Let’s say I wanted to go around the World fighting different species of animals, but I’m not stupid so I only want to fight animals which I have a good chance of winning against. What is the ratio of my weight/size to their weight size above which I should be wary of fighting? No weapons, mano-a-animalo.
Even a large wolf would be half my weight, yet I’m guessing I would be in big trouble if I engaged in a round of fisticuffs with one. A large sheep (an ewe as opposed to a ram) is probably about my weight, though I reckon I could take one on in a bout of mortal combat, though I’m guessing that domestication is a factor here and I’d have much more trouble against one of their wild relatives.
What abo0ut cheetahs, they are comparively very small, but they take on much larger animals. How would they fair against me?
There’s a serious question in there. An alone, unarmed human male for their size is relatively vulnerable. What is the size above which a lone animal of nother species would generally pose them a serious threat?
I don’t think you’ll get a meaningful answer based only on weight and size. How do you think you’d fare against a rattlesnake or cobra? How about against a 15-20 lb. badger?
You aren’t going to like this but you need to go really low. You don’t want to fight a wolverine unarmed in any circumstances and they only weigh in the twenty something pound range fully grown yet they can take on mammals weighing hundreds of pounds. A Fisher Cat is similar and they only weigh 10 - 15 pounds and I wouldn’t want to try to fight one of those either. Tasmanian Devils and bobcats are on the list of mammals that are comparatively small to humans yet pose a large threat. Those are just the ones that could quickly kill you. Ones much smaller than that could still hurt you badly and wear you down in a prolonged fight for the win.
True, I imagine a box jellyfish has a very small weight, but you’d be in mortal danger just by being in the water with one. But I’m looing for a rough rule of thumb to assist me with my animal figthting activites.
What makes wolverines and fisher cats. so dangerous? I’m vaguely aware that wolverines are reasonably well equipped fighting machines who are particualrly vicious and tenacious, fisher cats I don’t know much about.
Wolverines and Fisher cats are members of the weasel family with Fisher cats being smaller. They live by hunting and are very fast and strong for their size plus they have mouth structure designed to deliver fatal bites. Both will sometimes prey on animals, even other carnivores, many times their size like bears and sometimes win.
So, what animal would make for the most exciting fight against an average-sized adult male human?
Basically, are there any animals that you’d give roughly even odds in a fight against a human?
On an unrelated note, if you’ve got an answer, I might have a business proposition for you…
Who is the sick man? The normal everyday guy who just happens enjoying beating smaller animals senseless with his bare hands or is it society with its morals and mores?
Here’s another fly in the ointment on this… technique.
Take crocodiles for example. Me, I’d stay way the heck away from even a foot-long baby croc. But people who deal with crocs for a living have learned techniques that allow them to easily wrangle much larger animals. At some point, they get heavy enough that no single person without tools could win, but knowing the right techniques would put that weight limit way, way higher.
The same can be said for a lot of animals. A sheep farmer is going to do a lot better against that ram. Snake handlers will do a lot better against cobras and rattle snakes.
I will also nominate the sea sponge as the heaviest animal you can beat with your bare hands.
If I had to take a WAG, I’d say a domesticated dog that’s trained to fight VS a human that’s also trained to fight. Also, I think the human would have to be expecting the fight. I assume the dog would have a pretty good head start if he got a took a chunk out of the back of the human’s leg before he was even aware of the dog’s presence.
I think this is what I guess too. Anything of medium to large dog size would generally be a bad idea. Small to medium dog size down you’d probably fancy your chances. There’d be consideable variation though for how well-equipped an animal is to dealing with threats from other animals.
You need to do some research into the old Colosseum. The Romans used to fight humans against animals, and had a lot of practical experience at how to make the fights exciting and well matched.
You’ve been watching too many Warner Brothers cartoons if you think Tasmanian Devils are any sort of threat to humans. They’re small carrion eaters and occasional opportunistic predators. Yes, they have incredibly strong bites, but the idea that one could kill a healthy adult human is ludicrous.
Probably need to better define the words “win” or “threat” from the OP. In the example mentioned of a rattlesnake, you’d have to be crazy to think that you wouldn’t win against a rattlesnake. The thing would snap at you and bite you, and then you’d pick it up and rip it in half (or something equally gruesome). Of course if it is poisonous, you could very well die later on as well.
If it’s just about who would “win” at the time, I think the OP is on the right track of thinking about size/weight as the major determining factor, with teeth/claws/other weapons as a secondary factor. A bobcat could easily rip your flesh to possibly an ultimately lethal extent, but its size/weight and muscle strength means that a normal sized human could easily overpower it.