Some of Canberra's most bizarre human-animal interactions

But with humans far from the only creatures that enjoy roaming around our beautiful city, we've brought you a list of bizarre clashes people have had with some furry, feathery or slimy ones.

They aren't the usual culprits of road rage incidents, but a particularly protective male emu was recently captured chasing down a cyclist down by the Cotter River. Access Canberra has also received reports in recent weeks of the brave and peckish bird interrupting three separate picnics in the same area in an attempt to steal their food.

Wrestling with a wild boar is not the way you want to end a peaceful weekend walk, but that's how it went for a Canberra woman who was attacked by a pig while walking her parents' dog in Jerrabomberra in July last year. Michaela Vodvarka, of Bruce, described the incident as "like something out of a horror film" and needed stitches in both legs after she was bitten by the pig.

Wombats have a reputation for being cute and cuddly but a woman mauled by one in south Canberra in August warned others to stay away from the marsupials. Kerry Evans suffered more than 20 bites and lacerations across her body after she was attacked by a large wombat while walking her dogs in a suburban street in Banks.

It seems the Cotter River is not the only spot in Canberra that could use a designated bird lane. In November last year, Canberra Times reader Graham Smith sent us a photo he took of a flock of native Maned Ducks found lapping alongside swimmers at Dickson Pool.

A year after what appeared to be large brown snake was spotted greeting people at the start or end of their commutes at the Therapeutic Goods Administration car park in Symonston in 2013, signs were erected outside the building's entrance warning workers that the dangerous reptiles were about. In recent years, rangers have also found snakes in the cupboard of a vet surgery and inside an Actew-AGL workplace.

Former Australian cricketer Bronwyn Calver knows how to handle the odd bouncer, but the kangaroo she collided with while riding her bike near The Lodge in January last year nearly got the better of her. Ms Calver - a member of the Australian women's cricket team that won the World Cup in 1997 - spent almost a whole night in hospital after she hit the kangaroo at 6.25pm while cycling back from work on Adelaide Avenue near Capital Circle. She is not the only notable person to have a run-in with a roo in Canberra. A couple of years earlier, ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury escaped with some gashes on one leg and bruising on the other after being attacked by a kangaroo on his morning run.

Magpies might be significantly smaller than emus but their flying ability and equally protective nature makes for some intimidating swooping. In one case, a magpie attacked a two-year-old in a pram, "menacing" the child's mouth with its beak and claws to steal food. Rangers were forced to put down seven magpies after the incident.

While we're on this topic - here's a video published online in October 2014 of a magpie attack in Canberra: