Top Ten most Dangerous Animals of Russia

10. The dreaded  Mosquito

No but really in spite of their size, these buggers are really quite dangerous. In Russian territory there’s no need to worry about malaria or yellow fever, except perhaps along our southern border. Even so, these little buzzing pests are absolutely going to “suck your blood” in the direct and the figurative sense. However, wood-bane and crosses won’t work but modern chemistry has come up with a lot of sprays to keep the insects away, a picnic in the woods doesn’t have to become a contest in how quickly you can slap your own body. I even came up with my own remedy which actually works. If you are interested let me know.

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9. The mighty Tick

The tick can cause serious problems despite its microscopic size (just 0.2-0.4 mm), . It is the most active carrier of encephalitis (crippling inflammation of the brain) and Lyme disease (a severe infectious illness). They can be found mostly on footpaths and animal trails where large animals or humans might pass.  Most of the time tick burrow into the skin near the head, neck, and back of ears they plunge their probes into the skin to reach the blood vessels. Their bite is difficult to notice, so if you’ve in the woods you should look at your body, if you find black spot, see a doctor immediately. The tick needs to be removed and tested to make sure it is not carrying encephalitis. They are no laughing matter in any country you may be in.

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8. Karakurt Spider

The karakurt is among the 10 most dangerous spiders on Earth and is encountered in Russia’s Astrakhan Region.During hot summers, it can migrate to more northern areas, such as the Moscow Region. Their favorite habitat is ravine slopes. They are particularly active on summer nights. The bite causes acute pain, which quickly passes but after a while (between 15 minutes and 6 hours), intense pain spreads throughout the bitten limb and then to the muscles of the body, chest and abdomen. Immediately after the bite (within two minutes at the most), you can hold a burning match against the bitten place and any poison that has not already penetrated into the body is destroyed by the heat. This method is vital if medical help is not accessible. In all other cases, urgent hospitalization is recommended

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7. Giant Russian Hornet

This guy not only has a nasty reputation here in Russia but China as well. I won’t go into a lot of detail here. But I did do a write up about this reported killer with my own experiences with them. See here.

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6. Common Northern Viper

It was the bite of the common viper that killed the legendary Prince Oleg, one of the founders of the Old Rus state. Modern medicine could, of course, have saved him. The viper’s venom can kill a small person, but it is not lethal to a healthy person weighing over 60 kilograms (132 lbs), especially if he has antihistamine drugs in his pocket. The viper’s poisonous fangs are just 4 millimeters long and cannot bite through most jeans, let alone shoes. Specialists say it is almost impossible to step on a viper inadvertently. The snake allows a person to approach it to within 3-4 meters (10 feet) and then hisses loudly as a warning and… retreats. Hunters tell people to stomp their feet loudly if they suspect there may be snakes around. The snake feels the vibration and gets out of your way.

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5. Giant River Catfish

This fish here is one that the leader of Belarus caught after President Putin caught his giant pike. These huge fish can reach a length of 5 meters (16 feet) and a weight of 360 kilograms (793 lbs). These giants have become quite rare. Even so, if you encounter one, the process of pulling it out of the water becomes a veritable battle. Large catfish are very smart and have learned to hunt animals of any size that get into the water, even dogs. There have been several reported attacks by giant catfish on humans in the past.  Some experts believe the legends about water spirits can be attributed to gigantic river catfish.

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4. Giant Russian Boar

Even experienced hunters say the wild boar is even more dangerous than a bear. Bears as smart as they are prefer to avoid humans, with their good vision if they see a human from a distance will high tail it out of there. On the other hand the poor-sighted wild boar will charge with little provocation  Even experienced hunters aren’t always able to stop this monstrous  animal with a single shot. The average boar weighs 200 kilograms (441 lbs), but the one above is twice that weight. Females  boars are extremely dangerous when protecting their offspring. The wild boar like watery and marshy terrain. In the Amur Region, wild boars have been known to attack cars. The boar’s most formidable weapon is not its impressive weight, although it can easily crush a person to death, but its tusks.

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3. Russian Gray Wolf

This is probably the most common predator in Russia. They live all over the country except in the taiga thickets and on some islands. Wolves live in packs, which makes them dangerous because, at a call from the alpha wolf, the pack could easily attack a human. In Old Rus, one of the cruelest types of execution was to tie people to trees in the forest, leaving them to be devoured by wolves. Yet wolves do not attack people very often: it may happen only in early spring, on some deserted footpath through the forest when the wolf is short of food. If in danger, hunters advise climbing the nearest tree and waiting until the pack loses patience and leaves to find a less ingenious prey.

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2. Amur Tiger

The Amur tiger (also known as the Northern tiger) lives in the southeast of Russia on the banks of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and in some Asian countries. It is a very cautious, secretive and dangerous beast: If you try to spot one independently, there is a big question mark over which will become the prey—man or beast. The Amur tiger is much bigger than its southern kin and its night vision is five times better than man’s. The tiger has long been regarded as an endangered species. The efforts of experts who protect wild animals have, however, been successful and as of 2007, the Amur tiger no longer faces extinction.

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1. Russian Brown Bear

The brown bear (Mishka) is the hero of many children’s tales and cartoons for adults. It was the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In spite of its huge weight and apparent clumsiness, it is a very agile animal. It can stalk its prey, leap on its back (at a speed of 50 km an hour) and kill it with a single stroke of its paw. The brown bear inhabits almost the entire forest zone and the most dangerous variant is the insomniac bear. This is a bear who, for some reason, does not hibernate in winter, or emerges from its den long before the winter ends. A bear that wakes up ahead of time has a very nasty disposition and should be given a wide berth.