Dangerous Animal Encounters – Section 2: General Animal Encounter Principals
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Close encounters with wild animals in the outdoors can be very exhilarating, but we must remember that many of the animals we come across in the outdoors are very strong and capable creatures that have the potential to badly injure or kill us should they feel threatened.
In order to ensure that our wild animal encounters remain safe, it is vital that we understand animal behavior. When encountering any animal in the wild it is only through a thorough understanding of its behavior that we are able to draw conclusions as to its intentions and likely actions. In my experience, over 99 percent of potentially dangerous animal encounters in the wild have predictable outcomes. And probably 99 percent of those dangerous encounters could have been prevented in the first place. Given this knowledge you can react to an initial encounter in a way that either de-escalates, or neutralizes the threat, or in a worst-case scenario at least gives you your best shot at survival.
What is a dangerous animal? I would classify a dangerous animal as any animal that is capable of directly inflicting serious harm to a human. That doesn’t mean that an animal that is most likely not to engage in conflict with a human is not dangerous. For an example, even though a deer is very unlikely to engage in conflict with a human, deer are very powerful and capable of inflicting serious harm and therefore in my mind they are classified as dangerous. I would classify venomous snakes as dangerous but non-venomous snakes as harmless (which doesn’t mean that they won’t bite you). A larger domestic dog is certainly classified as dangerous in the same way where a Chihuahua is not for similar reasons. Serious harm is the key component.
Aggressive actions by dangerous animals fall into one or more of the following categories:
Self-defense – Most injuries inflicted upon humans by wild animals are animals acting in self-defense. This doesn’t mean that you have to pose real danger to the animal only that they perceive you as a threat. In this case, the animal feels threatened by you and it sees fighting back as its best chance of survival.
Territorial or spatial dispute – Some animals can react violently to an intrusion of their space, either they feel that you are too close to them or they are defending a particular space. An example of this is defense of an active feeding site.
Predation – While this is very rare in North America, some predatory animals like bears and cougars will occasionally see a human as prey and actively attempt to kill and consume.
Delirium, Desperation, or Wounded– Sometimes an animal is just not in its right mind. Usually this is caused by illnesses like rabies, severe malnutrition, or the fact that it is wounded. Animals that are wounded, experiencing diminished mental capacity, or extreme desperation are very unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Interactions with them should be avoided at all costs.
Think like an animal
In understanding how to react to animal encounters it is vitally important that we put ourselves in the other creature’s shoes (hoofs? paws?), in order to predict their most likely reaction and therefore make the correct-counter action.
Imagine you are a bear, minding your own business, fully immersed in eating blackberries. Suddenly you hear a stick break behind you and turn around to see a human rounding a nearby bush unaware and quickly approaching; you are no doubt freaked out that this creature somehow snuck up on you, and that it continues to advance. What do you do? Options include: run like hell, try and look and act big and tough to scare it off to prevent a fight – which could lead to injury – or lash out quickly with fear and adrenaline…
Now let’s imagine that you are a cottonmouth snake lying still and hiding while hunting frogs along a hiking trail, when all of the sudden a human walks up unaware and steps on you. You are not interested in eating this huge creature, but it has violated your space and potentially injured you. You want it to leave you alone. Your only means of defense is to bite, so you bite.
A solid understanding of animal behavior is vital for several reasons. Firstly, a solid understanding of animal behavior will almost always result in an accurate prediction of what any given animal will do given any number of potential scenarios. Secondly, by understanding behavior we can predict where potentially dangerous animals are going to be given the season, terrain, time of day, and weather.
Note: Avoiding close encounters with potentially dangerous animals altogether is the best way to avoid having a dangerous encounter altogether. It is only through a deep understanding of what their needs and behaviors are, that we are able to predict their location. You’ll learn more about this later in the course.
Next, you will need to be able to read another animal’s body language in order to read their intent and emotion. And finally, if you do encounter a potentially dangerous animal, you will need to learn to project the appropriate body language of your own in order to steer the outcome of the encounter to the best of your ability.
