Rattlesnake, probably. Or a bobcat or coyote. We have larger predators such as bears and mountain lions, but I stay away from areas they’re likely to frequent. Tucson, AZ.
Mountain lion. There was some story the other week about an 8-year old boy walking with a group of nine other people who was attacked and dragged off by a mountain lion - on a trail I’ve walked more than once.
The boy is okay; his parents fought off the lion and got the boy to safety.
Wasps. Especially this time of year when it cools and they start getting especially flaky.
You may say insects don’t count but I’m more concerned to see wasps about than spying a raccoon in the yard.
Lessee…
In order from small to large and infrequent:
Insects.
Spiders.
Chipmunks.
Squirrels.
Raccoons.
Coyote
That’s probably it for the common ones. We’re only a couple of kilometers at most from uninterrupted open fields, so deer are not impossible, but unlikely. And we’re a little too far inside the settled area for moose, bears, etc to be common.
Mosquito, without question. Not only possible but pretty much normal.
We had a bear in our back yard two nights ago.
So, bear, I guess.
Like literally my location, right here at home? A fisher cat. There’s been one on the front deck after the suet feeder more than once, and I’m glad not to have encountered it in the dark without a storm door between us because they’re less afraid of humans than the raccoons or possums are.
Probably a copperhead. Or a water moccasin.
Hungry Maine Coon fighting with equally hungry domestic short hair because I decided a shower was more important than their immediate breakfast demands.
Wild animal attacks, other than insects, are so rare here that they might as well be said to never occur. A deer could kill me, I guess, by running in front of me while I am motorcycling.
Honorable mention to
The psycho rabbit from Monty Python and the HG
Rabies is scarce around here now, so probably not possum/squirrel/raccoon. An orb weaver spider spun a web in between my front door and screen door yesterday morning, does a heart attack count? That leaves the wild boar herd about 30 miles away, I may need to get a bigger rifle.
Considering they may carry West Nile, Chikungunya, and, in other places, Malaria and Yellow Fever, I am much more concerned about those wild animals than any other four-legged ones. (Two-legged ones get talked about in the violent crime thread.)
In Scotland. Midges, wasps, geese, swans maybe.
I suppose I could get bitten by an adder if I really tried, but I’d have to expend considerable time and effort looking for one, and then I’d have to stand on it or something like that.
I saw two bobcats in my yard on Saturday and they ran off as soon as they saw me, so I’ll cross them of the list. So that leaves rattlesnakes and black widows as the most likely to hurt me. But lately it’s been the scorpions that are the ones that actually get me. I’ve been noticing a few yellow jackets too, going to have to keep an eye on those bastards. Southern NM.
As a public service to this thread, I will point out that it’s Canada geese, not Canadian geese.
I see deer and turkeys around my house almost every day, but they have never given me the least worry. Raccoons are thick around here, and possums. I’m not afraid of either of those, but I would not want to corner or harass a raccoon. They’re big enough to do some damage, if they were so inclined. I’ve never seen a rattlesnake around my house, so no worries there. It is possible I could be attacked by a Canada goose, but I’m not really afraid of an animal I could kick to death if I had to. We did have a bear come through my neighborhood a year ago, but it was a youngster that went up a tree and was promptly darted. I’ve never seen nor heard a coyote, and wouldn’t be afraid of one if I did. The only animal that gives me pause are cougars. They live around here, they are big, apex carnivores, and they will stalk and attack humans, occasionally killing them. That’s the only wild animal around here that could take me.
Much as I’d like to echo Princhester’s suggestion of the mosquito being the most likely to attack me…here we don’t get that many mosquitoes. I haven’t been bitten by one since I moved here. And alligators, scary as they look, are too lazy to attack people for the most part.
The animal I’m really scared of around here are the iguanas. Those things can grow to an enormous size…we’re talking six feet long. They’re rare but since they’re non-native they’ll attack just about anything. I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with one, I can tell you that.
Bedbugs. Although fortunately I don’t have them at the moment.
Bobcat, coyote, or racoon. But only if they were injured, ill, or cornered. Otherwise they would put as much effort into avoiding me as I would them.
Beaver. I was actually attacked by a blue jay a while back - I saw a little bird on the sidewalk a went over to help it. I thought it was injured, it was a baby jay just learning to fly - the parent jay didn’t like that to much and flew into the back of my head.
This is not me, but I will add this for everyone’s viewing pleasure.
