Encounters with Animals (Read 1435 times)

I am sure many of you have had some pretty funny or scary encounters with animals on your runs. I am still fairly new to running, as I have been running for less than a year, but I still have some funny, and scary encounters with animals along the way. Since the majority of my running takes place in the weee hours of the morning I am sure I have had many more encounters with animals than if I was to run in the evening or sometime during the light hours. A few of my stories.... and I will keep my favorite to last. One morning I was running along a dark road, the road I run every morning I run because it is the one leading away from the neighborhood. While I was running I heard this rattling coming from the opposite side of the road. Since it was dark, I couldn't see a thing. Well, I am not that far in the south, but early morning runs without being able to see anything - all thoughts were going through my mind. Turns out it wasn't a rattle snake (yes big imagination) but rather a sprinkler system in a new neighborhood on that side of the road. Another morning I was running along that same road when off in the distance I saw something coming towards me in the middle of the road. As it got closer I saw that it was a red fox, and it saw that I was an intruder in it's early morning stroll down the vacant road. Even though these are very small I have heard they can be mean. I guess he thought I was big and mean, so we both stopped dead in our tracks and slowly walked around each other. On the way back through that stretch on my return run I was very observant. I was up in Indiana for Thanksgiving, and as everyone else was sleeping I went for a 5 mile run. This was an area I didn't know anything about, and should have driven it before I ran it - especially in the dark. The run went good, even with the multiple dogs (untethered) scaring me. The highlight of this run was having 4 deer see me and bound across the road right in front of me. My favorite story includes a dog. As with any runners dogs can make you very nervous, especially when they come running up to you at 5:00 in the morning when nobody else is around, and you don't know if they are mean or friendly. I have had my share of dogs chasing me, even nipping at me, but this morning was different. This dog came running up to me, and as he got closer I could tell he was friendly and just happy to see me. That being the case I still watched him very closely, but wasn't concerned. This dog followed me, running with me (all over from side to side of the road - almost causing accidents - making drivers made at me not controlling my dog) He continued to run with me as I ran out onto a main road, and at one point was leading me a little bit when I turned into a different neighborhood. He stopped turned around and continued to follow me. He followed me for almost 4 miles before taking off into a third neighborhood. It was the most interesting run I had run in a long time, and the run went by really quick. OK, how about you? Do you have any funny stories about running and animals? I would love to read them. I am sure you all have much better stories than I have, especially if you have been running longer than I have. I have also posted this over on my blog, but figured it would be fun to read the dialog here as well.

Back in November I was running in Mexico. (San Jose Del Cabo), and decided to go off the beaten path from tourist row and see how the locals lived and what the real country was like. That is the great thing with running, one can see sights not offered from the pool bar, or local Americanized shop/restaurants. I saw a couple of guy herding cows though a dried riverbank. Thousands of cats, and other wild creatures! On I went up a hill, past a church, past a school, saw a lot of people just hanging around looking at the crazy American in running gear. Of course I had an i-Pod on, so the noise of the surrounding area was gone. I passed a guy in a driveway like setting, and out of nowhere a mangy German shepherd was a foot behind me, barking and leaping towards my head. I screamed a very unmanly scream and came to a screeching halt. The guy in the driveway yelled at the dog, and he retreated. I quickly ran back to the safety of Resort Row.

I see coyotes all the time. Also rabbits, owls, and a bobcat. The funniest animals I've seen recently were a cat and the mouse it was chasing along a gutter near my home. Both cat and mouse stopped running long enough to watch me go by. After I passed, they resumed the pursuit. New Mexico is full of wildlife, some of it you definitely don't want to see during your run. (We've actually had a Jaguar sighted in the southern part of the state).

I often run in a State Forest near my home. Almost every time, at the same spot early in "my" trail, I see a large female Gopher Tortoise. She's just lovely. And, even slower than me. I've seen coons aplenty; one GIANT wild, black hog, running away from me - big! A neighbor and I saw an alligator snapper about the size of a Volkswagon bug - no exagerration. (I know, I know... NOBODY believes us; we just nod at each other and smile). I've encountered way too many dogs off leash - one particularly skewed German Shepherd comes to mind... By far the coolest thing I saw was as I was getting my shoes on one sunrise, sitting on the back stoop. Meandering down our dock's walkway - it's about 300' through the wetlands -is a full-grown Florida Panther. My husband had just dumped a bunch of Grouper carcasses over the edge, and I guess the smell was too enticing. It was really lovely, thin, with a shiny coat, and a long, swishy tail... she took SUCH long, slow strides - like she hadn't a care in the world. It really wasn't scary at all. Breathtaking. Not sure I'd feel the same if I ran up upon her eating her breakfast!

Good to hear on snakes. Spiders hmmm. I used to be DEATHLY afraid of them until the summer between 8-9 grade, I believe, when my friend came back from Ariz. w/ two big hairy tarantalas. It was also his sister's 16th birthday and their mom allowed her to have a kegger. I partook, got drunk, held the tarantuala and let it walk on me (until it peed, then he/she ended up on the bed as I instinctively withdrew my arm.) No more scared of spideys. Then his mom took my friend and I to see The World According to Garp. She was in AA (yeah, I know, why let your kid have a kegger?) but someone had put a beer in her purse. She let me have it. Beers are loud opening them in a theater. I don't remember all of Garp, but again, no scardy anymore of spideys. So, I recommend getting drunk to overcome that fear.

I also live in the country. I typically see deer, bobcats, coyotes, ducks, feral cats (unfortunately), and too many birds of various species to count. Most snakes get a pass and we have tons of them, but I do not play with venomous snakes, ever. I was nearly bitten by a cottonmouth running across a creek by my house last summer, he's in the freezer waiting for the appropriate practical joke.

Bear Poop is back!!!!!!! Yeah, we get loads of encounters with wild animals while running around where I live.

Running on the bluffs overlooking the San Joaquin River on a really foggy day, I love foggy days not only because they're beautiful but because sounds are muffled. Suddenly, out of the fog a great white egret flies across the path right in front of me, then disappears just as quickly back into the mist. It was like a ghost. Arla