Have you ever been attacked by an animal?

mosquitoes

Yes. I had adopted a male boxer (dog) from a rescue site. I really didn’t feel comfortable with a male dog as they need an assertive, dominant person to control them. I am not a dominant type person. The dog showed a couple signs of aggression so I took it to a trainer who mainly trained police dogs. She made me step on his leash near his collar to force him down on his stomach. My hand was also on his collar. He bit clear through my hand between the thumb and forefinger. She grabbed him up by the leash and swung him in the air til he whimpered. I was terrified of getting back in the car with him! I took him back to the rescue group the next day. If you have to swing a dog by the neck to get him to obey, I don’t want any part of it.

I was chased by a black bear once, thankfully it did not escalate into an attack.

I’ve been attacked many times by midgies. I was once attacked by swan when rowing a boat on Loch Lomond. It was my fault as we came too close to its nest. I escaped by rowing very hard. I have also been attacked by a dog when cycling past a farm. I had to chase it off with my bicycle pump.

Attacked by and bitten by a neighbor’s dog. I was about 12-years old at the time. I survived.

Chased and bitten by a long haired German Shepherd whilst working as a postman (mailman)

Various critters have attacked me. I’ve waded into a dog fight or two to protect my dogs, a feral cat once jumped me out of nowhere, but the most surprising was the pair of guard geese at my friend’s brother’s house in Spokane. Nobody warned me and I was almost at the front door when they attacked. I was wearing a little skirt and they tore up the backs of my thighs before I got through the fence.

It was probably funny to watch, and makes for an amusing story, but I wasn’t OK to drive back to Seattle for days. Ouch. Geese are mean.

Attacked? Bunches. Injured? Never, okay, by accident a few times, startled kitten, iguana I picked up a bit too quickly. I got scratched by both but in each case they were simply flailing without intent to harm.
I have had several dogs attack me, mostly when I delivered newspapers. I just look at them and with my fiercest voice I tell them if they bite me, I will bite back, hard. Every single one has backed down. One time it was when I was an adult, and the dog was supposed to be guarding inside a business he somehow escaped.
Oh, as a small child I was chased by a huge sow with a very young litter. Fortunately I was barefoot. I hit the trunk of a tree already climbing, got up that sucker digging fingers and toes into the cracks of the thick, heavy bark. I was out of my mind with fear. When my mom and grandma found me I was in shock, and struggled against them trying to get me down.
I had seen a sow go nuts once because one of her babies squealed when it got underfoot. She spun around biting everything, including her own babies.
Anyway, she was long gone when I was brought down from the tree.
Hmm, water moccasin once, almost stepped on it. It slithered rapidly to the creek nearby, head up just like a snake in a basket. Don’t wanna talk about that one. Too spooky.

^You have quite a history there! Do you remember why did that sow attacked you back then? Just asking.

Because I was there.
Mom and grandma had gone across the farm to get walnuts. I decided after a while I was bored without them, and took off alone.
The sow spotted me and apparently thought I was a threat. I turned to look because I heard galloping behind me! She had at least ten little pink babies trying to keep up with her. There was a barn lot where she was supposed to be penned, but pigs dig.

I was attacked by a swan. Its mate was sleeping and it was standing guard. Melted my heart that it would be willing to take me own to protect its mate. I left them in peace.

Only once by a bird, but it barely touched me. It came swooping down towards my head making noise and ruffled my hair a little for just a few seconds, but it freaked me out.

One of my fears is being attacked by a dog or doglike wild animal. @chyna’s story above is just the type of confirmation bias story to help reinforce my fears. Even without her story I have plenty of stories of other people, which is part of how I developed the fear.

I was attacked and pursued by a HUGE spider. It had a death wish and made a horrific end when I got to my size 15 shoes. Splat city.

Racoon.

It came through my screenless, open window while I was asleep, and walked on my head, I tried picking it up, thinking it was my cat, But its mouth felt different.

Who needs Freddy Krueger in a world full of racoons, bears, pandas and koalas?

Oh my gawd I wish you had video of that!

Bloody as a visit from Freddy.

Racoons are MEAN MFs