# Don't walk on the backs of hippos. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254 "2009-11-20T03:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/21 "2009-11-20T19:43:01Z")
I blame the game Hungry Hungry Hippos for breeding a society that thinks hippos are happy-go-lucky fatties that just like to gobble up marbles and look goofy. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/22 "2009-11-20T20:01:18Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Throw in a pig-like mammal and you have croc covers tapir! Don’t forget Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/23 "2009-11-20T20:42:31Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:19, topic:518254”] In other [hippo news](http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/971946/shooters-kill-hippo-in-nt-outback), an Australian pig hunter shot a pygmy hippo by mistake in the Northern Territory. [/QUOTE] Best line from the article: “Mr Courtney went to bed hoping to reassess the situation in the daylight, but woke to find it was, in fact, still a pigmy hippo.” ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/24 "2009-11-20T21:01:02Z")
The next day the hippo was seen wearing Crocs. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/25 "2009-11-20T22:01:28Z")
Ha! The look on that crock’s face in the second pic is priceless! ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/26 "2009-11-22T08:02:51Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Ha! The look on that crock’s face in the second pic is priceless! I thought the same thing–kind of bemused, like he just realized he’s in trouble but hasn’t grasped the impact of it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/27 "2009-11-22T08:22:09Z")
> [@cantara](#): > > My wife has ‘fear’ of crocodiles (and alligators) but not so much of hippos. When we went on a family vacation to Tanzania one of the safaris had a lunch break next to the hippo pool. They were safely in the water some distance away. We actually ate lunch in the truck because the birds (hawks?) were diving at us trying to snatch our sandwiches. It was a couple days later that she discovered that the hippo is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. She was not pleased that I knew this and didn’t tell her. > > She has added hippos to her list. I have heard–from our good friend Mr. FOAF–that hippos kill more humans than any other large animal in Africa. It’s not because they’re particularly vicious, it’s because tourists are unaware of the danger and blithely walk up to them. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/28 "2009-11-22T09:14:52Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I have heard–from our good friend Mr. FOAF–that hippos kill more humans than any other large animal in Africa. It’s not because they’re particularly vicious, it’s because tourists are unaware of the danger and blithely walk up to them. Amazing username for this thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254/29 "2009-11-22T11:02:31Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I have heard–from our good friend Mr. FOAF–that hippos kill more humans than any other large animal in Africa. It’s not because they’re particularly vicious, it’s because tourists are unaware of the danger and blithely walk up to them. I have heard that on tv … and given the brain power of the average tourist, I would agree … it is the same tourist that walks up to the lion cub thinking it is abandoned and wants to save it … or keeps a full adult fanged chimp as a pet and gives it human drugs …:smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-walk-on-the-backs-of-hippos/518254.md?page=1)