# What's The Most Dangerous Animal You Ever Touched? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641 "2010-06-18T03:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/21 "2010-06-18T06:11:43Z")
I’ve never had the chance to play with anything really dangerous. ☹ Best I can do is maybe a few insects that might trigger an allergic reaction or something, like bees, centipedes, things of that sort. I don’t remember where I got the idea from, but I was really good at petting bees when I was young. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/22 "2010-06-18T06:22:21Z")
I went snorkeling with a bunch of stingrays back in February, and touched–or rather, was touched by–several. I also got licked in the face by a wolf once. (Okay, he was only half-wolf, and someone’s pet, but that’s wolf enough when you’re not expecting it.) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/23 "2010-06-18T06:24:33Z")
An untrained horse. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/24 "2010-06-18T06:38:23Z")
Humans are by far the most dangerous animal on the face of the earth, and I’ve touched a few. I’ve even dared to pick up and coo at a baby people while it’s Mama was restrained nearby. Also, I used to play with a pet rabbit. And they can be very vicious with sharp pointy teeth. And not afraid to use them. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/25 "2010-06-18T06:41:03Z")
Depends on how you slice it. Most prone to violence, or deadliest for it’s size, then rattlesnake. Able to do the most damage if riled, then either human, or female Grey Whale. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/26 "2010-06-18T06:41:24Z")
I almost touched a gator once. I was fishing, and got my lure hung near what I thought was a floating log. We moved the boat over to it, and I was reaching for my lure when the log opened its mouth. I whipped out my knife and cut the line as Dad backed us away. Mr. Gator got to keep my lure, and I got to keep both arms and all of my fingers, which seemed like a damn fine trade to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/27 "2010-06-18T06:52:41Z")
The second most dangerous animal I’ve touched is an elephant. I’ve fed them peanuts (which they do enjoy) and ridden on one at a zoo (San Antonio zoo). I think that they are very interesting animals. I wanted to touch the clouded leopard which was being exhibited in a lecture, but I didn’t even ask. The handler explained that she was constipated, and cranky, and tired of being exhibited, so I thought that she probably would not take kindly to some strange human trying to pet her. That was a gorgeous cat. And, of course, I’ve touched a great many people. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/28 "2010-06-18T06:56:50Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Humans are by far the most dangerous animal on the face of the earth, and I’ve touched a few. I’ve even dared to pick up and coo at a baby people while it’s Mama was restrained nearby. . You have very strange taste in women. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/29 "2010-06-18T07:10:44Z")
The baby was tastier. ---
**Author:** ![Radegast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@Radegast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Radegast)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/30 "2010-06-18T07:47:36Z")
We got to pet the rhinos on a behind-the-scenes tour at the Pittsburgh zoo. They were named Dino (sp?) and Kidalgo and were like big dogs. We were in their inside enclosure area, and the keeper who was giving us the tour said that it was okay to go into the cage and pet them. The bars were a couple of feet apart, so we could walk right in. We were told not to get between the rhinos and the enclosure walls, as they could turn and crush you against the wall without meaning to, as they don’t see very well. They also told us to pet them hard – basically given them solid slaps – as they wouldn’t feel it otherwise, and they actually liked it. My wife was taking a class at the zoo at the time and came home one night and told me she got to pet the rhinos. I couldn’t beleive it. The private behind-the-scenes tour was the last class of the session, and students could bring one guest. Apparently it is quite rare for rhinos to be so domesticated, and since they tolerated (actually seem to like) contact with the keepers, they did a lot of rhino research with them that couldn’t be done anywhere else. I checked the zoo’s site, and they seem to have a different pair these days. All the animals at the Pittsburgh zoo had names, and the cool thing was going back later and whistling to and calling the rhinos by name, and having them trot over to see who was calling for them. We got to go behind the scenes with the tigers, also, but we didn’t go into the enclosure with them. You had to stay back from the fence a bit, because the males would try to spray-mark you if you got too close. The tour was one of my most memroable experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/31 "2010-06-18T12:50:12Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I went snorkeling with a bunch of stingrays back in February, and touched–or rather, was touched by–several. [Stingray City?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_City,_Grand_Cayman) I dove there in 2001. Shallow water, maybe 15-foot bottom. The divemaster sends everyone down with little containers of squid chunks. The rays - dozens of them - are expecting you, and whether you have any squid left or not, they tend to swarm all over you. They are large (~3-4’ across), have an angry look on their face, are armed with a venom-smeared bowie knife on their ass _(ask [Steve Irwin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death) - wait, never mind)_, and aren’t even slightly shy about getting right up in your face to see if you have any food you’re willing to give them. You try to politely fend them off, gently cradling the leading edge of their wings and pointing them in some other direction, trying not to piss them off in the process. No teeth in their mouth, but they can suck the chrome off of a trailer hitch ball. Not kidding: one fellow diver showed us a massive, horrible looking bruise on her arm where a ray had applied injurious levels of suction. Didn’t break the skin, but she said it hurt like a mofo. I tolerated about five minutes down there before I left for the surface and waited there for everyone else to finish. [Video (not mine) of divers at Stingray City.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzapZsmEGys) Only shows one or two rays - not the dozen I saw - but you get an idea of how in-your-face they are. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/32 "2010-06-18T13:04:34Z")
Just Gators. Elephants, tigers, bears and a hippo were all in a circus and although dangerous were used to being touched. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/33 "2010-06-18T13:14:28Z")
I’d say it was the brown widow spider that bit my foot. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/34 "2010-06-18T13:29:13Z")
I can’t remember if I touched the komodo dragon or not. I probably didn’t. So I’ll say snake. But both were in a zoo, so probably were harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/35 "2010-06-18T14:02:32Z")
Back in the 70s I worked in a venom lab. I extracted venom from snakes, toads and spiders. I’m not sure which of the species I handled was the most dangerous, but king cobra, eastern diamondback rattlesnake and bushmaster would have to be at the top of the list. The species that I was most afraid of being bitten by was the banded sea snake, for which there was no specific antivenin at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/36 "2010-06-18T14:09:34Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > It wasn’t dangerous at the time, but I once held a baby tiger. It was in what the trainer called a “playful mood” that day, which to me appeared that it was trying to claw my throat out. He assured me that in 6 months or so it would have no trouble doing so. Me too! It basically put its arms around me and kissed me. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/37 "2010-06-18T14:09:40Z")
Water moccassin, sting rays, Sharon Dresner and several species of shark. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/38 "2010-06-18T14:19:45Z")
A tiger at a Renaissance Fayre. The cat was eating. Me: “Are you sure this is OK?” Keeper: “Yes” Tiger: ::never even looked up:: I don’t think it was there the next year. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/39 "2010-06-18T14:28:00Z")
An alligator, and an elephant. But not at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641/40 "2010-06-18T15:38:23Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > [Stingray City?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_City,_Grand_Cayman) No, Shark-Ray Alley, off Belize. The sharks and rays in the area developed the habit of approaching the boats because fishermen were cleaning their catch around there, and the tour boats keep their interest by tossing them food. They don’t send anything down with the divers, so the rays don’t pay much attention to them. At any rate, no one on our dive got sucked on or stung. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-dangerous-animal-you-ever-touched/543641.md?page=3)