Meet the Animal Most Likely to Kill You In South Dakota

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South Dakota has a variety of animals that one would consider dangerous. But just how many of those animals are likely to kill you?

The website Weird Nature, says you are more apt to be injured or killed by a "large mammal" in South Dakota.

There's certainly no shortage of large mammals to choose from here in South Dakota. It's pretty much picking your poison in that regard, there are elk, coyotes, deer, mountain lions, porcupines, black bears, bison, badgers, you name it.

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When it comes to badgers, I had what seemed like at the time a near-death experience with a South Dakota badger at a very young age. I remember my father took me pheasant hunting when I was 12 years old with some of his drinking buddies. We were all walking rows of corn on his buddy's South Dakota farm in late October back in the mid-'70s. They were all armed with 12 gauge shotguns, I had my Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. The only thing I was shooting with that, was my eye out if I wasn't careful.

Anyway, I was walking along doing my best trying to be one of the guys when I crossed paths with an extremely pissed-off badger! This thing was not happy to see me. I'm thinking it must have had cubs nearby. This little prairie beast started to chase me, while I attempted to do my best Usaian Bolt imitation and sprint to the next county.

To this day, I can remember screaming like a 7-year-old girl as this fur-covered razor blade was bearing down on me. I can still hear my father yelling at me, telling me it was just some damn coon, quit being such a goddamn coward! (He used a few other choice words that I won't use in this story.)

At the time I'm sure he was extremely embarrassed that his son was acting like some namby-pamby teenage girl in front of all his buddies. However, that quickly changed once the badger switched rows and started coming towards him. I remember it taking him at least 4 shots from his shotgun to kill that damn thing! Needless to say, he lighten up on the smack talk after he got to experience this furry prairie devil first hand.

So yes, I can definitely attest to there being some nasty critters in this state. I was almost dinner for one.

According to the gang at Weird Nature, you're more likely however to meet your maker at the hands of a bison rather than a badger in South Dakota.

Custer State Park in the Black Hills has had its share of bison attacks. A number of tourists have been injured throughout the years. The rangers out there do a wonderful job of educating tourists on the danger of wild animals. Their outstanding work really helps cut down on the number of animal-related accidents.

Take it from me, don't underestimate the nastiness of the South Dakota badger. Should you ever run across one, I hope you're packing something more powerful than a pop gun, if not, I hope you're able to run a 4.40 forty!

Source: Weird Nature