Down on a ranch we visit…
Widows, Scorpions, Brown Recluse (nasty bite), Rattlers 3 kinds - Prairie - Western Diamondback - Mojave (really nasty - one hit one of the guys on his backdoor step), Coyotes (not likely, like the music they make), Feral Hogs, Javelina (mostly not, but you don’t want to corner some by accident), Mtn. Lions (they will stalk you sometimes), Bob Cats (once again unlikely), Skunks (a smelly death or you wish you were). Bears - but they are mostly south in the Big Bend.
Pack-rats that decide to make your - whatever - the storage facility. Tore down an old house on the property. There must have been 1500lbs of old feed stuffed everywhere it could fit. The little buggers will also chew through the wiring in cars left unattended for long periods. They seen to like older vehicles.
Any of the deer like critters if you are driving a car - Pronghorns, Mule, Elk (yes, elk in Texas), the Bighorns keep to the high ground usually.
Wild dog packs are not a thing this far out. Ranchers won’t put up with that. The occasional Bull that has their dander up (feed sack is the best defense to make it back to the truck).
And roving bands of mules - the kind wearing cammo and toting 100lb. sacks of drugs. Thankfully they have moved their favorite path more west. There used to be a trodden path that looked like a superhighway. Complete with rest stops and camp sites.
Drunk drivers! There is a curve in the road south of us. Several don’t make it every year it seems.
All the Best,
Jeff
Rich, I’m going to get a little critical here. I shoot a pair of Glock 20’s with full loads in pin matches. Slow recovery times. Off duty and now retired I carry the Glock 19 with hot 9’s but have much faster follow up shots. Reading about your K9 encounters I know your not stingy with the ammo. Unless your built like a bear might consider smaller and faster. And for the rest if it’s worth shooting once then it’s worth shooting until resolved. My only animal encounter that needing shooting was an angry boar. Also near by were a couple of sows the boar probably didn’t want me close to.
So I’m going to list piggies as dangerous animals.
Old Navy saying: Keep Firing Until: The Target Changes Shape, Catches Fire, or Disappears from Sight.
Rich, I followed your link to the dog bite site. I literally had no idea of the magnitude of the problem.
What type of camera are you using on your walks?
I’m about to start riding a bike after many (many) years and think having some documentation of events would be a good idea.
Another question, how do you carry your pistol for quick access?
Luckily after I moved, none. Before I had to watch for coral snakes, jararacas, wandering spiders, yellow scorpions and sometimes confused bats entering my house by accident. Nowadays I rarely see a mosquito or fly, and the only real nuisances are junkies at the entrance of the nearby supermarket constantly begging for groceries that they exchange for crack stones at their favorite dens. I don’t go there on foot anymore because of them, these punks can get a little too desperate for their next fix and I ain’t about to be a part of that incident. I only go by car since they’re not allowed inside the parking lot.
Been chased by dogs on my bike a few times where I live now, but they were more little shits too eager to chase a vehicle’s spinning rear wheel than the genuine nasty snarling dentures with murder in their veins that our pal richbuff uses for target practice
By the by, boars/pigs/hogs DEFINITELY count. Bigger, sturdier and nastier than the majority of crazy off-the-chain dogs.
That was here: https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/bear-wandering-in-santa-maria-tranquilized-relocated/article_88f73240-edbb-11df-a048-001cc4c002e0.html
There’s that crazy/stoopit guy who videos himself intentionally letting himself get bit by centipedes, scorpions, etc., and got bit by one of those beasties, and as usual regretted it pretty much instantly.
I love dogs. I’ve had a bunch in my 61 years on this rock. Some small, some damn huge. But other peoples dogs? I have killed four that acted like they wanted to kill me. I really did not want to but my life has to come first.
I own and operate a church property for the purpose of providing meeting space for spiritual meetings. I am in personal contact with dozens of nice people seven days a week. Being spiritual is what everyone wants to be. One nice older gentleman, who has been through the wringer of life down here, showed me his scar on his arm from being attacked by a dog years ago. He proceeded to tell me that he had two knives and a gun on him when he and his leashed dog were attacked by a loose pet German shepherd. His dog suffered traumatic injuries. He then instructed me that if I were spirit based, instead of fear based, I would have just been happy to have been voluntarily injured by the two loose dogs that sicced themselves on me, instead of shooting them. I told him that because I am spirit based, I am not going to sell the church property and run off to a happy life, far away from people who deceived by the Almighty Dog that they worship and serve. Instead, I will keep the five hundred thousand dollars in the ground, so I can continue to hear the voices of the ones who are deceived by the Accuser and don’t even know it.
National news media refuse to report more than a tiny amount of severe maulings. I use a GoPro Black Hero 7. I need to move up one notch, because sometimes the camera acts balky. I carry in right hip holster. Video documentation is important. The one percent who escape injury by shooting the attacker are not regarded as such by the owner, nor the police. The owner and the police will be furious that the victim didn't just refuse to defend himself.
I got the same wildlife some of the earlier people said too. Have encounter the odd rattlesnake here and there and then there is my dog that goes after skunks smh.
On the website Nextdoor, which is a social networking site focused on your particular neighborhood, I didn't want to use my real name, so I am known as...
