America's most dangerous critters
I recently read in our local bird cage liner that masquerades as a newspaper about a dog attack on a man here in Little Martin. The reporter made it sound like you are doomed to the same fate if you are ever, EVER stupid enough to step off your front porch. Can't these clowns simply report the incident without trying to scare half the populace?
The Web is chock full of sites such as "Animal Attack News from Around The World" and "The Animal Attack Files." The fact is, most Americans face very low odds for being attacked and seriously injured or killed by an animal here in the United States (and before you barrage B2 with email, insects and marauding amoeba are not included here). Here are a few statistics that may surprise you:
Deer cause 29,000 serious injuries every year in the U.S., and the number is rising. That's right, Bambi's cute, fuzzy little friends are multiplying, strolling into highway traffic, and injuring or causing the deaths of motorists on a regular basis.
Dogs, on average, kill 18 Americans each year, and we can't blame just one or two breeds for the attacks. From 1965 to 2001, there have been at least 36 different breeds/types of dog that have been involved in a fatal attack in the United States.
Snakes get a bad rap in America because they don't have those big, warm brown eyes, soft, cuddly fur, and cute little babies. The much-maligned legless wonders check in as causing 15 human fatalities each year, three less than that canine turncoat known as "Man's Best Friend."
Sharks are less dangerous than lawyers, causing only two deaths per year.
Bears barely make it in the lineup, accountable for less than one death per year - let's call it one-half death annually. Pretty pathetic, eh?
All remaining critters roaming America the Beautiful don't even make a blip on the radar screen, thus they are not included in the statistics.
So the next time you must gag your way through another TV or newspaper scare story about an animal attack, just remember the statistics above. Out of 300 million Americans, the odds are pretty good that we won't have to worry about death by rabid fox any time soon...although it helps if you live in a firearms carry state like Florida!