How I Dealt with a Scary, Close Encounter with Wildlife

Last week, I had a close encounter with wildlife.  It was kind of terrifying to me, in hindsight.

Let me provide a little bit of context. Generally, I like animals, particularly the kind that can be found at a “petting zoo”.  Like little chicks. Just how adorable are they?  Baby goats?  They are oh-so-calming.  I’ve fed deers at a zoo and petted wallabies and a koala.

All this is to say that I have some curiosity when it comes to animals, but certainly not all.  Why?  For example, want to wrap a snake around my neck for a picture taking opportunity?  No, thanks.

When this happened, I physically backed away from the zoo staff who wanted to engage me to interact with the giant snake she had wrapped around her.

Want to see a domesticated lion up close and personal under trainer supervision?

That is a HELL NO for me.

There are some animals I like to respect from a distance.  I don’t need to get up close and personal.

Scary, Close Encounter Last Week

I don’t ordinarily have encounters with wildlife given my close proximity to the city. Critters like squirrels, raccoons and rabbits are a natural part of a neighborhood.  Once in a blue moon, I might spot a deer while driving.  A few times in November, I’ve seen a turkey or two wandering around on random streets.

Beyond that, it’s quite uncommon to have interaction with other types of wildlife.  There are the occasional news reports of black bears venturing to people’s backyards, or coyotes sightings, but those tend to happen in more rural areas.

So, I was really surprised when it happened.

The day was just like any other day.

It was almost 6pm, and most of my colleagues have left already. I stayed later because I wanted to tie up some loose ends at my new job.  The sun was still up and the campus was mostly empty, as I headed towards the parking garage.  I used a side parking entrance since it’s closer to my office even though the surrounding area is more isolated.

I walked towards the garage as I normally do, taking in the tranquility of the environment. Suddenly, I noticed something running across the grounds out of the corner of my eyes.

I didn’t know what it was, but I stopped dead in my tracks.  The animal ran swiftly.  With the parking garage to my right, I watched as the animal ran and then paused a good distance northwest of where I was standing.

Strangest Feeling

My first reaction was one of surprise.  Based on the size and shape of the animal, my first thought was that it was a deer. There are deers around this area?

That initial thought was quickly overridden by my second analysis.  Based on the way the animal was running and the look of its hind legs, it can’t be a deer.  It looked more like a dog.  A really, really big dog.   After all, I’ve seen people walk their dogs around campus, though the owners are usually nearby. I glanced around. To my horror, I see no owners in sight.  In fact, there was no one nearby.

At that moment, I realized that it was a wildlife.  A dog couldn’t have run across the campus as swiftly as the animal just did.

Suddenly, I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I couldn’t be sure, but it occurred to me that it might be a coyote.

And it’s not a little one, but a big one.

It was on a run, but it had stopped in its track some distance from me.  Just as I had observed it, it was clearly observing my presence.

I’m a petite gal, and I suddenly have this sinking feeling that I could be considered a prey.  Worse, knowing that there was no one nearby to help was a sobering thought.  It crossed my mind that the animal could potentially attack me.

What Happened Next?

It’s hard to feel too terrified in the moment, when you have twenty other things to think about.

The fight or flight instinct kicked in as I considered my next move.

I seriously thought about making a dash for my car in the garage, but I reasoned that there was no way I could outrun whatever it was.  Further, I didn’t want to trigger the animal’s natural instinct of giving chase in any way.

I decided to stand my ground, though I was careful not to make any major moves.

I would just have to put up a fight and defend with whatever I’ve got on me.  Ultimately, it’s a bleak thought. Given its speed and size, I know I am no match for it.

There are things we can all control in life, and then there are also things outside of our control. It’s certainly not how I would prefer to go when I have so many things I have yet to do, but these are the kind of things you think about when you suddenly realize you don’t have all the time in the world.

Fortunately, just as quickly as the animal appeared, it darted off and disappeared from view.  I breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly walked to my car.

At the End of the Day

At the end of the day, I was lucky and grateful nothing happened.  There are two possible outcomes and one of them could have turned out terribly.

There is a quote that “we should live each day as if it were our last”.  It is so true.

As scary as the brief encounter was, it is encounters like these that periodically remind us how fragile – and even how random – life sometimes is.  We need not look further than the recent terrorist attacks on random people going about their everyday lives.

And yet because life is fragile, it is reason enough that each of us do our best each day.  To live well each day, to be kind to one another, and to love one another.

Precisely because you never know which day might be the last.