· And finally, we come to our animal friends. They can be divided into two groups. Friendly and not friendly. Let's start with man's best friend. In Buddhist countries where killing is frowned upon you will find a lot of stray dogs.
· Some of them wander around in packs which can be a little unnerving when you are by yourself. It's probably best not to run around patting every dog you see. Let them come up to you first and show they are friendly. Or ignore them if you're not a dog person.
· Life can be hard trying to survive on the mean streets and everyone loves a treat. Sometimes dogs will adopt you and you will have a pet for the duration of your stay. Once in Sri Lanka I had a knock at the door of my beachfront, upstairs room at 7 am one morning. Not knowing anyone in town I wondered who it could be. My surprise visitor was a dog knocking at the door. I found some biscuits and had a new friend.
· The important thing with dogs is not to show any fear. Easier said than done sometimes. In the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, you have to look out for dangerous sheep dogs. They are a problem in other areas as well as wolves. Dingoes invade campsites on Fraser Island in Queensland. Though to be fair the campers are invading the dingoes land in the first place. So, check the local information.
· Every continent has animals you need to be wary of. Bears, cougars, snakes, sharks, spiders, stingers, crocodiles, lions, wild elephants, tigers etc. You will need to do a little homework and not get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Budding artist - Lampang Thailand
· In Greece and Turkey there are lots of cats roaming around for historical and cultural reasons. So don't be surprised when you are sitting down at dinner and you suddenly feel some sharp claws around your nether regions.
· Monkeys are simple. Stay away, don't touch them, they bite. If you are in a Monkey Forest or temple expect them to come up and steal things out of your pockets and wipe their crusty bums on your head.
· Beware of rats running around as well. Some are quite large and none of them like being cornered. Rabies is still a problem in some countries so you don't want anything biting you. Cases of Bubonic plague are still being reported in some countries.
· Something else you don't want biting you is mosquitoes. They kill far more people than anything else on the planet. In cities and big towns, they are not too big a problem but out on the islands or up in the hills, out in the villages etc it pays to cover up and spray at dusk. Mosquito coils aren't very healthy to breathe in and can start fires. Mosquitos come out for a while at dusk and dawn and then they are usually gone. There are arguments around about which diseases you get with daytime and night time bites but really you want to avoid as many as possible.
· Australia has a reputation for having a lot of scary creatures but the truth is it is seldom that you come across them. Crocodiles, stingers, Blue-ringed octopuses are a real danger though on the northern coastlines.
· I'm not a big fan of Zoos so you won't find many here.
· The bottom line is to make lots of animal friends if you want but don't take any risks. If you're going out hiking, camping or spending the day with mother nature be aware of what you might meet out there and how you manage the risk. Prevention is better than cure with all things, especially in the animal kingdom. Don't forget the bear spray!