Funny thread. It strikes a chord with me because now I'm living in Australia (sydney) and apart from there being what seems to be every deadly animal known to man over here (snakes, crocs, spiders, sharks...) there are also birds, who in other countries are very tame, who attack you. I refer to the humble magpie. Every yr when they nest they will attack you if your out walking anywhere near their nesting site. This may seem funny but school kids walk to school with boxes on their heads to protect themselves such is the ferocity of the atacks. I have experienced this first hand riding my mountain bike on a city street. They will attack your head trying to peck at your eyes. Luckily I was wearing a helmet so all I received was a few knocks to the helmet. Don't think this is for country people either - Sydney is a very green city so trees are on practically every street and this means magpies are everywhere. To avoid attacks while commuting you paint a set of eyes atop your helment and the magpie won't attack you because it thinks your looking at it. They always attack from behind. How funny is that?
check it out
http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/July2002/
Mark