and he was a bit snarky

Canoeing in BWCA with a buddy--we were on Duck Lake a good bit into the backcountry. I saw a moose. He told me that I was dumb and that it was a beaver. One line of sight--a moose and a beaver.

Same trip, early morning start. Fog just starting to part on the lakes--puff of fog blows by and there's bald eagle 50 feet from us shredding a fish on a rock.

few close calls with avalanches and sketchy glissade down iced over mountainside--one of the first people through Glacier one year. It was pretty much a deathtrap and I'm lucky to be alive.

Almost died of hypothermia when a freak snowstorm came through the New Mexico desert mid-may. Lost feeling in my arms/legs. Found an old abandoned windmill--it was filled with rat feces, but there were a few chewed up old sweaters I put on. Checked my maps and found that I could hit a paved road in about 22 miles. Started running with my pack on till I hit that road, then hitched my way into town.

Few sketchy encounters from hitchhiking as well, but those are other stories.

so it seems like snakes should be least of your worries among most of the animals mentioned so far...i think there are bobcats or as they call them in florida pumas but not where i intend to run. im sure water snakes and rattlesnakes maybe too. i understand that rattlesnakes use gopher tortoise dens to hide and i think there is a large group of gorpher tortoises in the area too.

Owl attacked my head.

Rattlers are not a threat as long as you can see them. They are not aggressive by nature and only attack if threatened.

That said, they blend into their surroundings really well and on narrow or overgrown trails there is a danger of stepping on on or near them.

Craziest thing i ever came across was an Ocelot in flagstaff. It actually stopped right in front of me and hissed. When i got back i told the guys about what i saw and no one believed me. I ended up calling the game warden and was told that a few people had seen it around that area. Pretty cool creatures.

The incident occurred the day after I had raced Nationals (Mountain running) in Canmore, Alberta.

I came across the Grizzly at the end of a relatively long run. Some pretty awesome scenery in a rarely visited area dragged my run longer than expected and my energy was waning. Rolling single track and quite a few hikers (considering the location) distracted my mind and gave me a false sense of security.

Out of nowhere this big object surged at me from the forest canopy. My reaction was to run but it took me a second to realize what it was that had almost pummeled me. The encounter brought about a wave of energy, endowing me with foot speed I thought I didn't have. It's amazing the amount of reserves your body has for times like that.

That was also the day I was testing out my newly purchased GoPro. Here's the footage of the encounter for those interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7RsjcRiGM

how many hurs of footage does a GoPro? is that the camera have on it?

is that a helmet cam or are you just really tall?

winner winner chicken dinner

The grizzly bear is God warning you that pride (showing off a camera) goeth before a fall!

Years ago, I lived near UWF in Pensacola and ran their trails. There were two drainage ponds with gators and a narrow grassy strip down the middle. I used to bolt down the middle for excitement to see if any of the gators would budge. There would have been no place for me to bail out exceptto pull a 180 or jump in the gator ponds, if they cornered me it could have been interesting. Gators are lazy things and they never budged one bit, but I felt like James Bond in Live and Let Die every time I ran past them.

so what did you end up doing when you came across one lying on the trail? did you turn in the other direction?

Was in this race last month. Thankfully I wasn't anywhere near this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37WUuOc_zRQ

A giant Rat Snake - f*cker must have been 4-5' long. I ran right past him and my running partner stopped and pointed it out.

Seen a few rattlesnakes while running the trails in Northern California. Generally I stick to wider trails in the warmer months to reduce the risk of accidentally stepping on one I didn't see.

Rattlesnakes are not really aggressive and get way too bad of rap in the media. They will only strike when in imminent danger, cornered, teased, etc. Only once I have been rattled at (didn't see one in the shade and foot got within 12 inches of it). Usually if you come across one it will try to slither away from you as fast as possible. Don't stick your hands under boulders/think brush and make sure you dogs know how to act around snakes, and you shouldn't have any problems.

There are mtn lion sightings from time to time in the area, but I've never seen one myself. This is probably the only animal (besides idiot unleashed pit bulls, rottweiler, etc.) in my area that is truly dangerous though attacks are so rare that I don't worry about it.

Have seen some black bears up at Tahoe, but as long as you don't get between them and their young and their food, you should be fine.

1. came within 3 feet of a deer in the middle of the trail before it ran away. ironically within 100m north, east and west was housing in a suburban city.

2. Nearly got attacked by a rotwiller if it wasn't for the owner yanking the leash very fast. again within 3 feet, but what can you see when you are a few feet over the top of a hill.

As for scariest: Not on the trails but running on the country roads as you have rednecks with their dogs. Just recently on a long run, I see 4 german sheppards going to the front of their yard (not well secured by fencing) to see what is going on and the old lady at that house is bitching at me even though I am NOT on her property (running on the road normally). There's a reason I call it redneck territory

rat snakes are the type to usually bolt from you as well, they aren't bad and are often seen climbing trees.

they're also supposedly real easy to take, at least the black rat snake variety. After biting at you a few times in the cage, they become more docile.

Porcupine in the middle of the trail in Newport State Park, Wisconsin. I waited until it waddled off.

Was once attacked by a red-winged blackbird right on the lakefront path in Chicago, 15 feet from Lake Shore Drive.

Seeing an ocelot would be so cool. The coolest animal I've ever seen on a run was a bobcat out in California. I was running around dusk along a trail by the ocean in Newport Beach. I saw it moving in the brush and stopped to watch it. We just stared at each other for like 3 minutes until it finally slinked away into the bushes. I knew that there were pretty healthy populations of bobcats and even mountain lions in the surrounding mountains, but I didn't figure they would come so close to town. The whole thing was made cooler by the fact that there were tons of people out, walking, riding bikes jogging, etc., and yet no one but me noticed this awesome wild animal. Another somewhat less cool moment was surprising a black bear out in central Pennsylvania. It was up in a tree and when it heard us coming it fell out and ran off into the woods. Fortunately I was with a big group of people. Probably would have been kind of dangerous if I was by myself.