Young bears play fighting in Canada. - Danny Sullivan/Solent News & Photo Agency
YouGov research found just 72 per cent of US men and women thought they would triumph in a clash with the rodent, while 69 per cent thought they would get the better of a domesticated feline. 61 per cent of Americans claimed they would best a goose. The poll of 1,224 adults found that one in five US men thought they could knock out a chimpanzee or king cobra.
Differences do start to emerge between the sexes when it comes to battling wolves and kangaroos. About 17 per cent of American men fancy their chances against the boxing marsupials and wolves but only 11 per cent of women.