The North American Grey Wolf Fuck the bald eagle, this is the true symbol of America. Intelligent, loyal, family oriented, and runs a violent pack of its comrades like a tactical attack squad. Will take down prey much larger than itself and has even been known to fight off Grizzlies.
This is my number two. I even have a tat that references wolves (in Mandarin, which I had verified before I got it, which I know is still douche-like). Number one? Coiled, reserved strength. But when it comes out? Devastating. I've always felt an affinity for large cats.
A Llama. Look at that animal, fuck majestic or powerful or all of that shit. Look how chill he is. I mean, for fuck sake he's smiling for the camera, something most people can't even do right. The most laid back animal hands down. Sloths are just lazy fur covered turds sliding down tree branches so dont even think about comparing the two. And to top it off? Some of the softest fur ever so you know all those llamaettes are gonna want a piece of that. So save your fangs and your claws because while you're out there rattled about how you're going to kill your next meal, I have Carlito the Peruvian farmer waiting on me hand and hoof.
There are a few animals in this world that could really fuck a human up, some have already been mentioned. Then there's this beast Any animal that can rip you limb from limb, literally, is ok in my book.
I'm gonna have to second the Honey Badger. http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000882473554&ref=ts
As cliched as it sounds, a dog. There is simply no greater animal on Earth. Loyal, loving, goofy, smart...a good dog has it all. Ideally I'd like to come back as one of my own dogs, since they're so spoiled, but that would probably be a paradox or something. We also owned Rottweilers growing up. I don't have a scanned image of our dog, but as far as purebreds go (I'm now starting to prefer mutts, both in terms of genetics/health and in terms of ethical issues with regards to adopting), they really can't be beat. My second most favourite animals are goats. They have beautiful variety and colouring in their (coats? hides?). Also, they are just so stupid. They are put on this planet for one reason: to eat stuff. They're never too sure what's going on, they don't have a whole lot of common sense, and they eat everything without gaining weight. And anyone who's ever spent any time around kids (baby goats) knows that they're hysterical.
Bottlenose dolphin. One nipped a kid in front of me at Sea World, sending the kid off crying to his mother. Then I took his space in front of the dolphin tank and got to bask in the cuteness. They've also been known to protect prey from Great White Sharks. You don't mess with a pack of dolphins.
The mongolian Golden Eagle would respectfully like to disagree, and fuck your wolf's whole world up (Granted, these aren't bald eagles and north american wolves). Awesome video of Eagles killing wolves, including one instance where the eagle rips the wolf's throat out. Or how about this eagle straight murdering this goat. Yea, he just grabs the goat by it's leg, then drops it off a fucking cliff. Perfect timing for this thread. I had been meaning to put these videos in the youtube all star thread, but this was the motivation I needed to finally post these.
This, bitches: As large as a grizzly, they can run in excess of 30 mph, and have been spotted swimming out at sea 3 days from the nearest land. Their paws are as big as a fucking dinner plate. 50 degrees below zero outside? No problem. In addition, this is the only animal known to commonly stalk man as prey. I can testify to this, as i was a stalkee. I also know a man who was mauled by a polar bear shortly after making my acquaintance in Alaska. This gentleman was inside a building, but the bear decided he looked tasty and came in through a window, and part of a wall, to get him. Raise your hand if you've been stalked by anything. I didn't think so.
And yet this one played with the dogs.....every night. FOCUS: I'm with Dcc, a dog. Specifically a Cane Corso. Badass. Spoiled for size. Spoiler
Bah. Thats what polar bears call "tenderizing", not having any funky mallets or marinade on hand. He tenderized them for a week, and would have devoured them on the 8th night if that dude had stuck around.