In 10 years of detecting I have only seen one snake. My biggest fear is running into a skunk. Peacocks aren't too fierce,but those darn things are so noisy and LOUD. I haven't had too many wild animal encounters, but I do remember hunting a favorite wooded area in Kewanee and I was set on trying out a certain small part of it. So I headed straight for this small section, carrying my detector, not swinging it. Through the trees, then into a clearing, back into trees, and so on. Anyway as I cut across this one clearing, I heard a sound from the nearby trees, that sounded like the growl a big dog would make, if he had a t-bone and another dog got too close to him. I never saw what if was, but I held my digger firmly grasped, in case I needed it quickly.