The squirrels were pretty tame in my neighborhood and one got particularly close. I held out my hand, it approached then promptly chomped the tip of my index finger. It bled like crazy. I got a tetanus shot and a band aid and that was it. I was about 8 at the time. Needless to say I keep a respectful distance from those fluffy tailed rats and pretty much all wild animals.

They may be cute, they may look docile but wild animals are unpredictable and therefore dangerous. We have traveled West many times and there is no way on earth I'd get within 20 feet let alone 2 or 3 of a buffalo. Those suckers are fast and BIG. When we were at the National Bison Range, a big fella came out of the woods and casually crossed the road in front of our car. We all held our breath as he crossed. He could have turned at any moment and made a crumpled tin can of our car. But he took a nice roll in the dust and continued on his way.