Posted on 05/17/2021 10:51:49 AM PDT by SJackson
Humans (particularly men) have a bit of a tendency to believe they are tougher than they actually are, at least if quick glances at any YouGov poll are to be believed.
Take for example the 12 percent of men who think they could win a point in a match against Serena Williams, as if when a ball is being hit towards them at over 100 mph they could hope to achieve anything other than shielding their crotch
A new poll has looked at what animals humans think that they could beat in a fight while unarmed, with much the same overconfidence shining through.
The 1,224 US adults surveyed by YouGov were most confident that they could take a rat unarmed combat, with 72 percent of respondents believing they would win the fight, which seems fair enough. This was about the only non-controversial part of the survey responses, which saw 7 percent of men believing they could take down a grizzly bear, 16 percent saying that they could beat a wolf, and a whopping 22 percent willing to say for the record that they could take out a chimpanzee.
Weirdly, fights against lions were the only grudge matches that women were more likely to believe that they could win than men (7 percent vs 8 percent). Against the larger animals, differences were minimal, but always with men more likely to think they'd emerge against (e.g. a crocodile) being anything other than dead. 8 percent of all respondents believed that they could win a fight against an elephant – an animal which as well as having skin 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) thick, we very much stress is the size of an elephant.
Where differences between the genders became really apparent was with medium-sized and smaller animals. Despite great PR and aggression levels to back it up, a whopping 71 percent of men believed they could beat a goose in a fight. To this, the online response has mainly been: have you ever actually seen a goose?
There is, of course, ambiguity in how the survey was worded. For instance, are we fighting the animal in their natural habitat or the depths of space where they are most disorientated due to their lack of knowledge about gravity? Are they surprising us, say by popping up through the toilet, or do we get to jump down on them from a tree?
Perhaps the men of the poll believe that they will be treated to boxing rules, in which the fights are publicized months in advance, giving them time to study medium-sized dogs in combat and perhaps switch to southpaw to surprise them on match day. Or, maybe, people are wildly overestimating their abilities to fight wild animals, long after our civilizations have rendered having those skills (almost entirely) unnecessary.
There is a reason behind “fight like a cornered cat”.
I once had kill a very large feral tom cat that I was trying to save from a dog.
That cat bit right through my thumb and wouldn’t let go.
I put that cat on the ground and “Packed” it until I broke every bone in it’s body.
I think everything on the list lesser than the chimp would be in big trouble fighting with most men.
Side note* Who in the world thinks a goose could win a fight with any man? Goose hunters wring their necks millions of times a year without fail. A goose winning is a joke.
Over a mama racoon? Oh, shark definitely.
It would be over quick....
The man has to be willing to fight to the death to survive against any animal. They animal doesn’t understand the concept of rules or mercy. If they cannot escape they will fight until death.
For a man to survive - he can’t be worried about how he’s going to look after the fight.
A man can kill a full sized dog. As someone else mentioned, you wont look the same after it’s over and you may not be able to use parts of your body again.
Rats and house cats... if you are prepared to bleed you’ll survive. Bigger cats, 20lb+, you are in real trouble.
Birds of any size - two hands on any extremity and you win. Yes, it will beat the crap out of you, it will peck and bite and tear flesh, but hollow bones are fragile.
A chimp on the other hand... You aren’t coming out of that fight without using tools. I want weapons, preferably ranged weapons like a nice rifle or semi-auto shotgun.
“wasn’t that Davy Crockett that killed a bear when he was only three?”
Yeah, the bear was three, Crockett was 35.
At 25, my husband could easily kill everything except the grizzly bear, elephant, and gorilla with his bare hands.
At 55, add the lion and crocodile to the list he could no longer beat with his bare hands.
My personal best was always limited to the wolf.
At any age, my husband and I would fight to the death any animal on the list if our kids were at risk. A suicide mission, I’m sure, but if it gave our kids time to escape, it would be worth it.
I forget who, but there is/was a Freeper that killed a bear with only a knife. I don’t recall what type. (Bear or knife.) I think his dog may have been involved as well.
Years back I lived in a waterfront shack near Tacoma, Washington and one night two of the many raccoons in the neighborhood were fighting on the beach and we stepped out front to watch. A friend of mine asked innocently if we should intervene and stop them from hurting each other - I said no, unless you want to ride in an ambulance.
At some place along our time line a human took all those challenges and won.
My dad was a cattleman. When going into the fields on foot he always carried a pitchfork. Just in case he had to protect himself.
90% of those respondents should be nominated as “honorable mentions” in the Darwin Awards.
I have scars from when the cuddliest housecat in the world got spooked by a noise while I was holding her. No freaking way would I win an unarmed fight against a housecat!
Armed? Maybe. Depends on the weapon.
I feel sorry for the family members of anyone who thinks they could beat up a grizzly bear. I’ve met people like that. It was psychologically painful just to be in the same room with them.
“A man can kill a full sized dog.”
I had a 95lb Doberman that would laugh at that statement.
He could cross a room so fast you could not see him move.
When we’d play frisbee in the back yard, sometimes he would run behind me, jump and lick my ear as his body as perpendicular to my line of sight, then land in front of me in a sit.
He could have just as easily taken out my carotid artery, or latched on to my neck with his 750psi jaws and considerable teeth and pulled me to the ground...likely with a broken neck.
You would not last a full minute.
Certain.
Have you ever seen a dog fight?
I killed a 8 point buck with a knife that was caught in a fence, well caught until I got ahold of it. Then it was free and very mad.
I got ahold of his antler and didn’t let go and he was trying to kick me in the face. Boy was that thing quick!
We went around and around in the street for seemed like forever, but likely was only a min or so.
I managed to knock it down and get on his back, that was game over when I cut his throat.
I got lucky he didn’t didn’t win that fight. A hoof in the throat will tear you up.
Are you not familiar with the Marine Corps war dogs, and the lasting legend they left on Guam?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_War_Dog_Cemetery
They would be turned loose to patrol the jungle, or to root out Japanese from the caves.
They had dozens of confirmed kills of armed men, fighting for their lives.
And that does not include multiple instances of war dogs by the Greeks, Romans and others.
All trained to kill armed men. And they were effective.
I could take a rat in a fair fight. 😐
LOL. I have played against a couple of top amateur women tennis players. I wasn’t bad. But they wiped me out. Serena Williams wouldn’t break a sweat against me — in my prime.
Grandfather knocked out a mule bare handed.
I played Chris Everett in the summer of 1974. I was taking lessons from her dad, who taught tennis at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale.
To say I played tennis with her is a gross exaggeration. I stood there as tennis balls whooshed past me a few times.
Everyone in the class, about 8 of us as I remember, got a chance. One kid got his racquet in contact with one of her serves...knocked it out of his hand.
Should have been wearing roller skates.🤔
The cat must have she was dead and was trying to eat her.🐆
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