Taylor Swift had some fun with fans after having some "fun" with her famous cat Meredith, posting a photo on Twitter of a long slash left by the feline on her reportedly well-insured legs. "GREAT WORK MEREDITH," she wrote, caps lock for emphasis. "I WAS JUST TRYING TO LOVE YOU AND NOW YOU OWE ME 40 MILLION DOLLARS." She apparently got too close for her pet's comfort at the moment (a frequent experience for those of us with non-declawed, purring companions). Swift was joking of course, but several musicians have had less amusing encounters with animals. Here are five dangerous examples:
Taylor Mitchell and Coyotes (2009)
Unfortunately, another Taylor from a country music background had a much less fortunate experience with animals, from which she did not survive. Taylor Mitchell had released her debut album, For Your Consideration, during 2009 and it gathered critical acclaim. She never got the chance to build upon that initial success however. The Canadian folk singer was hiking at Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia when she was surprisingly attacked by several coyotes, and was found alive by another group of hikers who had to charge off a defensive member of there pack several times before it withdrew. She was transported to a hospital but died from a massive loss of blood. Many theories were suggested as to why the coyotes attacked, as the species hadn't been tied to a death in North America since 1981. However investigation suggested that Mitchell had done nothing to instigate the attack, by feeding the animals or otherwise. The coyotes at Cape Breton just seemed to be more aggressive than their relatives elsewhere, as another attack had been reported during 2003.
Johnny Cash and Ostrich (1981)
Many people have fallen victim to the bad habit of owning animals way too big and wild for responsible holding, and Johnny Cash was nearly one of them. Among the animals he kept at his personal animal park were ostriches. Cash was very hands-on with the animal, and at one point during 1981 he was having troubles with a particular male and attempted to show who was the "dominant" species when confronted by the animal. The human side certainly didn't win: The ostrich caught Cash with a lengthy claw and broke two of his ribs, slashed his stomach open and then broke a few more ribs when the country legend was thrown to the ground. Cash claimed in his biography that he got off easy, noting he could have been fatally gutted if the claw wasn't deterred by a large belt-buckle. Unfortunately, the incident nearly killed him indirectly as well: The prescriptions given to Cash led him to fall back into pill addiction years after overcoming for the first time.
Richard Thompson and Scorpion (2008)
Not all animals capable of injuring human beings are big, like ostriches. Folk icon Richard Thompson ran into trouble during 2008 while he was touring in Mexico: A scorpion happened to be lurking in his luggage and stung him sharply on his right hand, temporarily incapacitating his picking hand and forcing him to cancel three weeks worth of tour dates. We should clarify that, despite popular belief, most species of scorpions and other arachnids, such as tarantulas, are not dangerous to humans (unless you're also allergic to bees) but a well-placed sting can certainly result in crippling circumstances.
Russell Lissack and Lion (2010)
Many of the deaths tied to large animals can easily be prevented. The only snake-related deaths in the United States in the last few years have been tied to irresponsible snake-handling from Southern preachers. Many alligator attacks only occur when cocky photo-seekers try to get a souvenir shot with one of the sluggish animals (even the largest of alligators are not overly aggressive toward humans. Crocodiles are the troublemakers). Russell Lissack the guitarist of Bloc Party, had an experience more similar to the latter example: He was playing with a lion cub on a supervised animal preserve in South Africa when, like any cat, it got a little too playful and left him with wounds worthy of a hospital trip and stitches. Consider the claws and bite of a typical housecat before you do something stupid and buy a tiger. The pain grows exponentially when cats get bigger.
Dappy and Horse
British rapper Dappy of the grime group N-Dubz enjoys horseback riding (not the first ride we think of with emcees) but he got more than he bargained for when his steed bucked him off and followed up by trampling his face. It's not good to make light of such situations, but considering that the performer recovered just fine, listeners in the UK didn't take too long to send jabs at the performer. Many pointed out that the "assault" was in response to multiple assault allegations against the performer that occurred during 2014, including at a meet-and-greet. Even worse, a petition was started by haters encouraging NME to give the horse an award for its "contribution to music."
