# What is the most dangerous wild animal in England? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375 "2003-07-05T13:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/1 "2003-07-05T13:51:28Z")
Feral pigs? ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/2 "2003-07-05T14:11:58Z")
My brother?? 😃 Seriously, thinking about it, all that comes to mind are the rumours of various “big cats” (possibly panthers) which have supposedly been spotted but never quite proven. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/3 "2003-07-05T14:15:53Z")
[Big cats](http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/englishnews.htm). ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/4 "2003-07-05T14:20:52Z")
It’s the badger. Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/5 "2003-07-05T14:29:40Z")
Depends what you consider as “wild”. Genuinely wild badgers are nasty if cornered, but won’t spontaneously attack you: the badger that recently went on the rampage was one that had been in a sanctuary and lost its fear of humans. Stray dogs gone feral and in a pack are pretty nasty. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/6 "2003-07-05T14:37:27Z")
Drunken soccer fans? In contrast, Spain has bears, lynx, vultures, eagles and some rabid politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/7 "2003-07-05T14:44:47Z")
There’s the adder, [_Vipera berus_](http://www.wartsoc.co.uk/vb.html) > [@](#): > > The Adder is Britain’s only venomous snake and uses venom for catching prey, usually small mammals and lizards. They are very timid animals and usually move away quickly when disturbed, but will bite in defence if trodden upon or handled. If bitten, medical assistance should be sought, but statistically one stands more chance of dying from a bee or wasp sting than an Adder bite. Must be weird to live in a place where there aren’t deadly snakes, spiders, jellyfish and octopuses everywhere. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/8 "2003-07-05T14:54:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*Must be weird to live in a place where there aren’t deadly snakes, spiders, jellyfish and octopuses everywhere. 😉 \*\* When I read this sentence (before looking to see who was writing) I immediately thought, “Oh, this poster must be from Australia.” ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/9 "2003-07-05T14:58:00Z")
… Or Disneyland. 😉 Julie ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/10 "2003-07-05T14:59:18Z")
I was going to say badger as well, although IANE. The question doesn’t stipulate who it is dangerous to and I belive badgers are at least _blamed for_ a lot of damage to livestock, spreading disease etc. Otherwise it must be foxes, takes a dozen blokes on horses with guns dogs to take down oen of them! ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/11 "2003-07-05T15:05:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew \* > \*\*When I read this sentence (before looking to see who was writing) I immediately thought, “Oh, this poster must be from Australia.” \*\* Yeah. Where I am, in Sydney, it’s difficult to ever get more than a few meters away from the nearest Red Back, Funnel Web or White Tailed Spider. I know with certainty that there are at least hundreds, if not thousands, of Red Backs and White Tails within ten metres of me right now. ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/12 "2003-07-05T17:14:55Z")
How about deer during the breeding season? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/13 "2003-07-05T17:32:42Z")
Addersare pretty pathetic, your not going to die if your bitten by one unless you have an exceptional medical condition. I’d vote for badgers as if you get on the wrong side of one of them it can rip you to shreds with it’s powerful claws. Of course you do get the odd dangerous shark and other animals such as killer whales in the sea around the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/14 "2003-07-05T17:42:24Z")
Isn’t there some parasite/predatory worm annihilating the earthworm population in England? (I believe this to be true because I saw a documentary on it a few months back) Given the role of the lowly earthworm, this could be construed as insidiously dangerous…especially if you’re an earthworm! ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/15 "2003-07-05T18:29:14Z")
Bears ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/16 "2003-07-05T18:48:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*Bears \*\* We only have bears in zoos nowdays, I think the wild ones emigrated to the new world on the mayflower. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/17 "2003-07-05T19:03:29Z")
You won’t find many Alien Big Cats here, but some **have** been captured or found dead- they are usually tame animals which have been released or stolen, but in some cases have been living in the wild for some months. In scotland there is the Wildcat, which hybridises with domestic cats to produce the black Kellas cat- both wild and hybrid are nasty pieces of work. But most sightings of alien big cats are misidentifications of domstic cats, labrador dogs or foxes. ---
**Author:** ![Strychnos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Strychnos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strychnos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/18 "2003-07-05T19:22:57Z")
Vipera berus bite is nothing to joke about: here in Scandinavia the latest lethal bite happened in 1998, the victim was a healthy adult man. Another 30-year old man spent 2 weeks in a hospital bed after a bite. The severity of the bite can range from slight swelling to excruciating pain to death, it all depends on how much venom gets into your bloodstream and how your body will react to it. There’s no way to tell what will happen beforehand. Anyway, I’ve encountered numerous adders in my woodland treks and never seen one that didn’t try to get as far away from me as possible as soon as I got to within a couple of meters of the animal. ---
**Author:** ![QueenJbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3be4f8/32.png) [@QueenJbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenJbean)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/19 "2003-07-05T19:27:46Z")
I think it’s the Big Cats - which are rumoured to exist in Cornwall and Scotland (and if you know your geography you’ll laugh your ass off at that oh so obvious connection) If not then I would plump for wild horses or cows. They can be pretty vicious. Feral dogs and cats - strays basically. They can be quite dangerous. We’re very tame here in Britain - lol ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/20 "2003-07-05T19:29:28Z")
If you want to extend the question to include Scotland then the two most dangerous animals are the wild cat - this looks like a domestic cat but is unrelated ,is very aggresive and cannot be tamed even if you get hold of a very young kitten . The other contender is the polecat ,which is a type of weasel or stoat. These also can be dangerous. I think that this second animal might also be present in the north of England. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375.md?page=2)