Reddit Explains 20 Animals That Are Not As Dangerous As Everyone Thinks

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Feb 27, 2023 5:00 PM EST

We don't know about you, but whenever we go to the zoo we always wish we could pet all the animals. They look so calm and cute, and we fantasize about bringing one of them home and keeping them as our loving pet. Imagine bringing home and having a cheetah to snuggle with every day! Also, how cool would it be to tell everyone that you have a pet cheetah?

Don't worry, we're not going to go all "Tiger King" on you, but we did find this very interesting Reddit thread about animals that are perceived as dangerous, but are actually more friendly than people think! We're not saying you should go out of your way to go and touch them in the wild, but it's just good to know so that we can live our lives with a little more respect and a little less fear.

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  • 01
    Font - TheClayroo 9 days ago Cheetahs. Don't run. They are skittish. They don't expect the prey not to run. No documented case of a cheetah attacking a human in the wild ever. Just stand your ground and look big. The only big cat that will work with. Reply Share 2.6k
    via u/TheClayroo

    They also "meow" instead of roar! It's very cute, if you haven't seen a video of it before, we highly suggest you go and look for a video of it on Youtube. You won't regret it. Kind of friend-shaped and kind of friendly, amazing! One step closer to having one as a snuggle buddy.

  • 02
    Font - trixqo 9 days ago I'm from Zimbabwe and 98% of the time the people that are killed by wild animals are almost always the tourists or people from rich countries, locals are mostly killed by hippos while crossing rivers random animal attacks are rare but the tourists almost always walk into the danger to take pictures or they think the animal is cute and doesn't look dangerous, opening car windows to feed animals etc, I think they should publicize the statistics of how many are getting kill
    via u/trixqo
  • 03
    Human body - Neltrix 9 days ago Stingrays. They usually swim away from you. That mf that killed Steve Irwin was huge and was probably having a bad day and attacked.
    via u/Neltrix
  • 04
    Human body - Toesinbath 9 days ago Black bears as long as you leave them be. Grizzlies and polar bears will destroy you though.
    via u/Toesinbath

    Fun fact: We actually encountered a black bear once while we were camping. We hung our food a tree (like you're supposed to), and we woke to the bear trying to climb the tree to get the food! We just waited patiently for it to give up, and then it walked away. It was pretty crazy, though!

  • 05
    Gesture - fake-feelings 9 days ago The Incredibly Deadly Viper. Apparently it's a misnomer
    via u/fake-feelings
  • 06
    Font - Daikon Nokami. 9 days ago Moose. They aren't as dangerous as people think. They are even more dangerous. Reply Share 1.3k
    via u/DaikonNoKami
  • 07
    Font - oldguydrinkingbeer 9 days ago Sharks 1.1k Reply Share
    via u/oldguydrinkingbeer
  • 08
    Font - johnnysebre 9 days ago edited 9 days ago Cheetahs are wild cats known to hunt gazelles but I understand they never kill humans and rarely attack us; they seem to like to jump on top of safari vehicules just to get a better height for a vantage point. They are known to be fast but they are less strong, smaller and more fragile that many wild cats species, so humans arent seen as preys at all. On top of that, in captivity they are often enough paired with a dog to have a friend that helps r
    via u/johnnysebre
  • 09
    Human body - stillcore 9 days ago Opossums. They're super-timid, and very RARELY carry rabies. You want them in your yard.
    via u/stillcore
  • 10
    Font - Kc831989 days ago Sharks are chill as fuck. They're like giant sea cats. They're curious and get places they shouldn't be, and want to play with thing unfortunately they don't have hands or paws so they use their mouth. And they will tell you when to leave them alone.
    via u/Kc83198
  • 11
    Font - Trey Ryan3 9 days ago Tarantulas. They are depicted as deadly in so many movies, but like bees and wasp, their bite while painful isn't generally harmful to humans unless you're allergic.
    via u/TreyRyan3
  • 12
    Font - Fox-Sunset 9 days ago Small white rabbits. Monty Python has given them a bad rap. Actually strike that, my small white rabbit chewed a hole in my shoe today. My leg could be next. Run away!!
    via u/Fox-Sunset
  • 13
    Human body - Ok-Butterfly4414 - 9 days ago Don't listen to anyone else, crocodiles and alligators are dangerous
    via u/Ok-Butterfly4414
  • 14
    Human body - theowlsfavoritejoke 9 days ago Your average garden snake is chill and just wants to slither along
    via u/theowlsfavoritejoke
  • 15
    Font - a703 9 days ago Y'all ever seen a potter wasp? It's a hornetish bugger with a needle-thin abdomen, flies around looking like it packs a nastier sting than five yellowjackets combined. Turns out, more docile and less painful than a yellowjacket. It just has a frightening appearance.
    via u/a7o3
  • 16
    Font - Hefty-Quantity9073 9 days ago Gorillas. Many people seem to think that they are aggressive animals who if you were to find yourself standing in front of, you are about to get torn apart or bludgeoned to death. They are herbivores. They have been studied extensively to be inherently peaceful animals that avoid violence unless of course all other options are exhausted. People literally go on walking tours up in to mountains in the heart of gorilla territories and sit around families of them
    via u/Hefty-Quantity9073
  • 17
    Font - Most BotsAreBad - 9 days ago Cheetahs have a reputation for 'hand-taming', which is to say you can basically tame one just by being nice to it consistently. Foxes and lynxes also have this reputation, and some raccoons, and people have basically converted them to pets just by feeding and petting wild ones, etc. Doesn't always work, but they're ready. Leopards have a weird reputation for it, but it's, uh, less common. And leopards definitely kill humans for food, sometimes. The weird thing
    via u/MotsBotsAreBad
  • 18
    Font - SuvenPan 9 days ago Honey bees. People are terrified of them but the last thing a honeybee wants to do is sting you. They just want to work and protect their beehive.
    via u/SuvenPan
  • 19
    Sky - SuvenPan 9 days ago Black cats No they don't bring bad luck.
    via u/SuvenPan
  • 20
    Font - pinkjester21 9 days ago jaguars. there's only 1 recorded case of a jaguar attacking and killing a human. jaguars are actually as interested in us as we are in them. they study us the way we study them. it's quite cute
    via u/pinkjester21

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spiders aww adorable cheetah facts pets interesting friends cute bear tiger shark love lion knowledge rabbit reddit thread Reddit dangerous animals
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