Ticks and Spiders and Bears, Oh My!

One of the most frequent questions a long distance hiker gets is "have you seen any (insert favorite wild animal here)?" People are fascinated by the creatures we might see.
So here's a brief accounting. Tick season has started for real and I routinely pull out wood ticks, so far I haven't pulled a deer tick, but they're so small I might have simply missed them. In the last stretch of the Virginia highlands, we would find a flat spot, and apparently set our gear in the middle of a daddy longlegs/ cricket armageddon. Tens of each all over and in every pocket. I saw my first big fella, an adolescent black bear off the side of the trail two days ago, then "Stickshift", "Fluffy" and I came across a biggun right in the middle of the trail and he looked like he was enjoying the 90+ midday temps about as much as we were.  "Hook" claims they don't like Christmas carols, but that just scared him further up the trail. It took Stick swearing at him in Portugese to get him out of our way, sadly just as I was about to snap the picture. That covers the title.
I have been rattled at by and uncomfortably close to both Eastern Diamondbacks and Timber Rattlers. I unwillingly chased a wild turkey and her brood because she wouldn't simply move left or right. I've startled a few Pileated Woodpeckers - the Woody Woodpecker kind - they are huge, heavy bodied and noisy as all get out when they fly.
So one would think that deer would be stealthy and graceful, um, no. They crash through the woods and practically face plant as they stumble onto the trail from a hillside and even outside protected areas, they just stand there staring vacantly at us. It's a little unnerving. I've seen some beautiful song birds, the most arresting being what we think is a scarlet tanniger bright red with black wings.
Probably the rarest sighting was the small wild hog that stopped for a drink where "Captain Radish" and I were resting in the Smokies.