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6% of Americans Think They Can Beat Up a Bear Bare Fisted

The new study also found that 8% think they can take on a lion

Alexander M. Combstrong
3 min readJun 3, 2021
Photo by Vincent M.A. Janssen from Pexels

Think you could take a grizzly bear in unarmed combat? What about a lion, or even an elephant? If you do, you’re not alone. A warning though: Grizzlies can weigh up to 800 lbs and can charge you at 30mph, so good luck if you want to try.

New research from YouGov America has come out revealing just how confident people are in their hand to hand combat abilities against various animals, and the animal we’d be most reluctant to fight, it turns out, would be the grizzly bear – with 6% of people answering that they think they’d win.

Lions, elephants and gorillas weren’t far behind, with 8% of respondents thinking they’d win the fistfight (good luck with that), with crocodiles following at 9%.

Yup. 9% of Americans think they can take a crocodile bare handed.

At the other end of the scale was the lowly rat, with 72% of respondents thinking they could beat up a rat unarmed. I’m pretty sure most of the other 28% could if they really tried, although musophobia, the fear of rodents, may have contributed to the figure. Only 69% thought they could beat a house cat, with geese coming in with 61% thinking they could win.

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Alexander M. Combstrong
Alexander M. Combstrong

Written by Alexander M. Combstrong

Research-backed ways to change your life for the better. Out now: The Confident Introvert’s Handbook. Actor/screenwriter. Forge, Better Humans, Mind Cafe.

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