15 Unexpectedly Close Encounters With Wild Animals for Adrenaline Junkies: ‘A great white shark passed around 8 feet under my kayak’

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
May 29, 2026 7:30 AM EDT

Have you ever gotten a little too close for comfort with a wild animal? No, we're not talking about your neighbor's slightly unhinged cat. We're talking about lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

We're getting second-hand from this post in Reddit's r/Survival subreddit, where people spoke about their uncomfortably close experiences with wild animals. For anyone who has had one of their own, we're sure that you can remember it like it was yesterday. This type of memory stays with you for a while, depending on how scared you were.

We'll start by telling you ours: We went for a 2-week hiking/camping trip with a good buddy of ours a few years ago in the North Cascades National Park. As anyone who goes camping knows, you have to tie your food up in a tree so as not to attract bears to your campsite. We put all of our food in a sealable bag, threw it over a tall branch on a tree about 30 feet away, snuffed out the fire, and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, we heard some scratching and grunts coming from outside our tent. 

You have to remember that we hadn't seen another human being for at least a few days. So, it was either a deranged hermit or a black bear, neither of which we wanted to deal with. We tried to wait it out, but after 30 minutes of hiding in our tent, we realized that whatever it was, it wasn't going to give up. We grabbed our flashlight and bear spray, then decided to face whatever this creature was, so we could go back to sleep. 

What was it?

A mama black bear, attempting to shake the tree down and eat all of our food. As soon as we pointed the flashlight at it, it charged at us. Those 3 seconds felt like a lifetime. We raised our arms in the air, screamed, and readied the bear spray. She stopped her charge halfway to us, clearly seeing us as a threat, then ran off into the darkness. 

Guess who needed to change their clothes after that?

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  • 01

    People who have genuinely encountered powerful wild animals in nature or the ocean, what was it actually like?

    Cheezburger Image 10633931776
    via Balaji Malliswamy

    A model of a wild animal hunting its prey

  • 02
    beekermc I was tree planting 100k from the nearest town way up in N Ontario and I heard some rustling in the woods behind me. Turned around and saw a full grown bull moose about 10-15 feet away from me. We locked eyes, he shook his head and dragged a hoof across
    via beekermc
  • 03
    the ground. I thought I was død, but I remembered an old nature commercial that said moose dont like to attack uphill. Well, there was a pretty big hill, so I slowly turned and walked up it. By the time I got to the top and turned around the moose was gone, like a ghost, without a sound.
    via beekermc
  • 04
    Strangmanrantngnvan A bull shark circled me while I was spearfishing for the first time. Visibility like 8 feet, I couldn't always see him. I dropped the fish and he stayed with me. Blew through my safety stop and got to the surface. It was circling me. Blew my whistle for the boat to come get me, few minutes felt like
    via Strangmanrantngnvan
  • 05
    an eternity. I got in the boat and was shaking and couldn't speak. He would have destroyed me. Haven't been spearfishing since.
    via Strangmanrantngnvan
  • 06
    Haroun 10 I encountered a grizzly bear from a boat once. Myself and a friend were taking a small aluminum boat with an 8 horse engine up a creek just to see how far we could get. We weren't expecting to find any bears. About 1 kilometre up this creek, we saw some bushes
    via Haroun10
  • 07
    shaking and assumed a deer or an elk was eating from the bush. Once we got closer, a grizzly bear head poked out of the bushes. It was not happy we were there and we immediately hauled ass out of there with this grizzly chasing us.
    via Haroun10
  • 08
    We were trying our best to remember where the obstacles in the creek were and my friend was calling out anything he saw from the bow. We made it to deep water in the lake with this bear only about 25 meters behind us. In short, scared as f@$&
    via Haroun10
  • 09
    guyonanuglycouch I was camping. It was morning And I needed to pee. I unzipped my tent. There was a Bull Moose looking directly at me. I zipped my tent back up and went back to sleep for a while. He wasn't there when I checked later.
    via guyonanuglycouch
  • 10
    5literfustang I have had two almost identical encounters with mountain lions, one in the Rockies and one in big bend. We stared at each other for 20-30 seconds from 25 feet apart and then they walked away. First one I wasn't too concerned about, I had a means to handle it if it turned into a serious situation. The 2nd
    via 5literfustang
  • 11
    one I had nothing and I felt an extremely primal fear. 2nd one was much bigger too. There was no doubt about what I was looking at I had a bright light on them but it was confirmed both times when they turned away and I saw the long tail.
    via 5literfustang
  • 12
    I have also been charged by a moose after turning a natural corner on a trail, that was a huge adrenaline dump we had almost no time to react, the moose was just 10-12 feet away. Ran off the trail into trees that she couldn't fit through
    via 5literfustang
  • 13
    RaptorCheeses Not exactly the most powerful or fearsome wild animals but I had an encounter with a family of otters along the Genesee River in upstate NY. I was chillin on the shore early morning and they came down the river all together noisily. They came out of the
    via RaptorCheeses
  • 14
    water right towards me, approached me, sniffed my boots, one jumped on me. I was terrified and in absolute awe. They're bigger than you think and quick and lanky like giant ferrets. I'm not an otter expert but luckily they just seemed super curious and even a little playful but I was just frozen in place the whole time.
    via RaptorCheeses
  • 15
    CptGinyu8410 A great white shark passed around 8 feet under my kayak, turned around and came back about 2 feet under my kayak. Even rolled on its side a little to get a better look at me. I could have reached down and touched it. I didn't know we had them on the west coast of Florida when the waters are cooler. I froze. Not
    via CptGinyu8410
  • 16
    just fear, but awe at how large it was. I'm around sharks regularly. I've seen great Whites on TV and know they're huge. Nothing prepares your mind for seeing one that close. It was wildly terrifying and somehow fantastic, but I never want to be that close to one again.
    via CptGinyu8410
  • 17
    Cheezburger Image 10633930752
    via Gerald Schömbs

    A scuba diver surrounded by wild sharks, as represented by a model

  • 18
    68red Drove into Custer State Park, SD in a heavy rain storm at night with friends. We were due to camp at the park but because of the downpour we slept in the car. When we woke up at daybreak we looked out the windows and we were engulfed in a heavy fog. Out
    via 68red
  • 19
    of the fog emerged the enormous heads of several American bison. We realized we were surrounded by a herd of bison. While we had some concern they might get spooked by us and attack the car, we were more in awe than anything to be in the middle of a herd like that. They eventually moved on without incident. Unforgettable.
    via 68red
  • 20
    WilliamoftheBulk I had mama bear charge me once. I laid down and went into a fetal position and pointed my back pack at her. If she was going to mall me, I was hoping the back pack would take the brunt of it. She didn't. I'm not sure exactly what she did because I was
    via WilliamoftheBulk
  • 21
    cowering, haha, but she sniffed a bit then left. Maybe it was because I sh my pants hahaha (I didn't really, juts metaphorically).
    via WilliamoftheBulk
  • 22
    ActionCharlie Long story short, I got barbed by a 6 foot diameter pacific bull stingray in 2003, in Abel Tasman National Park, NZ, a few years before Steve Irwin d d. I was snorkeling and never saw the ray below me, but the impact lifted me out of the water and threw me back hard enough to lose my
    via ActionCharlie
  • 23
    diving mask and snorkel. As the crystal clear calm water started turning red with my bld I swam back towards shore and right into the stingray again, which violently reacted and hit me again, severing an artery in my right wrist. I climbed up onto the rocks, watched the ray casually swim off, yelled at some nearby locals
    via ActionCharlie
  • 24
    to call a helicopter, and instructed my buddy to put pressure on my chest, not even realizing that my artery was severed. It immediately felt like there was a hot poker deep in chest with someone wrenching on it. Five minutes later, I was in a dream state, extremely warm and comfortable,
    via ActionCharlie
  • 25
    despite the freezing cold water and wet gear, lamenting on how great my 22 years of life had been and how I was fully ready to check out, happily and content in that moment and with that thought of gratitude. A water taxi crashing against the rocks and the captain yelling at tourists to
    via ActionCharlie
  • 26
    get off the boat snapped me out of the delirium and shock and right back into the excruciating pain. My buddy held me together with both hands for the 20 minute boat ride to where a rescue helicopter could land on the beach and take me to hospital.
    via ActionCharlie
  • 27
    Higster34343 While snorkelling in Vanuatu, I found out they had sea snakes. Very pretty they are, bright yellow bands. Took a photo, got the film developed, camera store owner told me they're extremely deadly lol
    via Higster34343
  • 28
    KillaVNilla Probably 10 years ago at this point, I was hiking in Sequoia National Park with my wife. We were hiking on a really steep area that was all switch backs. It was steep to the point of not really being able to go off the trail without major risk, so the switch backs were absolutely necessary.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 29
    For probably close to an hour, we were walking behind a doe and her baby. It was really cool. They were completely unbothered by us. They were just walking down the trail right in front of us. One
    via KillaVNilla
  • 30
    thing i realized in hindsight is that the doe was on high alert the whole time. Specifically, her ears were perked up and constantly turning. I just assumed it was because of us.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 31
    At one point, the baby decided to walk up the hill on it's own. The mom stayed down on the trail with us, watching the baby.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 32
    Now, this next part is one of my biggest regrets in life. To this point, I'd taken a ton of pictures and videos of the deer. It was really cool. But when the baby was up on the hill, I put my phone back in my pocket and we were just watching. I figured I had enough footage of deer walking.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 33
    Less than a minute later, a black bear came charging straight down the hill after the baby at a speed that was absolutely shocking. Like i said, the terrain was extremely steep. The speed and the thunderous sound is something I'll never forget.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 34
    Cheezburger Image 10633933312
    via Jennifer Kardiak from Pexels

    Unexpectedly close black bear approaches a photographer, model representation

  • 35
    The baby took off running, also shockingly fast, and the doe took off running as well. Thankfully, the baby got away and the bear stopped running and sort of just looked around. This is when things got a little sketchy.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 36
    I pulled my phone back out and started filming the bear. The bear then started walking back up the hill towards where we were standing. We started looking for somewhere to go or hide, but we were stuck. We sort of tucked
    via KillaVNilla
  • 37
    ourself next to a tree, but then the bear got to the section of trail we were on and started trotting toward us.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 38
    We were pretty panicked because we figured we were an easier meal than that deer and we couldn't go anywhere. When it got to probably 10 or so feet from us, I jumped out from behind the tree and yelled.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 39
    Luckily, that scared the bear and it turned around and ran away. Definitely one of the scariest nature experiences of my life.
    via KillaVNilla
  • 40
    worthaa Newfoundland Canada; 1980s early 90s I wss 9 or 10 years old, out with a couple older boys, on a small boat, on the North Atlantic Ocean, minding our own business, when the boat was thumped like we hit a rock. It wasn't a rock. We're in the middle
    via worthaa
  • 41
    of Conception Bay, the only thing out here to hit, is Bell Island, and that was way over there! Boat was about 24, 28 feet, open wooden boat old inboard one cylinder putt putting her way along, then we're all a few feet in the air.
    via worthaa
  • 42
    The sound, was like a fire hose exploding, or a tractor tire exploding; the motor stalled, we moved violently, and suddenly sideways. Water coming over the gunnels. Near panic. The ocean does not belong in an old open boat. Especially one who's crews combined ages, never came close to the age of the old girl.
    via worthaa
  • 43
    It was a whale. We hit a fracking whale! Or more correctly, it well surfaced right under us! Giving us, a short, but memorable Nantucket Slay Ride. There is a smell when they exhale.
    via worthaa
  • 44
    It's not pleasant. Not fishy or oceany. Then, plop, back on the water. Where we should be. No big splash, we didn't turn turtle.
    via worthaa
  • 45
    Bailing ensued, Tommy got the motor going, and off we go. We couldn't tell anyone, lol. We didn't have permission to use the boat.
    via worthaa
  • 46
    As near as we could tell, it was either a North Atlantic Right, or a Humpback. It's hard to say, with how close we were, and the shock of our encounter. We saw enough of them in every day life, but not from 2 feet away.
    via worthaa
  • 47
    It was probably twice the length of the boat, could be 50, 55 feet easily. We doubted the whale was even aware of us; but we all instinctively knew, that a swat from that tail, and it's into the drink to sleep with Davy Jones and the fishes forever.
    via worthaa
  • 48
    I remember thinking, it would be better to be smashed to smithereens, then to drown, or worse, hypothermia. We got back home without incident. Was probably 20 years before any of us told anyone.
    via worthaa
  • 49
    MadGeographer Brazilian Amazon. We were anchored in a small river on the banks and heard a jaguar roar in the distance. Then a few minutes passed and then the sheer silence became unnerving because we knew he became curious about
    via MadGeographer
  • 50
    us. Then you could smell him. Super funky. Rotting meat mixed with something musky. We knew he was close. He eventually went away bur I'll never forget that primal feeling I had being stalked and hunted.
    via MadGeographer
  • 51
    Spiley_spile Puma. My body froze up and was no longer under my command. I have overcome intense fear in many situations. So to experience instant, involuntary paralysis was disturbing in a way I cant rightly describe. There are some things the body wont let the mind
    via Spiley_spile
  • 52
    overcome on first contact. It's not a thing I would have believed if I hadnt experienced it myself.
    via Spiley_spile

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