# What "dangerous" animals attack humans without reason of hunger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369 "2017-07-16T02:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/21 "2017-07-16T08:52:56Z")
Moose. They aren’t going to eat you, but they will stomp you. A mama moose? Watch out. But any moose should be given a wide berth. Aside from having young, it’s extremely hard for me to imagine a moose feeling threatened by a mere human. Or much of anything really. ---
**Author:** ![Rama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@Rama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rama)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/22 "2017-07-16T09:01:15Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > So, I’m watching cheesy late night TV … > > Godzilla attacks humans with no apparent reason … Getting nuked sounds like a pretty good reason to retaliate. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/23 "2017-07-16T10:04:41Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Geese were my first thought. In fact, some folks use them as a [substitute for a watchdog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_goose). They can be downright mean! I spent some time working around geese, they can be intimidating with all that hissing and flapping, but IME, they’re all front. They will chase you, particularly if your back is to them, but if you turn around and stand your ground, they will generally back down. They could potentially injure a small child, or knock an infirm person to the ground, but I can’t see them posing any real threat to a healthy adult, except maybe in very large numbers. The worst I’ve ever seen them do is nip at people’s legs, which doesn’t really hurt at all. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/24 "2017-07-16T10:07:22Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Moose. They aren’t going to eat you, but they will stomp you. A mama moose? Watch out. But any moose should be given a wide berth. > > Aside from having young, it’s extremely hard for me to imagine a moose feeling threatened by a mere human. Or much of anything really. Supposedly, the most dangerous big game in Africa is not lions, elephants, or rhinos, but the buffalo, who live for murder. As for moose, people really need to look at how enormous they are. > [@Mikeisskeptical](#): > > I spent some time working around geese, they can be intimidating with all that hissing and flapping, but IME, they’re all front. They will chase you, particularly if your back is to them, but if you turn around and stand your ground, they will generally back down. They could potentially injure a small child, or knock an infirm person to the ground, but I can’t see them posing any real threat to a healthy adult, except maybe in very large numbers. The worst I’ve ever seen them do is nip at people’s legs, which doesn’t really hurt at all. Tell that to Fabio. ---
**Author:** ![Rama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@Rama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rama)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/25 "2017-07-16T11:33:40Z")
My dad keeps two geese with his chickens because they fight off birds of prey. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/26 "2017-07-16T15:18:43Z")
The first mistake is the assumption that they aren’t hungry. If they see easy food, they will likely go for it, they don’t plan their mealtimes. Feral dogs for example, quickly revert to a pack mentality. They can cause big problems even if they aren’t strictly speaking trying to eat you. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/27 "2017-07-16T16:20:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Supposedly, the most dangerous big game in Africa is not lions, elephants, or rhinos, but the buffalo, who live for murder. As for moose, people really need to look at how enormous they are. I second this. [Cape Buffalo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_buffalo#Attacks) may kill more humans than any other African animal. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/28 "2017-07-16T16:25:52Z")
Mute swans will attack you if you linger too long near their nest. They are large and fairly powerful and are capable of hurting an adult human (though very unlikely to inflict injuries beyond bruises). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/29 "2017-07-16T16:40:35Z")
Animals attack for a reason since they’re burning calories and risking injury to do so. Either they want food (consciously or subconsciously) or are protecting territory, young, a herd/pack, etc. I suppose some may attack small enough prey for play (especially if they are young) but don’t know of any who would attack something human sized for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/30 "2017-07-16T16:58:01Z")
I’m not sure why you put “dangerous animals”, the quotes implying that they’re not dangerous. They can all be very dangerous and when you’re in the jaws of a shark you won’t be thinking it’s “eating” me. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/31 "2017-07-16T17:14:41Z")
What about chimps? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/32 "2017-07-16T21:04:02Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > What about chimps? What about them? Pet chimps may sometimes attack people, but I have never heard of chimps in the wild spontaneously attacking anyone. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/33 "2017-07-16T21:10:36Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I second this. [Cape Buffalo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_buffalo#Attacks) may kill more humans than any other African animal. I heard hippo though, but they’re not typialy hunted and only kill people who enter the water. The buffalo supposedly won’t let you avoid them. Also mosquitos technically kill the most, but it’s not them directly so only a technicality. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/34 "2017-07-16T21:18:06Z")
They’re pretty aggressive animals; they’re one of the only nonhuman species known to go to war. And if they take a dislike to you, they can do tremendous damage. So I wondered how dangerous they were to a hypothetical lone traveler. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/35 "2017-07-16T21:21:16Z")
I think my cat would hunt me for sport, if he could. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/36 "2017-07-16T21:27:40Z")
When I was a kid learning how to camp in the woods I was told the following as a way to remember what to do if I encountered a bear: Brown lie down Black fight back White you’re fucked I know that in one or two towns in the very, very far north where polar bears are around have laws that everyone carries a gun or rifle and at least in one town everyone leaves their car doors unlocked in case you need to dash inside one to get away from a polar bear (to be fair there are not a lot of people in the town so car theft is not a worry). This suggests to me that a polar bear may have at you if it gets the chance regardless of hunger or anger or defending cubs. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/37 "2017-07-16T21:40:35Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I know that in one or two towns in the very, very far north where polar bears are around have laws that everyone carries a gun or rifle [Svalbard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard) ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/38 "2017-07-16T21:49:58Z")
My diving instructor told me that barracudas will bite unprovoked and not even eat what they’ve bitten off. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/39 "2017-07-16T21:51:26Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > When I was a kid learning how to camp in the woods I was told the following as a way to remember what to do if I encountered a bear: > > Brown lie down > Black fight back > White you’re fucked > > I know that in one or two towns in the very, very far north where polar bears are around have laws that everyone carries a gun or rifle and at least in one town everyone leaves their car doors unlocked in case you need to dash inside one to get away from a polar bear (to be fair there are not a lot of people in the town so car theft is not a worry). > > This suggests to me that a polar bear may have at you if it gets the chance regardless of hunger or anger or defending cubs. Not so. Again, if hungry (or starving) or threatened, all bets are off. Polar bears spend a lot of time looking for food, and will only come into villages if there is nothing wild in the offing. Many people in the coastal villages (of Alaska) have chunks of blubber lying out in their yards, as there are not enough refrigerated spaces for big hunks of fat. This will most definitely bring in bears, and if someone happens to get between Mr. Bear and his food source, that person becomes the food source. Some towns have an official patrol that responds to a bear sighting and will race over to the location with flash-bangs and weapons to try to scare it off. Failing that, the bear loses. As for moose: Moose, especially males, are in a foul mood nearly all year round. In winter, they’re pissed because they’re starving; in spring the cows are protecting their calves; in the fall they’re rutting and see the world as their enemy. Moose are very dangerous, and in urban settings are not the least bit afraid of humans. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369/40 "2017-07-16T21:59:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not so. Again, if hungry (or starving) or threatened, all bets are off. No animal will 100% go after a human in every circumstance. This thread seems to be about the ones to be most cautious around. I have been scarily close to a black bear in the wild (maybe 20 feet away) and the black bear didn’t give a shit. He/she saw me, stopped a moment and looked at me then ambled off into the forest. That scared me a bit but not a lot. If that had been a polar bear I’d have pooped my pants. As noted above towns that are in areas where polar bears live leave car and house doors unlocked at all times and no one fusses if you have to bolt through their door unannounced to evade a polar bear. The polar bear may very well leave you alone but then again it might not. It is probably more likely to move on than not. But it remains that it is known to be particularly dangerous as bears go which is why Svalbard (at least) mandates everyone has a gun. As for moose there are funny stories of drunk moose you can find online (they eat fruit that has dropped from trees then fermented and they really do get wasted on the stuff). Not sure if they are more or less dangerous. I would not test it though. Drunk moose: > **[Recalling Alaska’s most notorious drunken moose, the street-smart Buzzwinkle](https://www.adn.com/voices/article/recalling-alaskas-most-notorious-drunken-moose-street-smart-buzzwinkle/2013/09/10/)** > > Drunk but not disorderly, the saga of Buzzwinkle the street-smart moose that wandered the streets of Alaska’s largest city looking for fermented apples to fuel that buzz he cherished. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4w-eLx9IksQ/hqdefault.jpg "Drunk Swedish moose gets stuck in an apple tree") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w-eLx9IksQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-dangerous-animals-attack-humans-without-reason-of-hunger/791369.md?page=1)