# 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:** 488
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9744 "2024-01-31T12:18:14Z")
I’m pretty sure that a _lot_ more people have been within 20 feet of a shark than realize it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9745 "2024-01-31T13:07:59Z")
African buffalo [![](https://images.freeimages.com/images/large-previews/198/cape-buffalo-at-addo-park-south-africa-4-1338304.jpg) ](https://images.freeimages.com/images/large-previews/198/cape-buffalo-at-addo-park-south-africa-4-1338304.jpg) Asian buffalo [![](https://www.wti.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/projects_wild-buffalo_banner.jpg) ](https://www.wti.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/projects_wild-buffalo_banner.jpg) American bison [![](https://www.nps.gov/wica/learn/nature/images/DSC_6228475_2.JPG) ](https://www.nps.gov/wica/learn/nature/images/DSC_6228475_2.JPG) Wisent, a.k.a. European bison [![](https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/_processed_/4/b/csm_wisent-europaeisches-bison-bonasus-WW258670-c-Ola-Jennersten-WWF-Sweden_1fbddace95.jpg) ](https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/_processed_/4/b/csm_wisent-europaeisches-bison-bonasus-WW258670-c-Ola-Jennersten-WWF-Sweden_1fbddace95.jpg) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9746 "2024-01-31T13:13:17Z")
Maybe. 20 feet is pretty close. On one of my whale watching trips we saw a basking shark, and the guide stopped the boat and talked a lot about sharks, and said he saw whales every day but didn’t usually get this good a view on a shark. I don’t think we were within 20 feet of it, though, so i didn’t count it. And the signs on the beach said to stay away from the seals because sharks prey on them, and if there were seals, there might also be sharks. But i didn’t see any. (Nor were any seals attacked while i was there.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9747 "2024-01-31T14:58:38Z")
Just a reminder: American Crocodiles can be found in The Everglades and at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (AKA the Kennedy Space Center). If you’ve ever done a boardwalk hike in either of those two places, you’ve likely been within a hundred feet of one. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9748 "2024-01-31T15:23:54Z")
There are both alligators and crocodiles in the Everglades? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9749 "2024-01-31T15:25:19Z")
Yes. American Crocodiles are rare, but they’re there. I _don’t_ think they’re found outside of Florida. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9750 "2024-01-31T15:26:22Z")
I’ve been to the Everglades, and saw a lot of alligators… But i voted for crocodiles, too, because i saw some in Africa, and probably got within 100 feet. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9751 "2024-01-31T15:30:04Z")
Liberalizing the viewership rules netted me a lot of animals! I even included the black bear we startled on the road in Vermont. Like many a bad sci-fi trope, instead of running back into the woods, he ran away from us on the road while we drove slowly behind him at a distance. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9752 "2024-01-31T15:33:07Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > he ran away from us on the road while we drove slowly behind him at a distance. That happened to me once, with an opossum. Opossums run really slowly. I finally stopped the car and then turned off the head lights until it calmed down enough to amble into the woods. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9753 "2024-01-31T15:51:48Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Opossums run really slowly. The other night I fed my gf’s horses (she is recovering from COVID). It was dark out and a opossum scared the crap out of me. It fluffed up and HISSED. I told it to back the fuck off and it did. It went from a raging wild animal to a doddering Disney character in seconds. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9754 "2024-01-31T16:05:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve been quite close to bison, but I’m not sure it was really “in the wild”. I didn’t count that. I didn’t count bison, because the bison were being farmed. I was within 20’ of a number of bison on a farm tour. > [@InternetLegend](#): > > I also selected both “buffalo” and “bison” because they’re the same thing. Technically, they’re not. In common USA usage, they are. I only marked alligator on the 100’ version, but can’t remember about crocodile. Everglades boat tour, about 20 years ago > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > > he ran away from us on the road while we drove slowly behind him at a distance. > > That happened to me once, with an opossum. Opossums run really slowly. Happened to me once with a small dog on a narrow road. When the road took a bend the dog kept going straight, heading right on at a steady trot, acting like they knew where they were going. I hope they got there. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9755 "2024-01-31T16:08:04Z")
There was no Other, of course, but I’m going to list armadillos and hawks. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9756 "2024-01-31T16:09:47Z")
Man, just when I start thinking I’m not a typical provincial American, I show my whole ass! I’ve been close to a water buffalo before, so I’ll keep it, although the line between wild and domesticated was a bit blurred. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9757 "2024-01-31T16:17:09Z")
Red tailed hawks, bald eagles, harrier hawk, peregrine falcon for 100 feet, mink, bobcat for 100 feet. The peregrine falcon was in Manhattan. I was sitting in an office building and it dove after a pigeon right outside my window. Startled the hell out of me. Those suckers are REALLY FAST. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9758 "2024-01-31T16:23:15Z")
Bobcat! How awesome. As is the peregrine falcon. When I had an office in Boston there was a ted-tailed hawk with a nest on the opposite building, and it would sometimes draft on the thermals between the two. Nature is cool. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9759 "2024-01-31T16:44:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe. 20 feet is pretty close. On one of my whale watching trips we saw a basking shark, and the guide stopped the boat and talked a lot about sharks, and said he saw whales every day but didn’t usually get this good a view on a shark. I don’t think we were within 20 feet of it, though, so i didn’t count it. And the signs on the beach said to stay away from the seals because sharks prey on them, and if there were seals, there might also be sharks. But i didn’t see any. (Nor were any seals attacked while i was there.) I’m not talking about large sharks. I mean the thousands of one to three foot sharks in the surf. The ones I see most often are black tips and bonnetheads that skitter past my feet. That said, I catch a few “keeper size” (64" for most species) sharks every year, although I seldom keep them. The families that play in the surf are just oblivious. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9760 "2024-01-31T17:30:08Z")
I was about 20 feet away from a massive elephant seal once. Quite a sight. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9761 "2024-01-31T17:32:48Z")
Expanding the distance to 100 feet allowed me to pick kangaroo. Lumping all the lizards into generic Lizard allowed me to pick that too as i met a few skinks in Australia (where the kangaroos were). ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9762 "2024-01-31T17:38:18Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Bobcat! How awesome. Come to think of it, the Whatever I saw through a window just about dawn some years ago was probably only about 100 feet away. I can’t list it, though, because I don’t know what it was. It had a cat-shaped head. It was way too large to be a housecat. When I sent photos of the prints to somebody investigating mountain lion sightings, he said he thought probably a bobcat; but I think there was too much tail for a bobcat. I didn’t get a picture of the creature itself – I was walking down the hall, looked out the window, and saw it for a couple of seconds as it travelled across an open space between two areas of thick brush. There hasn’t been a confirmed mountain lion sighting anywhere around here since, I think, around the 1920’s. Lots of rumors around the time I saw Whatever That Was, though; including two people I know well who definitely heard something that, as they put it when I suggested it, was certainly not somebody’s tomcat. ETA: I don’t think I’ve ever been within 100’ of a porcupine. I’ve seen way too much evidence that more than one dog I’ve lived with has been closer than that, though. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/9763 "2024-01-31T18:03:53Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > …When I had an office in Boston there was a ted-tailed hawk with a nest… Does it do TED talks? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=487) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=489)