I lived in Florida for a few years. One thing that I didn't like about the place was that it was simply dangerous to go hiking in much of the state, especially off-trail. Too many creatures there see humans as a food source, or at least a threat from which one didn't have to flee. Spiders the size of your hand, water moccasins in tubing rivers, alligators in suburban ponds...I mean, there's a good reason why the state bird is the mosquito. It represents what you're up against.

Case in point: wildlife officials in the Everglades found a Burmese Python that had swallowed an adult-sized deer. The doe's body caused the snake to swell to a 44-inch girth. No, it didn't kill him. A shotgun blast did that.

Link -via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: South Florida Water Management District