Though some mascots in sports are particularly fierce, usually their predatory natures are confined to menacing logos on jerseys or baseball caps. But from time to time, it seems that animals aren't content to be spectators, and they go as far as to join the game themselves.

If you follow the Cleveland Indians, then you know just how possible this is. Last month, in the bottom of the 10th inning, a line drive off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo bounced off a seagull and rolled past Royals' centerfielder Coco Crisp, allowing the Indians to score the winning run. Perhaps the bird was paying homage to an earlier transgression committed by a member of his species: in 1998, a seagull took its stand against man when it stole Steve Lowery's ball on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. But the bird's defiant act was all for naught, as the rules dictate that Lowery was allowed to replace the ball in its original landing spot.

Disruption by winged beasts isn't limited to the avian variety: over the weekend, another group of flying fiends forced the San Diego Padres to delay their game. The cause? A swarm of bees on the field.

These were only the latest instances of animals playing their part in human sports. The results are always unpredictable, often chaotic, and sometimes dangerous: In Spain, a bull jumped into the stands, wreaking havoc. Two years ago, it was midges in Cleveland that affected a baseball game, swarming around the head of Joba Chamberlain. A buffalo has run wild, a kangaroo has joined up with a golfing foursome and a hawk has terrorized an NBA game.

The University of Colorado has one of the more unique mascots in all of college football: a real, live 1,300-pound buffalo named Ralphie. As one might imagine, Ralphie is far more dangerous and unpredictable than most other mascots, which are played by the somewhat tamer college student in a costume. Before each game (and at halftime), Ralphie leads the team onto the field, while a brave group of students ("Ralphie Runners"), try in vain to "control" him. Most times, Ralphie cooperates. Other times, he remembers he's a very large buffalo, and decides to run where he pleases, as he did at the Spring game last season.

Fortunately for landscape artists everywhere, a buffalo has never been spotted on the golf course (at least not yet). But the same cannot be said for a kangaroo. In 2007, at the Australian PGA Championship, a kangaroo proved his species' entertainment value as he interrupted Rory Sabbatini's opening round. After his initial disruption, the kangaroo's humor gets a little juvenile, but what can you expect, he's a kangaroo.

While kangaroos are the unofficial mascot of the land down under, hawks are the official animal representatives for a team down south. Follwing suit, on April 22nd earlier this year, one joined in with his teammates. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first round series between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks had to be stopped during the first quarter when there were six Hawks on the court: the five Atlanta starters, and Spirit, an actual hawk who had been brought in for the opening of the game.

If you thought being at a ball game would keep you safe from when animals attack, think again.