big animals

[spacefem]

I was talking to a guy whose campsite was visited by a large bear and realized I've never seen any giant wild animals, where I go camping we only see big fish, chipmunks, mosquitoes etc. how about you?

[Neko]

I was staying in a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN with some gaming friends and a bear came by the hot tub while we were all in it. It was just checking us out. But we were more worried because it looked like a younger bear and the mom is usually not far behind.

[Eravial]

The largest thing I've seen in the wild is a whale. I've also seen numerous black bears, moose, deer, manatee (inches away from me in the wild!), crocs and alligators, and sea lions. I've also seen some big-ass rodents

[Sonic#]

I was hiking (near Gatlinburg actually!) when a bear came charging out of the bushes under the trail. It was at a point where one could conceivably take a "short cut" to the next visible part of the trail nearby. No one took that short cut. I've seen signs of them a couple of other times, but never so closely.

I've also seen plenty of large deer, but I don't know whether that counts.

[Tweek]

I saw an elephant in Botswana; it was only a young one but it was still pretty big

[Storage and Disposal]

Probably a whale.

[octarineoboe]

Moose! My family went on an Alaskan cruise and afterward we spent some time with my uncle's friend outside of Anchorage, and a moose wandered into the backyard.

I've also seen whales, but from much farther away so it only sort of counts, and bison.

[helium]

Cougar, bear, elk, whale.

And once I thought I saw Sasquatch when we were driving on a dirt road in Wyoming really late at night but I was 12 so who knows.

[Bork]

A whale. I was whale-watching.

[monk]

The largest thing I've seen in the wild is a whale. I've also seen numerous black bears, moose, deer, manatee (inches away from me in the wild!), crocs and alligators, and sea lions. I've also seen some big-ass rodents

Me too, except for the manatee & crocs. I'd also like to add muskox, mountain lion, and several different types of wild sheep (up close, some of them were pretty big)

I was swimming at Goose lake in Anchorage, AK and a moose walked into the lake and swam across it. At one point it was about 3 feet away. Moose can swim very fast!

[rowan]

the only ones on the poll I haven't seen in the wild are the elephant and kangaroo. But then I haven't been to any place that has them.

However when I was little, my parents had this game where you try to find stuff, you know when you're driving. "Look for the ___" and after a while they started putting things like elephants and giraffes. Well, we were getting kind of "yeah right mom" when she said elephant one day, and then in the news it turned out there really had been an elephant that had escaped from somewhere. We never doubted her again. (Too bad we didn't actually see it)

Whale watching I've seen them, and sea lions off Monterey coast, moose and elks up north, and bears too... mostly black bears though, I don't think I've seen any brown bears in the wild. Bison when we went hiking on Antelope Island out in SLC once. (The signs are true, stay away from them)

[Aelwyn]

Heffalumps and whales, both in South Africa.
Back home, a badger appeared out of a hedge in front of me one night while I was walking home. Man, I didn't realise how big those beasts were!
Saw a red deer stag in the Highlands too, he was pretty impressive

[Nachos]

I've seen wild boar in Berlin pretty often, and they are HUGE!

[deanimal]

Heffalumps

...what? Were there woozles too?

[Storage and Disposal]

I kind of wish someone picked rodent. How terrifying would your life be if the biggest wild animal you've ever seen was a rodent?

[Aelwyn]

Heffalumps

...what? Were there woozles too?

you know.. heffalumps! elephants!
sadly no woozles

[anonymousrabbit]

I've seen whales, and I'm pretty sure they qualify as the largest animals I've seen in the wild. However, my encounters with bison have been far more interesting. Last time I was on the way to Yellowstone, we stopped at some camp site right before Montana. I can't remember the name of the campsite, but it doesn't matter. That night I heard a *WHUMPH!" next to my tent, and noted that it looked really dark outside. When I got up in the morning, I found a bison-sized indentation right in front of the door of our tent. Turns out a bison had cuddled up to the tent that night, literally inches from where I was sleeping. Luck was on my side that night as well, because I usually have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night when I am camping, but for some reason, this one night, I didn't. If I had, I would have unzipped the tent and probably kicked the sleeping bison and freaked both of us out. Since ze probably had a weight measured in tons, it's really good that didn't happen =P

Other cool large animal story:
I was walking down a trail up by Lake Superior, when I hear a large racket coming off the trail. I step off the trail behind a tree, and barreling up the trail like a freight train comes this bull moose. A moment later, three wolves come tearing after. They all passed within feet of me. I was more scared of the moose than the wolves.

[cwbyrvr]

"In the wild" would be a deer, I guess. Unless I'm forgetting something terrifying.

[Meperidine]

Whole herds of elephants also giraffes.

[rowan]

I was more scared of the moose than the wolves.

fuck yeah... O.O

I swear you get yourself into the weirdest situations, eh? :O

[aequalitas]

I find myself disturbed by the obvious lack of Giraffes, they are practically dinosaurs