# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/81 "2003-07-07T12:19:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Foxes were hunted because it was sport. Any of the BS farmers give you about ‘killing their lambs and chickens’ is not to be listened to. Most foxes don’t grow larger than your average terrier and are far too urbanised to even think about taking on a lamb. Tell that to the farmers who sit out with their shotguns in the lambing season. The webpages that [Google.co.uk](http://Google.co.uk) throws up seem to ignore that many foxes are killed before they get to the flocks. The phrase ‘slaughter like a fox in a henhouse’ is well-deserved. Foxes are vermin. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/82 "2003-07-07T12:23:23Z")
I’ll throw **rats** into the mix, although in terms of sheer numbers from anaphalactic shock I guess bees and wasps come out top. Incidentally, for all those who have suggested horses/cows etc, the OP spcified _wild_ animals: attacks by dogs on infants would account for many deaths per year if _domestic_ animals are to be included. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/83 "2003-07-07T12:35:58Z")
Apparently, during the mating season randy deer occasionally try to er… shag people. Especially menstruating women. ---
**Author:** ![Agback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Agback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agback)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/84 "2003-07-07T12:51:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > **Nettle stings can hurt a bit but you’ll be ok if there’s some dock leaves nearby to rub into the sting. But then nettles aren’t an animal.** England! Living there must be something else. Around here we have the shiny-leafed stinging tree (Dendrocnide moroides): the only plant known to kill humans by contact. Regards, Agback ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/85 "2003-07-07T13:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Agback \* > \*\*England! Living there must be something else. > > Around here we have the shiny-leafed stinging tree (Dendrocnide moroides): the only plant known to kill humans by contact. > > Regards, > Agback \*\* :eek: Is everything in Oz toxic? Or is this merely the long-term effects of exposure to Vegemite? ---
**Author:** ![nikotime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@nikotime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikotime)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/86 "2003-07-07T13:21:51Z")
I know that you Australians take danger in your stride, but could you at least hint at the horror of your native flora and fauna when you name it? If you could call it the “many-spined tree of doom” or something then at least we would know to avoid it! As for poisonous animals in the UK, if you are perpared to wade out a few yards into the sea you could step on a weaver fish - many times more venemous than an adder. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/87 "2003-07-07T13:32:43Z")
And the most poisonous fish in the world is the stonefish, _Synanceia verrucosa_. Guess where that’s found. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/88 "2003-07-07T14:00:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Strychnos \* > 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. On the other hand, more people get killed by wasp and bee stings then by snake bites. I would also like to add that flies and tics can be quite harmful too. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/89 "2003-07-07T14:05:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mehitabel \* > OK; now that I think about it, I probably asked about moose. Yes, but moose are called elk on this side of the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/90 "2003-07-07T15:07:14Z")
To clarify, the animal with the big hat rack and the lugubrious expression is called a moose in North America and an elk in Europe; the large deer with conventional pointed antlers is variously called an elk or a wapiti. There are no wild examples of either in the UK, and so I would estimate that most people here probably use the American terminology. There don’t seem to be any in zoos either at the moment, unless someone can provide a cite to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/91 "2003-07-07T16:08:58Z")
Did all the wild boars get exterminated in Britain also? I should think any wild or feral pig would be quite dangerous, but does Britain have any left? ---
**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 7, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/92 "2003-07-07T16:38:46Z")
No, Lemur866, no feral pigs left. We do have feral goats tho’. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/93 "2003-07-07T17:04:49Z")
That’s not correct, there are [wild boar](http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/) at various locations in Kent and East Sussex, and in Scotland. They are not direct descendents of any ancient wild population though, but escaped from farmed herds some time in the 1980s. The total population in the wild is unknown but was estimated at around 300 in February 1991. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/94 "2003-07-07T17:47:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*To clarify, the animal with the big hat rack and the lugubrious expression is called a moose in North America and an elk in Europe; the large deer with conventional pointed antlers is variously called an elk or a wapiti. \*\* I ought to correct myself here – **yabob** has already pointed out that the North American elk, or wapiti, is what we call the red deer and we have thousands of wild ones in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/95 "2003-07-07T19:13:55Z")
Thanks. I was beginning to think I was talking into a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/96 "2003-07-07T20:24:45Z")
Well UK does have the most poisonous fungi, Death Cap and Destroying Angel. [http://www.jinnita.com/toxicology/toxicplants.html](http://www.jinnita.com/toxicology/toxicplants.html) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/97 "2003-07-07T22:11:58Z")
Most dangerous animals in the UK? Tinky Winky, Laa-laa, Dipsy and Po. You really have to watch out for that Po: more cunning than a heffalump, more elusive than a woozle, and far more fierce than even the frumious bandersnatch. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/98 "2003-07-07T22:21:19Z")
> [@](#): > > A line of people walking along a path, passing close by an unseen wasp nest will be regarded as aggressors and may well be attacked. Hmm, yes, wasps are aggressive little bastards (unlike bees) but I still think people actually getting stung by them is extremely rare. One interesting little factoid about bees from the [British Beekeepers Association](http://www.bbka.org.uk/old/index.html) is that apparently they know that the Earth is a sphere: > [@](#): > > BEES KNOW THE WORLD IS ROUND > > During swarming similar dancing occurs to pass on information about a possible new home. This can go through the night, so without the sun what do the bees use?. The answer is they dance at angles calibrated to the sun on the other side of the world!. Bees knew the world was round about 25 million years before man!. > > THE SCHAFBERG EXPERIMENT . > > An interesting experiment known as the Schafberg experiment (named after the mountain) demonstrates the sophistication of bee navigation. The only source of food for a colony of bees was put on the far side of a mountain, the bees could not fly over the mountain only around it. What direction would the bees indicate in their dancing?. The answer was surprising, the bees indicated the direction exactly across the mountain an angle they had never flown but had calculated in their head. The distance indication however, was for the long flight around the hill. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/99 "2003-07-07T22:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bippy the Beardless \* > \*\*Well UK does have the most poisonous fungi, Death Cap and Destroying Angel. > [http://www.jinnita.com/toxicology/toxicplants.html](http://www.jinnita.com/toxicology/toxicplants.html) \*\* Phew! that’s a relief! (I was beginning to feel quite inadequate, but now that we have something that is the most dangerous of its kind in the world, I can feel my masculinity returning). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/100 "2003-07-07T22:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > **Hmm, yes, wasps are aggressive little bastards (unlike bees) but I still think people actually getting stung by them is extremely rare.** (your location field doesn’t say where you live)Do you live in the UK? People get stung by wasps all the time, well not _individually_ ‘all the time’, but wasp stings are by no means an uncommon occurrence especially in children. Of course the stings are rarely fatal. From [this](http://www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/wasp_allergy.htm) page: > [@](#): > > On average four Bee or Wasp sting anaphylaxis deaths are reported per year in the UK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375.md?page=6)