# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 443
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8844 "2023-12-22T15:34:13Z")
I don’t think millionaires necessarily have lots and lots of disposable income. I’m assuming a millionaire means “net assets are worth $1m” which would not factor in income. If you’re over 65 and have been dutifully putting money into retirement you could quite easily be a millionaire and have very limited disposable income. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8845 "2023-12-22T16:08:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > @Mean_Mr.Mustard , what you’re missing about “Let it Snow” is that the song takes place over the course of a day or several hours. In the beginning, they have no place to go, because they intend to spend the day together. Then they are thinking about how the day will soon end. Then the day is ending. I dunno. When I say I don’t have any place to go that means I’m in for the night (even if I say it early in the day). mmm ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8846 "2023-12-22T19:23:09Z")
My major concern would be “How in the name of Klono’s brass balls did a hippo get loose in the San G. wilderness??!?” They don’t normally range in mountains. In Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8847 "2023-12-22T19:25:58Z")
A grizzly bear is more of a danger, but I have more (irrational perhaps) fear seeing a rattlesnake. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8848 "2023-12-22T19:27:52Z")
I would be equally alarmed by all of those animals. I don’t think my lizard brain would be able to sort which was more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8849 "2023-12-22T19:30:18Z")
I feel like in a moment of desperation, there are plenty of trees I am capable of climbing, which at least gets me past the hippo if I am fast enough. There is no universe in which I will survive an interested grizzly bear, however. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8850 "2023-12-22T19:35:20Z")
Also, if I encountered a crocodile, I wouldn’t be thinking, “At least it’s not a grizzly bear!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8851 "2023-12-22T19:35:35Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I don’t think millionaires necessarily have lots and lots of disposable income. I’m assuming a millionaire means “net assets are worth $1m” which would not factor in income. If you’re over 65 and have been dutifully putting money into retirement you could quite easily be a millionaire and have very limited disposable income. Understood. There’s what an accountant would think, and there’s what I would think. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8852 "2023-12-22T19:39:11Z")
Well, for the purposes of that study, I think it matters which way they define it. Whether they define millionaire your way or my way makes a big difference to how I interpret that statistic. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8853 "2023-12-22T19:42:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > A grizzly bear is more of a danger, but I have more (irrational perhaps) fear seeing a rattlesnake. We saw a Mojave green once while we were camping. If you don’t actually step on it, they’re pretty easy to avoid. A grizzly would make me crap my pants. Heh, @silenus, I was picturing that hippo in the San Gabriels, too! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8854 "2023-12-22T19:54:21Z")
The only one that is at all likely to want to eat me is the crocodile, and they are fast. I’d be pretty terrified of the bear and hippo, too, but i think the odds are decent i could slowly back away from them. I’ve been close to both lions and poisonous snakes, and i think both are very likely to let me quietly back away. I mean, both would be pretty freaking frightening if i came upon them unexpectedly, but i think I’d freeze, recover my composure, and successfully back away from either of those. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8855 "2023-12-22T20:01:09Z")
Yeah, my first reaction was ‘a hippo around here wouldn’t only be dangerous, it would be really really weird.’ Then I realized this would also be true of several of the others. Then I briefly got hung up on ‘what do you mean by ‘lion’, exactly? African lion, or The Cat Of Many Names?’ Then I voted for grizzly; but I don’t know whether a grizzly is the one most likely to eat me. They’re one of the few (larger than insect sized) creatures on the planet that still sometimes thinks of humans as prey, though. I think a rattlesnake and wolf, and mountain lion, would probably let me back gradually off while trying to look dangerous but not about to attack, though. Don’t know about the hippo, croc, or African lion; though I gather that’s the technique groups of hunting/gathering people use on lions. Don’t know whether it works if you’re alone, or if the lion’s not in practice at it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8856 "2023-12-22T20:18:32Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I’d always understood “millionaire” to mean “has a yearly income of a million dollars (or more)” rather than “has assets worth a million dollars.” Then by this logic, someone like Bill Gates, Buffett, or Musk would not be a millionaire if they converted all their assets to $100 billion in a checking account (that doesn’t pay interest.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8857 "2023-12-22T20:35:09Z")
Both [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) and Wikipedia define it in terms of net assets. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8858 "2023-12-22T21:09:28Z")
One thing about the crocodile, I was watching some nature show, and the guy showed that basically moving at right angles to a single crocodile will utterly befuddled them. Of course, I would run off perpendicularly, straight into a grizzly bear. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8859 "2023-12-22T21:11:08Z")
For dangerous animals, I answered based on “right here, right now”. Which means I’m hiking in the terrain of front range colorado. Crocodile - “Awe, poor thing - someone abandoned it and it’s freezing. I’d better call for animal services before it’s an ice cube” No threat. Rattlesnake - see above, minus the whole “someone abandoned it” - not a risk at 40ish degrees unless one is very, very stupid. Hippopotamus - “Dafuq? I’m getting up and away - thank god there’s a lot of terrain it can’t reach me at around here - just move slow and don’t attrack attention.” Wolf (singular) - “What the hell is it doing around here? I’m going to move away slowly but without panic, should be fine.” Grizzly / Mountain lion (assuming based on my area) - Oh man oh man… Move as above, but _slightly_ more worried about the mountain lion, as they normally only come into town to kill (and presumably eat) things, while plenty of bears (although not normally grizzlies) come into town to eat garbage. So (mountain) lion won the risk category. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8860 "2023-12-22T21:46:36Z")
I have read that hippos kill more humans every year than any other vertibrate in Africa. Lions are much less lethal. Assuming we are on dry land, I think I would have a reasonable chance of evading the croc. Among the animals native to North America, I think the grizzly would be the biggest threat. The phrase “face to face” gives me the impression that we are close enough that it might maul me just on a whim. Wolves will normally avoid humans if they have a choice. If you give a rattler an opportunity to avoid you, it will. You are too big for it to eat, and you are big enough to damage it before you die of its venom. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8861 "2023-12-22T22:26:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > My major concern would be “How in the name of Klono’s brass balls did a hippo get loose in the San G. wilderness??!?” They don’t normally range in mountains. In Southern California. Sure, a Hippo would be 'what the FUCK???" a grizzly would be “oh shit, things might go very bad fast here”. > [@Procrustus](#): > > A grizzly bear is more of a danger, but I have more (irrational perhaps) fear seeing a rattlesnake. As a volunteer ranger, i used to just scoop them off the trail all the time. (I carried a long staff for this and get at trash out of reach). A wolf? “Cool!, will it answer my howl?” (Unprovoked wolf attacks in North America are nearly non-existent) The danger with Mountain lions is that you _don’t_ see them…they are ambush predators. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8862 "2023-12-22T22:31:04Z")
🍄 Meh. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8863 "2023-12-22T23:36:55Z")
This might be cheating a little bit, but I decided “lion” could mean mountain lions. And mountain lions are something one could encounter while hiking in California. Probably the most dangerous thing one could encounter while hiking in California. So that’s why I picked lion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=442) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=444)