Once again, there I was standing by the total station with only a notebook as a potential weapon. Rodman was somewhere about three and a half miles away by road. Raccoons are nocturnal, right? So what does it think it's doing shortly after noon going for a stroll across the gravel roadbed about 50 feet from me? My first thought was to check to see if he had any shaving cream on his face. I was picturing what I might try to do if he came charging at me. No good pictures popped into my "mental home video". Fortunately, he wasn't the least bit interested in me and kept on strolling along an old abandoned railroad bed until he disappeared from sight.
Anyone ever had a close encounter with a rabid animal while surveying?
I don't think rabies were involved but once I stepped on a momma armadillo (with babies) in tall grass. Jeeezus, I've never seen or heard anything like it. Almost soiled my britches.
We reached an instant understanding...I retreated instantly.
Rabid no, but I walked into my dark office building tonight and heard something running across the hanging panel ceiling. Then as I was plotting the drawing that I had stopped there to get, he peaked at me through a spot in the corner where the ceiling tile has a hole from some water damage. Yes, it was just a squirrel, but being there by myself at night was freaking me out. I had a "mental home video" going about how hungry he might be and what would happen if he fall through the ceiling. I grabbed my drawing out of the plotter and got out of there.
Told my 13 year old son (the hunter) about it and he laughed at his old man? Said he has a trap that will fit up there and he could set it for me if I was to afraid.:-(
Kids these days, no respect.
Yup, Red Fox ( very poor fur condition and acting very drunk ) 30 feet away. However a well placed .38 special semi wad-cutter solved the problem. Property owner was grateful
as it was heading toward the shed where his newborn kittens were.
Grant
Got a little crosswise with a cow moose and her newborn a few years ago. No rabies just a mom and her new baby. Sort of a close call, nobody got hurt.
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti...:-D
Not surveying, but crawling across my front yard one afternoon....
Did the squirrel look like this:
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: "The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink".
Sounds like the raccoon has distemper; out during daylight, unaware of its surroundings, no regard for danger....
This is a common sickness with raccoons.
Does frantic BARKBARKBARK count?
I once had an instrument setup about 3 feet from a 4' chain link fence with a very friendly black lab. BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!!!!! Radio communication was extremely difficult between me and the rodman trying to set a corner marker about 200 feet away.
me and the dog: "BARKBARKBARKmoveBARKBARKBARKBARKleftBARKBARKBARKtwoBARKBARKBARKBARK
rodman: "repeat please"
me: "huh?BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK"
rodman: "REPEAT!"
me and the dog: "BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKsaidBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK"
rodman: "I can't hear you"
me and the dog (mostly the dog): "BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK"
I finally walked over there and told the rodman what I needed. I then leaned over the fence and rubbed doggie on the head. That was what he was wanting me to do! He instantly was quiet as long as the head rubbing continued. I managed to take my reading during frantic barking and communicate by radio while continued head rubbing.B-)
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
It's good to see Monty Python fans are plentiful...
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.
Trying to give me nightmares? I think I would rather work out in the rain the rest of the week than go back in the office.
Wowee, zowee! That'll raise your blood pressure in a flash!
Years ago I had a similar occurence involving a full grown Whitetail buck sleeping in tall grass on a river levee. We didn't know each other was there until I was about four feet from him. I went straight up and he went North. Neither of us wanted any further contact or communication.
A few months earlier I had worn a Holter monitor for 24 hours or so to check out my heart. I've often wondered what it might have recorded if I'd been wired up that day.
Does frantic BARKBARKBARK count?
Had an overly friendly little collie annoying me one day as we worked along the road next to his house. I was set up on the section line (center of the road) and as a vehicle approached I attempted to shoo him towards the yard by giving him a tap on the nose with my notebook. He ran the 30 feet to the yard, sneezing the entire way, and continued sneezing for several minutes. I started to wonder if he would EVER stop sneezing.
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
She turned me into a newt.
A newt?
I got better.
Burn her anyway!
I have been tracked by coyotes in the salt marshes. Never really worried about being attacked, just unnerving to be followed.
I was almost clipped by a large bird of prey. He was up in a branch looking into the ivy right where I was staking for excavation. I skipped the first stake which was right under him. At the end, I started banging in that stake and the bird dropped from the branch within a foot of my head and snatched a rodent who was scared out of the ivy.