Iowans Share Their Weirdest Wild Animal Encounters

Since moving to Iowa six years ago, I've encountered PLENTY of wild animals. My former apartment complex was in a wooded area, so I saw lots of turkeys, raccoons, and deer roaming around on a weekly basis. My most interesting wild animal encounter didn't take place here, though, it was actually in my home state of Michigan.

When I was a kid, I attended summer camp in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. On my very first trip to camp, we pulled over on the side of the road in the dark to get a look at a baby bear. We kept our distance, because we knew mama bear was nearby, but it was so strange seeing a real bear in the wild. I'll never forget it!

Have you ever had a strange or scary encounter with some sort of wild animal? Here are some of our favorite stories from Facebook this week:

Tammie LaKose - "My grandma lives in Northern Wisconsin, so there are lots of bears. Well, a mama and a cub went up onto her porch and just watched her through the glass sliding door. They eventually walked away, but her heart definitely dropped."
Amber Oldfield - "I am a state-licensed wildlife rehabber. In my 16 years of rehabbing, my favorite is a raccoon. He set himself in a trash bin full of hops from a brewing company. It took me over a week to sober him up to where he would actually eat on his own. He couldn't walk straight or stand up."
Sam Crum - "I used to work for Per Mar Security out at the ADM plant, and for a couple of weeks I had a wild fox visit my guard shack in the early morning hours for a snack. I gradually gained his trust enough to hand feed him."
Wenonah Radway - "I was on a horse trail ride in the ND Badlands when we came around a big hill. There was a huge buffalo just standing there staring at us. As we crept by, the buffalo charged us and my horse reared up and I almost fell off the back. We thankfully got past him without any further incident, but the guide informed us afterward that buffalos can outrun horses. It was so scary."
Ronda West - "We were snorkeling in the Grand Cayman Islands and I was bit on the back of the arm by a 6-foot eel! Needless to say, I was bleeding and doggy-paddled my way back to the boat. I haven’t been snorkeling since!"
Samantha Copeland - "My mom, one of my friends, and I went to Yellowstone for my 16th bday. We decided to go check out the sulfur pits (horrible smells, beautiful colors). Before we went on the wooden pathway, the park ranger said, 'keep an eye out for elk. It is mating/birthing season for them, so both the bulls and cows will be very aggressive at this time, but you should be fine as long as you stay on the wooden path.' Well, I wanna say halfway through one of the trails, I heard this God-awful snarling, grunting, and stomping sound. I looked up from one of the pits, and, I kid you not, there was a cow with a newborn calf. She was snarling and stomping and drooling. I yelled, 'elk' to inform my friend and my mom. This cow literally jumped the pit and fence. I took off running down the hill, my friend slipped and slid down the path down the hill, and my mom jumped the other fence and was hanging on to it with dear life. Luckily, one of the park rangers heard me yell 'elk' and came running down the trail banging metal trash can tops together. The cow ran back to her baby and trotted back into the woods. From far away, elks really don't look that big, but up close they seem as big as a dinosaur."
David Collingwood - "The squirrels go nuts for their daily ration of sunflower seeds. When a feeding is missed, they come looking for reasons why. This squirrel jumped up on the sliding glass door and stared me down."