The most dangerous animal in the US will surprise you

May 2024 · 3 minute read

President Donald Trump reportedly doesn’t like sharks, but maybe he should turn his attention to bees instead.

Trump has tweeted several times about his dislike for sharks, a point that came up again recently after porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleges to have had an affair with Trump in 2006, said Trump is “obsessed” with the sea creatures.

“He was like, ‘I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die.’ He was like riveted,” she told InTouch Weekly magazine.

Sharks are last on my list – other than perhaps the losers and haters of the World!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2013

However, there are many animals that cause more deaths than sharks each year.

Bees, wasps, hornets, dogs and even cows kill more Americans each year than alligators — or even sharks — do.

When an alligator killed a 2-year-old boy at a Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Fla., in 2016, The Washington Post used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to show which animals cause the most deaths in the country each year. The CDC tracks Americans’ deaths based on their death certificates to keep detailed records on mortality.

Bees, wasps and hornets caused the most deaths, an average of 58 per year between 2001 and 2013, according to the Post’s analysis of the CDC data. Cows killed 20 people each year, dogs killed 28 and a separate category called “other mammals” accounted for 52 deaths per year. Sharks, alligators and bears killed one person each year, on average.

The deaths caused by cows don’t include health problems from eating beef; according to the CDC, most of the cow-related deaths happen to people working with cattle in enclosed areas or herding them. Their handlers typically have died from blunt force trauma to their heads or chests.

That said, alligator attacks happen more often than once a year; they just aren’t always fatal.

Alligators bit nine people in 2015 in the state of Florida and one of them fatally — a 61-year-old man who was snorkeling was killed by a 12-foot alligator — according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That was slightly fewer bites than in the preceding years; in 2013, alligators bit 15 people and in 2012 and 2014 they bit 10.

To avoid being attacked by sharks, always swim in a group and don’t wander too far from shore, the University of Florida’s Florida Museum recommends.

Also, avoid the water at night, dawn or dusk, when sharks are most active and don’t enter the water when bleeding because sharks can smell and taste blood, the museum wrote.

Shiny jewelry can also attract sharks because light reflecting from jewelry can look like fish scales.

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