A while ago I went on a long walk and stopped for a rest by a small river to dangle my hot tired feet in the cool water.
As i was waiting for my feet to dry, an otter came onto the river bank and came right up to me and sniffed my foot. It then looked me in the eyes for about 5 seconds until I blinked, and then slipped into the water and was gone.
Twas pretty cool, otters are rare in my part of the world.

Does anyone have any similar tales to tell?

Went home one night after work. A giant rat like creature, size of a small cat sitting there. Staring at me. The cycle path I am using is at a canal. That yoke just looked at me for a few seconds ... and went back into the shrubs.

I've seen something like you described, funnily enough. A couple of years ago. I didn't know what it was. I wouldn't mind butting that there are a few non native animals that have a foothold in uk and Ireland.

I live out in the boonies.
It's a rare day, to not have some
kind of encounter.

What a great experience, Buzz!

First thing that comes to mind for me is a buzzard.
There was one in the little village woods and I went back with my then partner, taking his camera with us.
As soon as the buzzard spotted us from a place in the tree tops it flew away, shrieking constantly. Then it came back and flew away again, clearly upset, all the time shrieking.
My partner wanted to walk through the woods to try and locate its nest, the buzzard was not happy.
It flew off for a bit and we walked out the woods to see it and take photos, and cos I did not want to intrude in the woods further to upset it.
Then it came back towards us and we decided getting out of the open, under the trees, would be a tad safer.
I was totally flabbergasted when the buzzard hoovered above the tree we were under, like a kestrel does. I did not know buzzard did or could. I looked it up later, apparently they can.
We decided to leave it be and go home.
I was told later by the forestry worker it had a nest in the woods, so did another bird of prey and that one was constantly trying to nick the buzzard's offspring.
No wonder it had gotten all upset, it was likely already stressed out.

For me this was an amazing experience!

This is one of the amazing photos my ex took, I love it!!

Exelent. :) really good photo too. A fine looking bird. I bet she would be a bit of a hand full if she decided you were too close to her chicks :) They are quite big up close

No surprise for guessing that there's a lot of wildlife where I am. Foxes, owls (both kinds- screechy and hooty), hedgehogs, Hawks and Herons along the river and in Summer the Swifts circle the valley, almost touching my front window. The closest encounter that I've had was with a large male badger whilst out walking around dusk. Needless to say, the badger was not pleased and it was like being charged by a large, growling rug with huge claws. I made my excuses and left

Cheers. And yes, I wasn't convinced she'd not do something as long as we were out of the trees in the open. I read later that some (most don't) buzzards will make a fake attack when they have young and they feel people get too close. People have gotten hurt by it. Normally buzzards don't do that, it's a mere handful and only if they've had traumatizing experiences with humans AND have young.

I do love that photo too!

Haha, I've encountered a badger once in a really dark lane. It came down a hedge and I nearly walked into it. then it growled. I too made good my retreat lol.

Yes, they look cute on wildlife programs but up close and personal, they're remarkably intimidating.

Um yea, oops pets an animals.

I've never seen a badger. Over here they only live in certain areas of the country, which is more to the east.
There were only 1200 left due to them being killed off, now the numbers are growing again.
I read that they're 71cm high. I'd leave too, haha.

Would they actually do something or are they pretty okay provided they don't have young?

I think they're pretty good tempered generally speaking, but they're a pretty tough customer if threatened.
they run like little bears :) Love em :)

Sounds cute! Maybe one day I'll see one :)

I think I've only ever seen a couple of badgers live.
Most you see are squashed on the road. pretty illusive.
I was working on an old water mill a year ago, it's mentioned in the doomsday book, and a mink came around the weir heading up stream. they are very grumpy so I just stood and let him pass. He went on to eat all the ducklings
In the same part of the weir live 2 turtles about the size of a dinner plate.
Must have been released by someone years ago.

A (European) mink??? They're as good as extinct? Mostly live around the Donau delta and a handful in France and Spain.
Wasn't it another type of the marten family?
Just curious.

I cannot imagine a badger as roadkill since I've never seen one, hihi. Then you must have quite a lot of them around?

Went camping in the Sierra Nevada. I went to the lake one morning to go fishing. Stayed for three hours and only caught a fish as big as my hand
On my way back, some shadow by downed tree caught my attention. As I walked on and kept looking I realised it was the head of a brown bear who was watching me walk on by.
My heart froze. He got from behind the felled tree and walked on over to me, growling and shaking its head. I thought about running but a voice inside of me told me "bad idea".
I stopped, crouched low to the ground and set the small fish I had caught in front of me. The bear came real close, sniffing me and sniffing the fish. I had my arms around my head and my knees to my chest, praying my ancestors that this bear wasn't going to decide to paw me to death. I was alone, far from the camp and I was unarmed.
After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the bear growled, seemed to sneeze, shook his head and bolted back into the woods, ignoring me and the fish.
After a few minutes, I slowly stood up and checked my drawers... They were dry, lol, but my forehead and back were drenched with sweat.
I walked back to the camp after briefly looking to the heavens and thanking my Creator that bear had probably already had his lunch and was probably used to seeing humans around those parts.

And the winner is.....this guy.

OH no. Please. Don't do that.

Yes. Animals sense my energy and I sense theirs. Two encounters that come to mind are when my family moved from California to Florida. We went to the beach near Tallahassee, and when my son and I waded into the water, a small group of dark dolphins came up to us. We were stunned by their curiosity. When the other folks noticed and began to rush over, the dolphins left us. They were quite charming.
The next encounter is one I'd always hoped to cross off my bucket list.
While hanging out in the open field at ECETI Ranch in southern Washington, surrounded by a fenceline about 200 yards away bordered by tall trees, I noticed a tall muscular brown figure walking along the fenceline; I thought it was one of the people on the neighboring property. There was an old white car behind the "person" as he strolled along and disappeared into the trees. What occurred to me was how it was all brown from head to toe, including the face and the hands. I was inside my cargo trailer camper with the rear ramp door down being perfectly still and quiet. About 20 minutes later, I saw a bald chunky short guy walking two dogs in the opposite direction. He had a light green shirt on and some other color of pants. I could see how the dogs strained ahead on their leashes and how short he was compared to the old white car.
It then became clear I'd really seen a sasquatch. I've heard they only appear to people who are kind and not after them. I'd sent out a silent prayer the night before as I drove up there, asking them to come meet me. This happened on November 2, 2018. It's like validation that we communicate with animals and other sensitive beings.