Ranger Hero won't charm animal

I've tried the steps recommended.

1) Take hero's bow away.
2) Have Charm Animal on her skill bar and have it checked (green check mark on the skill).
3) Flag her to get her close to animal.
4) Target the animal and use the Ranger's target button so she is targeting the animal.
5) Attack the animal once to get it mad.

My Ranger hero just stands there. She is level 17. I've tried it with various animals outside Sunspear Great Hall as practice. Animals very low level, level 1 or 2. Animals tried are arachnid and plant.

Does the limitation of not taming a pet 4 levels higher also apply to animals 4 levels lower? I just don't understand why this isn't working.

Seems odd. But you don't have top get the animal mad first (maybe that is getting in the way). Just activating the skill in it will do that. The only other thing I can think of is that with the green tick checked maybe the hero as already chosen a target but it isn't in range. Try just bringing hte hero in range with you, target it and then activate the skill.

you were trying to tame enemys as pets. This is not possible.
you should be looking for creatures whose names are green, and lvl 5. they won't attack you at first. When you attack them they become hostile and your hero will be able to tame it. for more information:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Animal_companion

You are trying to tame monsters, not animals, and thats why it isn't working. The plants (Fanged Iboga and Stormseed Jacaranda) and arachnid (Stalking Nephila) are not tameable under any circumstances.

The animals you can tame in the area you are trying are warthogs and flamingos, according to the wiki. Press alt and wander around until you see their names in green, then follow those steps you have already mentioned.

like above, animals are not foes. The animal easiest and quickest from your position to capture is the flamengo. you find one in Churrhir Fields (area south of Kamadan). To enter the area you need to talk to the gate keeper. You find the flamengo's here:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:FlamingoM.jpg

Don't get confused, but several enemies are animals that cannot be tamed. Look for those with green names as snodaard says. You can also tame a pig outside Sunspear Great hall.

I thought of that and I did try one green wart hog close to the sunspear entrance. I'll try it again.

Isn't that wart horg an NPC's pet? You can't charm it.

also keep in mind that you do not need to attack the animal to be charmed...that can actually backfire as your hero may switch from charm to attacking the animal. Charmable animals will naturally turn aggressive on the charmer until the spell finishes, no need to pre-anger them...

And as others have pointed out not every animal in an explorable area can be charmed. Arachnids and plants are foes and the pig outside the SS Great Hall is already an NPC pet that you cannot re-charm.

You might want to read the guildwarswiki article on pet companions. That would solve all your problems.

Yea that first hog was an npc pet.

I've successfully tamed a wolf.

Thanks for all the input.