Which Animals & Insects Most Likely To Kill . . . .

[GranderTheGander]

Here's an interesting article on which animals and insects are most likely to kill humans:

https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(17)30313-7/fulltext

Statistics are from 2008-2015.

 

[Callender Girl]

Guess my lifelong distrust of bovines has been right all along. A a former co-worker once pointed out that while pigs -- given the opportunity -- will eat me, cows won't. Guess I've got something to tell him!

Also, while it wasn't a horse, but rather a donkey that knocked me down and fractured my pelvis in two places, I can corroborate that equines have the ability to do a lot of harm.

Hmm. Seems this article had a lot of relevance for me.

 

[GranderTheGander]

Guess my lifelong distrust of bovines has been right all along. A a former co-worker once pointed out that while pigs -- given the opportunity -- will eat me, cows won't. Guess I've got something to tell him!

Also, while it wasn't a horse, but rather a donkey that knocked me down and fractured my pelvis in two places, I can corroborate that equines have the ability to do a lot of harm.

Hmm. Seems this article had a lot of relevance for me.

Yes, it did! It's also not up-to-date on more recent killings by larger wild animals, such as bears. But even if you count those type of killings, the number of people in this country killed by animals and insects each year is a tiny percentage compared to the number who die each year from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, diabetes, COVID, suicide, murder, car crashes that don't involve deer, etc.

 

[Callender Girl]

And. many of the death reasons you listed are fairly, if not totally, preventable.

 

[GranderTheGander]

Thinking about it, I have never once read an article anywhere about someone killed by a cow. Bulls, yes, but those were articles about bullfighters.

I'm curious . . . do local newspapers covering rural areas with farms and ranches report deaths caused by animals?

 

[Callender Girl]

Yeah, my fear of cows is totally irrational. There's just something about their eyes -- says a woman whose goats' eyes tend to be more menacing to more people.

I worked for a regional Iowa newspaper for more than 26 years, plus eight years at a weekly paper and two years at an AM radio station, and I don't ever remember a report of death caused by an animal.

Now, when I was growing up, there was a farmer in my home county who fell over the fence while he was feeding the hogs. The rumor was the pigs killed him, but maybe he had a fatal heart attack and it wasn't the porkers' fault? Who knows? But the result wasn't pretty.

 

[GranderTheGander]

Yeah, my fear of cows is totally irrational. There's just something about their eyes -- says a woman whose goats' eyes tend to be more menacing to more people.

I worked for a regional Iowa newspaper for more than 26 years, plus eight years at a weekly paper and two years at an AM radio station, and I don't ever remember a report of death caused by an animal.

Now, when I was growing up, there was a farmer in my home county who fell over the fence while he was feeding the hogs. The rumor was the pigs killed him, but maybe he had a fatal heart attack and it wasn't the porkers' fault? Who knows? But the result wasn't pretty.

Well, your fear is not totally irrational according to the article, where it states: 1) "There were 1610 animal-related fatalities, with the majority from nonvenomous animals (2.8 deaths per 10 million persons). The largest proportion of animal-related fatalities was due to “other mammals,” largely composed of horses and cattle." 2) "Dairy farming, a known dangerous work environment, has the second highest risk for injuries among all US agriculture groups, with the majority occurring with dairy cattle during milking activities."

Do you think it was the policy of the paper and radio station not to report animal deaths or they just didn't happen? With the internet, of course, there is never-ending reporting of everything. Where pigs are concerned, there was the killing of the woman in Texas by wild hogs in November 2019. Apparently, though, some still don't believe hogs actually killed the woman. The Houston Chronicle has an interesting February 21, 2020 article online about the death.

 

[Callender Girl]

Okay, not totally irrational. But, seriously, my fear is based on their EYES?!? I've never milked a cow (although I have milked goats) and have not been contained with any in small, enclosed spaces (like chutes) that would get me close enough to get seriously hurt. It's just those eyes!

Since I was managing editor of the regional paper and news editor of the radio station, I can assure you there was no policy against reporting animal deaths at those outlets. In fact, the regional paper published a weekly farm newspaper and no animal deaths in that either.

I do believe wild hogs could and might have killed a woman. Sometimes, nature sometimes just behaves naturally. I may have to look up the Houston article.

Many people asked me what happened to the donkey that fractured my pelvis. Some seemed to think I should have had him put down. That didn't happen. He went to a rescue group and is now living a good life.

The accident was entirely MY fault. He was trying to tell me not to feed another donkey in the pen. If I had listened the first or second time he nudged my back, nothing bad would have happened. Instead, I -- without looking -- pushed him back twice with my elbow. Clearly, in his mind, I wasn't paying attention, so he did what he had to do to get me to stop doing something that was annoying him.

BTW, the second donkey "yelled" at Jerry, who took off after him and let me crawl to safety.

 

[Isadora]

Okay, not totally irrational. But, seriously, my fear is based on their EYES?!? I've never milked a cow (although I have milked goats) and have not been contained with any in small, enclosed spaces (like chutes) that would get me close enough to get seriously hurt. It's just those eyes!

 

[Isadora]

I can get how cows eyes can look sinister. Our first cow (We still have her, but she's headed to freezer camp in November) has horns and a bad attitude. She's charged me a few times It was satisfying to spray her in the face with the garden hose once