Comparing the US results with the British results shows that Americans are more confident across the board that they could beat up an animal. The biggest difference is geese – 61% of Americans think they would win, vs 45% of Britonshttps://t.co/Cfn9prx3hM pic.twitter.com/n7mW8qGZXG

— YouGov (@YouGov) May 21, 2021

Looking at ?? and ?? results by gender shows that British women are consistently less likely than American women to think they could beat animals in a fight, and, when it comes to the scariest beasts, British men are also less confident than American women https://t.co/Cfn9prx3hM pic.twitter.com/iobnqpNlv5

— YouGov (@YouGov) May 21, 2021

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this poll ever since I saw the YouGov polled what animals Americans they think could beat in a fight.

The 2/3 per cent of respondents who think they could beat a crocodile, grizzly bear, elephant, or lion remind me of the anecdote that in a survey several years ago 2% of respondents who replied yes to the question ‘Have you ever been decapitated?’

As for the 66% who think they could beat a cat in a fight, I’m guessing they’ve never owned a (hungry) cat. Cats are a lot like strippers, they are quite happy to sit in your lap but you are absolutely not allowed to touch them.

It is a pity cougars weren’t in the list, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who would quite happily like to get spanked by a cougar.

Hopefully soon we will see a poll on that perennial question asked to David Cameron over a decade ago. Who would win a fight between a baboon and a badger?

TSE