How to survive more wild animal attacks

Since I ran out of room in my last blog post, I will be continuing it now on how to survive wild animal attacks. I just want to further stress, though I have had some close calls, I have never actually been attacked by a wild animal, but I was, in the years of scouts and camping, taught how to withstand such an event as such.

Animal number 3… the mountain lion: the fierce mountain lion/cougar has been feared by adventurers, campers and hikers all throughout the United States. It’s probably one of the most lethal predators in North America next to the gray wolf which are nowadays only indigenous to Canada whereas mountain lions roam most of the western U.S. Just as I had learned about the black bear, I was enlightened about the cougar about 2 years ago during my Hiking trip in Philmont, New Mexico. I never had to worry about mountain lions until now, black bears were all over the east and west coast but this time was different, we were in the wild west. My troop was lectured about the danger of mountain lions and how attacks are becoming more and more common, mostly due to their invasion of habitat. I had only heard about mountain lions in books such as Where the Red Fern Grows and movies like Homeward Bound and Talladega knights; now I had to learn what to do when confronting them.



I like to think of mountain lions as overgrown alley cats that eat meat- a lot of meat. They usually travel alone and have an exceptionally keen hunting sense. They prey and stalk they’re food low to the ground through bushes, atop ledges and under covered spots. They can hardly ever be seen before jumping at your face from 10 feet away. One thing you can do to prevent these cat attacks is to never travel alone, or never hike by yourself; hike in groups like most people would do, the cougar isn’t looking for a challenge, just dinner, so make sure you have someone with you so it won’t be tempted to make a move- and when you’re in that group make sure your not the last one in line, just kidding, no but seriously. Make a lot of noise (especially when alone), like I said before, they aren’t looking for someone to fight, if you make a lot of noise, they will hear you from a distance and most likely avoid you; like most cats, they don’t like being surprised, and in this case it could mean your life. Cougars dwell in cave like areas, not necessarily large batman caverns but places with bluffs, rocky hollow cliffs, canyons, valleys and so on, just remain alert whenever you see rocks.

If come face to face with one and you see that it’s crouching and licking its lips, by all means do not start running away. If you haven’t noticed by now, running is not a good idea when confronting wild animals. It will, like all other predators, start to chase you at speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour- try not to bend or crouch down either since they prey on small things. Always maintain eye-contact; they are extremely stealthy and quick and you don’t want to miss any moves they make. Make yourself look big as possible by waving your hands, picking up sticks, putting someone on your shoulders, etc… you could try running at it like a mad man; it’s a pretty bold move and it might make it frightened enough to cower away, but on the other hand it may just defend itself by violently slashing your neck and then killing you without mercy. Make sure your big enough to know you can scare it if you decide on this. In other situations, you should hold your ground and be prepared to fight. Lions will always go for the neck with their teeth to try and suffocate their prey, so know this when being pounced upon. Pepper spray and a pocket knife are probably the most powerful tool/weapons a man or woman could and should wield when in the wilderness. Aim for its eyes and giv’em all you got. You’ll suffer a lot of blood loss in most cases just make sure it’s not in the neck or chest area, cougars can rip limbs off if they have to, but if you have the right tools to counter it, you may come out of it unscratched with a hog-tied 6 foot cat on your back.

Animal #2… the snake: I’ve seen so many snakes in my life it’s hard to keep track. There’s been the black snake, diamond back rattlesnake, black tailed rattle snake, copperhead snake and cotton mouth snake. The poisonous ones being all but the black snakes; the ones you have to worry about around here are the copperheads and cottonmouths. Rattlesnakes are rarely seen in the north east region but do appear every now and then. There are several more snakes in the United States but these are pretty common. I was at summercamp several years ago when I encountered two copperheads at the same time. The rain was pourin’ down that day and I had been under a pavilion with a few other guys minding my own business playing some cards when I drop one or two on the ground. I reach down to pick them up and there they were, two medium sized copperheads coiled up getting some rest and just tryin to stay dry like the rest of us. I was stunned and in awe but I kept my cool and told an adult who later kicked them out from under the pavilion and into a stream (don’t worry, they can swim… just like all snakes).



It’s pretty easy to avoid contact with a snake if you see one, just walk away slowly- or run, it doesn’t really matter it’s just a snake and it won’t chase after you, unless it’s an anaconda in which case it will chase after you, most likely catch you and then swallow you. If a snake is in the middle of your trail, try stomping around it to scare it away; a lot of times the snake will be asleep when someone see’s it in the middle of the road, they’ll make the mistake of just “lightly” walking by, the snake will wake up startled and snag them in the leg- always stomp to make sure it’s awake and to scare it away. Do not get close to the snake to further “examine” it or whatever: this might be the dumbest mistake a person could ever make, when you do, it bites, simple as that. Also, a snake has to coil back before biting so be ready it. A snake bite (poisonous) is not something you want to deal with, it gets really ugly in a matter of seconds. If you do get bitten, keep your cool and act calmly; do not rush or panic- keep your heart rate level and seek help. If a snake is coming at you, or just plainly won’t move out of the way just give it a little nudge or two with a long stick (not leg), it will bite at the stick but just keep pushing it along and soon it will be on to better things. A snake hates confrontations and sure as hell wouldn’t want to fight something 30 times its size so there’s no sense of trying to kill it or beat it senseless. Just let it be after moving it.