Close Encounters of the 4-Legged Kind

[N Florida Mike]

I was at a customers house one day last year.Its a suburban area but it's out on the edge of where the country starts.

I see a dog size animal coming up the road and  it. had large pointed ears. But it had NO FUR.it was a hairless fox I THINK.When it saw us it took off between the houses.

Another time my g- daughter and me were fishing and she says "look g- paw it's an owl." You could see him back in the tree.I did my barred owl call and he immediately flew over to the branch right above us, and was staring at us like"are you and owl or what?

Another time we were out and she said suddenly" look g- paw it's a beaver ! and it was a dang nutria.

I've seen a lot more things while hunting but I'll save some of those for later

[WIGuide]

Those must have definitely been suburban deer since nowhere else are they considered dangerous haha. 

A few years ago, I was at this small lake in the middle of nowhere. The parking lot consists of a small clearing that was bulldozed in the woods and is only big enough for 3 or 4 vehicles. When i pulled my boat out that night it was right at dark and instead of just pulling it out of the water and stopping right by the side of the lake, I pulled it up to the small parking area. This what when I had my last boat that had full blue underglow on the trailer and I had those lights on as it helped to light up the area around the boat in the darkness. I also had my Jeep running as well with the lights on and everything. I heard a noise behind me as I was putting my stuff away and at first it didn't register. When it did the hair on the back of my neck stood on end when I realized that it was a wolf growling. I wasted no time getting out of there! I left my stuff laying out and drove a few miles until I got to a driveway that had a yard light so i could see everything around me while I finished putting my last few rods away. Needless to say whenever I fish there and am out late, I load my stuff up right by the lake. That way I don't have to worry about anything sneaking up from one direction and my headlights cover the rest of the area. 

[Fisher-O-men]

My story is just odd!  I was pulling my tube out of the lake when I heard the unmistakable sound of a cottontail screaming.  I look up to see a rabbit running and something flopping behind it.  On closer inspection the flopping object was a weasel that had a death grip on what it thought was dinner.  My first thought was "get the camera".  With camera in hand I approached the melee.  I got within about 20' and both critters noticed my presence. The predator let go and ran back to his den in the rocks.  The appreciative bunny scampered away.  A truly Merlin Perkins moment!

 

[drew4779]

I've had two deer come within 15' of me while I was fishing by myself.  I had my ear buds in and they kind of startled me at first, but they did their thing and I did mine.  

I've had a young river otter run right between my legs while fishing.   I'm fully convinced that it wanted to play.  It just kept going in the water and coming back and rolling around on the ground.  I finally had to find a new spot to cast cause I didn't want to have to get a hook out of it.

I've seen a coyote hide in the bushes behind my brother on the opposite side of the creek.  That made me a little nervous but no issues in the end.

The only two times I was fearful was once I had a skunk appear under a panic table I was sitting at.  It was as scared of me as I of it.  We both comically back away from each other one step at a time till we were about 25' apart and both preceeded to run.  

And finally...a number of years ago I was on a guided trip through the boundary waters when a pack of wolves (6) came through our camp.  I was frozen.  The guide made it out to be no big deal.  They just trotted through camp and were gone with not even a glance our way.