Interesting animals or close dangerous encounters on a trail run?

Chased (well, followed) by a pack of coyotes, one day. Not uncommon to see them on the edges of fields, etc. but this was well into a forested trail. First heard them howling off in the distance back in the direction from which I had come. Howling kept getting louder so I stopped to listen in curiosity. They kept coming closer, and while I couldn't see them yet through the trees, decided i best keep moving and hopped across a stream and up a steep hill on the other side. Still coundn't see them through the trees, but I heard them milling around at the stream where I had just been, then they took off braying again. I was a little shaken as they seemed to be stalking me, but they stayed across the stream so I kept going. Within minutes of crossing the stream a very large tree branch fell within inches of bashing my head.

My experience with a bear. http://tinyurl.com/buxlavx

This doesn't match the grizzly video, but out on a lonely trail in Hong Kong I was zoned out and suddenly found myself leaping over a massive snake -- had to be a Burmese python -- crossing my path at a pretty good clip.

I regret not having worn my heart rate monitor. I could have found out my maximum heart rate.

What HS and what college did you run for?

Renewed Marathoner wrote:

River otter, terrapins, dolphins, bald eagles, deer, rattlesnakes (personally I love snakes and they're harmless if you leave them alone).

Dolphins on a run, you'll need to explain that trail hazard.

No reason to be afraid of snakes on a trail. I've been able to get them to move off the path by kicking dust up towards them. The snake will move away from the dust. They don't like it. I've even been able to get them to go in a specific direction by adjusting the direction the dust was kick.

Saw a salmon pink rattler slithering under a rock and sometimes saw individual scorpions scurrying about on a three-week trip to Arizona.

Living in New Mexico I was working at Ghost Ranch and on a harder run when I heard an awful hiss. I'd almost stepped on a mountain green rattlesnake which are supposed to be rare and also more temperamental. I also once put my foot down on a log to tie a shoe and about 60 baby scorpions came teeming out. Heart-stopping moments there.

Saw tons of rattlers when I lived in Colorado and also an occasional black bear. Once heard a mountain lion snarl -- unmistakable. Bald eagles, golden eagles, all sorts of birds. Elk sometimes, not sure if I'd want to count deer. Saw a woodpecker chipping away at a tree in the middle of a cold January run at Boulder Rez, saw a snow-white owl in a tree with bright orange (fall colors) leaves in north boulder, and saw a white-coated mountain goat too, which looked like a ram on Mt. Sanitas.

In Portland I saw a redtailed hawk on Wildwood on the ground, eating a grass snake of some kind. I was five feet away staring at it for several minutes and it just looked at me sideways and kept eating. A few coytoes too.

In Calif. I've seen bobcats, rattlers and coyotes oin the Bay Area + numerous bears in the mountains. Tons of birds, once saw a bald eagle in the Berkeley Hills and that is really rara as I am told there are less than a dozen recorded bald eagles in the central Bay Area (you see them all the time in Colorado, for example). Also saw a ring-tailed fox in Berkeley. You have to watch out for the raccoons in the Bay Area too, they are not that afraid of people.

I was coming down Shaver Grade above Ross Commons / Phoenix Lake on the north side of Mt. Tamalpais and I saw a mountain lion. It jogged by about fifty meters in front of me and didn't pay to much attention to what I was doing (A: shaking in my boots).

One of the oddest things I've seen was doing a run at Pt. Reyes. I'd finished at Drakes Beach which has cliffs you can sit on and watch the water about 75 feet below you. This sea otter was bobbing around. After about 20 minutes I saw a great white shark come along and snatch him right up for lunch. It was utterly ruthless.

Also saw a really pissed off baby cottonmouth (the worst venemous snake to encounter is a baby) in the South when I was out there for awhile. It sure would have been nice to have had a camera for some of those run ins.

Got attacked by a wild boar once.

I was doing an easy trail run in Lake Bistoneau state park in north louisiana. Around mile 4, something ran out of the brush about 20 feet ahead that startled me. I stopped dead in my tracks and watched as a full grown alpha swine stepped into the path followed by a litter of piglets. The protective mother turned towards me and began kicking the dirt with her front legs. She was readying for a charge.

I thought to myself, this is my moment. This is the event that will return me to what man is at his core - a brutal, primal creature. I ripped off my cotton T, pulled out my four inch switch blade (I keep it on me at all times), and charged the pig. Surprised by my aggression, she took off down the path in the opposite direction practically trampling her babies in the process. Coward. While she was fast, she was no match for me, as I was fresh off a track season where I'd set PRs in both the 800 and the mile. I closed within 50 meters, pounced on the animal, and dug my blade into her neck. She still had fight in her and tried to get away. I was hanging on for dear life as she tried to break free. She ended up kicking me in the groin, which only made me angrier. I summoned all my strength, picked up the 150 lb. pig in my arms, and furiously dropped it onto my "take a knee" position leg, breaking its back. I was so proud. Too excited to run, I simply walked back down the path in the direction I'd come. The piglets were still there in the path, looking bewildered and confused.

I had no desire to harm them as they had not threatened me whatsoever. To my surprise, when I started walking down the path, they followed me. All seven of them! They followed me all the way to my car. I was their new mother, I guess. They were so cute that I just put them in the trunk of my car to take home. I figured I could give them away or sell them or something. Anyway, my friend Donny called while I was driving back home and I went to his house instead. To make a long story short, I forgot the pigs in my trunk and only remembered them two days later. It wasn't pretty. I felt really bad, but I guess that's life.

lots of rattlesnakes, bobcats, tranculas, homeless, drug addicts.

once saw a mountain lion cub sitting just off the trail- glad I didn't see mother. Others did see the mother in the same location. I probably should have been more concerned than I was. I walked past it and for another 50 or meters and then continued on my run.

Most startled was when out of no where a deer jumped about 10 feet in front of me and then leaped off. It was wild to see such a large animal to be leaping so close when I wasn't expecting it.

Another random thing deep in a trail area I thought I saw a bear just off the trail but it turned out to be a random cow. It freaked me out when I thought it was a bear. I have no idea how a cow got out there. Must have wondered off a ranch or something.

Done it Before wrote:

While running at night night in Maui on a golf cart path I ran right in the middle of a herd of Axis deer. It freaked me out for sure. Because i spooked them one deer hit a heavy gauge wire fence and got its leg caught between the top wire and the middle wire. I tried to get the poor thing out but it kept kicking around. I then saw that one leg was completely broken with just skin holding it together.

I really love animals and didn't want it to suffer. I found a heavy iron tee marking sign and beat it until it died. The screams of that deer were like Silence of the Lambs.

The hell is wrong with you? You must be one f*cked up dude to savagely beat an animal to death. You know those stories of parents who are suicidal and decide to kill their kids right before they off themselves? You're using the same logic they use, you freaking sicko

geezy wrote:

A lot of the usual rattlesnakes, turkeys, coyotes, bobcats, deer, etc.

But a couple of years ago I had the chance to do some runs on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. I saw quite a few kangaroos and wallabies, but the most interesting encounter was seeing a koala lumbering across a field. That was the only one I ever saw on the ground.

You should have bludgeoned it to death to ease it's suffering

TRUE STORY!!! I was doing a semester abroad in Florence ITA. One of my favorite runs was up in the hills near

Fiesole...past the cemetery and near the campgrounds if you're familiar...AMAZING scenery.

One day i was running on a trail not too far off the road and heard rustling ...shorlty after that...a wild boar

came darting out of the bushes in front of me...didn't care about me because it was being chased by a dog of some king...couldn't tell if wild or domestic. Scared the shit out of me.

I am seeing LOTS of trolling in this thread. There are some animals out there that WILL react to a human threat by attacking, most noteably bears.

Dolphins on The Run wrote:

Renewed Marathoner wrote:

River otter, terrapins, dolphins, bald eagles, deer, rattlesnakes (personally I love snakes and they're harmless if you leave them alone).

Dolphins on a run, you'll need to explain that trail hazard.

No reason to be afraid of snakes on a trail. I've been able to get them to move off the path by kicking dust up towards them. The snake will move away from the dust. They don't like it. I've even been able to get them to go in a specific direction by adjusting the direction the dust was kick.

Introducing the Vengenance Rattlesnake Meme:

"HE ENJOYED KICKING DIRT AT ME"

"I ENJOYED HIS FUNERAL"

I took a piss on a spider that i saw sleeping in the middle of the day.

I've had a couple of good ones.

One time on a mountain trail I was 20m from a moose and there were two hikers 20m behind him. I just ran straight backwards so he wouldn't charge either of us. I ended up seeing him later on during the same run but he booked it away from me.

My xc team persistence hunted a deer for like 3 miles through suburbs and forest preserves but he ended up getting away. Didn't help that it was March so he probably wasn't getting too hot.

I once helped a baby snake get up a berm on the side of the trail with a stick. Poor guy looked like he was on a treadmill.

Scariest experience was a night trail run in Reno. My parents were in a hotel near the RTIA and I went out for a run ending up in Huffaker Hills at night. There was a decent moon so I could see okay. But out of nowhere this bird started making noises above my head. I didn't think anything of it until the thing swooped down directly towards my eardrum. It happened twice and it honestly sounded like a jet plane in my ear. I imagine that I was near its nest but I have no idea what kind of bird that was. Any ideas?

What is up with black bears falling out of trees? (See my post on the first page)

I also totally forgot the time I saw a porcupine like a previous poster. Probably the coolest animal I've seen.

I've also seen rat snakes too.

Forgot this one.This was a road experience but whatever the thing was was in the woods.

Me and my buddy were cooling down after a night 10k on the track near a semi-rural area and a mile away from the track we heard a huge leaf rustling sound from the forest and what sounded like a pig being killed. A half mile after that we saw two police cars at a house talking to a guy outside. That one freaked me out a bunch as well.

Interesting thread.

My experiences have been tame and I have never felt threatened. Tons of deer. (They are easier to sneak up on when skiing.) Some snakes, great northern water snakes sunnying themselves in trails, they can startle you. A few coyetes, great athletes but afraid of people. Also skunks and racoons.

Kind of boring compared to most posts here.

Physically ran into a moose in rocky mountain national park. came around a blind corner on a trail and hit it mid stride. scared the absolute shit out of me, the moose didn't care at all. just looked at me as if annoyed, then went back to eating it's tree.

Ran up on 10 elk along the Grand Canyon. Needless to say I ran the hell away.