Strangest wildlife encounter?

[Questor]

What's your stranges wildlife encounter?

Being out trout fishing one night when a bunch of feral cattle came down by the stream was quite alarming. I couldn't figure out what in the world they might be.

But the strangest one was fun and happy. About five years ago my son and I were out in a field running our dog and a blue jay started following us. As we walked, it kept up, and would light on a branch until we moved a bit. Then he'd fly to another branch closer to us. Sometimes he flew around us. I asked my son to put out his arm, and the bird landed on it and stayed there for quite a while. That bird just didn't want to leave us.

Another time we were out hunting and I saw some deer in the distance and they looked like they wanted to come our way. We sat silently with our backs against some oaks. This was my son's first good look at whitetails up close. The deer did come right up to us, and one of them sniffed my son's boot. I could tell the deer sensed something, but they didn't spook right away. After a while, they just bolted away.

[williamlayton]

I don't know about unexpected or strange, BUT.
In younger days I used too fish the surf, along galveston Island.
The beach has several sand bars---commonly referred to as "bars"-- as you go from the beach towards deeper water . these bars run parallel to the beach and are seperated for several yards by "guts".
It is common to fish the third gut or bar.
The first bar is real easy. You wade from the beach and the sand slopes gently til you get about knee deep then you walk up on the first bar, cross it to water that comes up about waist deep and up on too the second bar. Then down again into the next gut---depending on the tide it is about neck deep or maybe a little swim to the third bar and you fish from that bar--the third bar. the water on this bar might be waist deep or dhoulder deep.
If you fish this at night--as we did--the water is generally more calm.
As you wade parallel to the beach on this third bar---at night---it is errily calm and quiet. Fishing with lures you fish the third gut and the second gut--wading along.
As you wade along, every once in awhile you will see this long gray shadow pass/glide beside you---a shark, also fishing the guts.
Blessings

[Sourdough]

I don't know about Strangest, but one of the scariest.  I was turkey hunting in the Lincoln Nat forest of New Mexico.  I had walked in and was sitting under a big Oak tree.  I had been working a slate call for a quite a while.  I was getting answers from a few Toms, but had not seen anything.  The sun had come up and was warming up the hillside I was sitting on.  I started getting drowsy.  I tried to keep awake and kept working the slate.

Suddenly there is a loud screaming, right behind me.  Scared me to the point that I was in total panic.  I jumped up, spun around and there stood a Mountain Lion.  This lion had slipped up behind me, and was sitting there staring at me.  I was so paniced when I jumped up I had dropped my shotgun.  There I stood, no gun in my hand, looking at a Mountain Lion, just sitting there staring at me.  I was afraid to bend over to grab the shotgun.  In so doing I would expose my head to the lion and it would be on me before I could get the shotgun up into position.  It seemed like an eternity before the Cat yawned, stretched, then turned around and left.

Grabbing my shotgun, I left in the other direction. 

[kinslayer1965]

Sitting in some bushes in the woods in Arkansas turkey hunting when I was 16 trying to call in a tom and a blacksnake crawled up my pant leg. The next few moments are not real clear in my mind but when I came to my senses I was covered in leaves and dirt wearing nothing but my underwear, socks and a long sleeve camo shirt.

Destroyed my favorite lynch box call and had bruises all down my leg. I apparently tried to kill it before deciding to vacate my pants.

It was 15 years before I finally told my father about it and I thought he was going to pass out from laughing....well I guess it is pretty funny when you think about it.

[ToadHill]

I took the grandkids on a tractor ride one evening and say some turkey hens with a flock of young ones not yet able to fly.  I stopped the tractor and had the kids get out of the trailer and sit quietly in the hedgerow.  The hens and polts cane walking up the hedge and in and around us and went on their way.  The kids couldn't wait to get home to tell their parents.

[The Hermit]

I was back in the woods at my trapper cabin sitting by the window one evening, watching a buck at a "food source".
The deer just decided to bed down. I waited till dark as I didn't want to disturb the deer. I left the cabin with my flashlight off and headed the general direction out. Close by I could hear the coyotes howl. In a few seconds I could hear something running through the brush comming straight for me. I pulled out my S&W .38 snubbie and turned on the flashlight. A coyote was about 12 ft from me when I pulled the trigger. I missed cause I couldn't see the sights and the coyote took off for parts unknown. 5 seconds after that, I almost got run over by the deer that was beaded down. Having had enough excitement for the night, I headed home.
Another time, same cabin, I was sleeping and awoke to a ruckus outside. It was barely daylight(false dawn time) and I could see a doe standing up on her hind legs and pawing furiously. She was running back and forth and snorting. I grabbed my axe and went outside. I almost had a stroke. There was a black bear trying to make off with her fawn and momma was putting up quite a fuss. I hollared at the bear and he stopped and turned and stared at me. At once I realized that I'm standing there in my boxers holding an axe and feel very under gunned. The deer decided that the bear was the bigger threat and charged the bear again. He ambled off and I went back inside and closed the door. Every since then, I carry either my 45-70 or my 12 ga. Its kinda funny now telling it, but wasn't then when it was happening.

[shortround]

Strangest wildlife encounter??

I saw my ex-wife one day. But I didn't have a permit for her!

[slim rem 7]

 i was pouting in the barn layin on the hay..daddy told me i couldn t go home with uncle horace..something i always looked forward to
 meantime i almost drifted off to sleep.. i woke to seee a large black snake looking me dead in the eye trying to figure out what i was,, i guess... i don t remember how i got out the barn ..i jus know i was done pouting for the day..slim

[magooch]

A couple of years ago while we (my wife and I) were spending the winter in Laughlin, Nevada, we were staying at the River Palms Hotel.  Our room was right next to the swimming pool, so I would get up early and take a morning swim.  On this particular morning, I sat down at a table to read the paper before taking a dip.  As I sat there I heard a little ruckus from over toward the casino doors.  When I turned to see what that was all about, here comes a bobcat, meandering along with no regard for the people whatsoever.  It slipped through the rod iron fence that surrounds the pool area and sauntered in my direction and as I was trying to figure out whether to hit the pool, or just sit there, it turned again, slipped back throught the fence and into some shubery by the hotel.  This bobcat had absolutely no fear, of people and didn't even acknowledge their presence.

Later, I reported the incident to a security person and his reaction was--"Was there only one?"  He explained that there had been a couple of them hanging around there for a few weeks.