I'm alive! Fuck you, cougars!
To elaborate, I was running through the mountains today and happened upon a pair of cougars. Being in the middle of nowhere, I started sprinting towards civilization, almost 5 miles away. They chased me, but after a mile or so they tired out and I lost them. I swear I heard growling the whole way down the mountainside, though.
Well, shit. Time to stop doing that run, at least without some friends along. Had to do the same thing to escape a bear today. Freaked me the fuck out. I seriously doubt that bears are more afraid of humans than we are of them.
I live in a shark capital and have huge-ass spiders (Banana Spiders (which look like baby-skulltillas (Zelda64)) which make big webs in pathways, and Wolf Spiders that don't use webs, but are equally as big, and are mean and smart), you've got bears and cougars. I'll stick with what I have, thank you. Then again, we also have the occasional panther and snake. I do kinda live next to a national park, really. It's no more than a mile away from my house.
I dunno, which is worse?
EDIT: ↓
The local sharks do hang out in the shallows, so you'll have to stick to staying dry to be entirely safe. The local spiders are pretty damn smart as well as big, not to mention, actually rather quick despite their size; mind you, they can also sneak into your car and go long distance (my brother, his wife, and daughters sure had one hell of a surprise after one of my visits. They were inexperienced against such huge spiders.). I have to hunt these things in my room and the hallways sometimes just to kill one. They also love to strike you while you're asleep, so they can keep you awake all night unless you're certain they're gone for good.
But I'll admit, I agree, those two (bears and cougars) are really nasty predators to deal with under any given circumstance. I hate spiders, and sharks are often misunderstood for being Always Chaotic Evil aggressive. I think once or twice, I've unwittingly swam in shark-infested waters, and they didn't bother me one bit. Despite a casual swim. Mind you, hammerheads and bull sharks are quite common in my region, with the occasional spinner shark (named for their spinning out of the water when they strike). The nearby river isn't much safer either, thanks to the bull sharks. At least dolphins also hang out there too.