a few years back i went turkey hunting in Kansas and Oklahoma with my dad , on a sunny afternoon hunt i sat down against a tree and made a couple calls . all of a sudden i hear something moving through the leaves and grass coming from behind me so i sit still as i can and waiting hoping for a gobbler to poke out past me . no the case though about 12" from my legged a 5' or so Black snake with bright yellow on it slithers right along side my leg , not being from snake country i had no idea what this thing was and soon as he made it past far enough to where i felt safe i jumped up and did a brisk jog all the way back to the truck jumping over every stick on the path in fear it was another one of these guys , later that day i ran into the game warden and explained the snake to him which he told me was a rat snake and pretty well harmless he said if he had diamond shaped eyes they are poisinous , like i wanted to be close enougt to look into his eyes !
this past May while in cuba , wading a flat fly fishing for bonefish , i see a big shadow if the water moving toward me , figuring it was a tarpon i stood my ground and nope not a tarpon just a shark LOL about 10 ft away , later joining up with 2 of his buddies and circling the flat all afternoon , i have pictures with my buddy about 15ft away looks like hes patting it on the head , Being fairly new to saltwater i had no idea what kind of sharks they were , from explaining to a local guide he says nurse sharks and not much of a problem also . again i didnt want to find out