North America's Deadliest Animal

[J.Dub]

"Nothing like the sound of an angry buzz in the morning" (with apologies to Robert Duval and Francis Ford Coppola).

"It smells like..." <long sniff> "...paralysis."

 

[Chip]

With Lyme Disease or other tick-borne illnesses you can lose your life while still being alive.
Where I once saw a graceful relative of Bambi I now see a vector.

Agree. I think about Disney's intentional Bambi Effect often and am sure if deer looked like rats there'd be much less opposition to reducing their populations.

The main issue I have with groups like PETA is their blind opposition to managing animal populations as those same populations destroy other animals' habitats resulting in the loss of the those bird and animal species from affected areas.

And as long as I'm venting; If "you" are a Vegan, I completely understand and respect your opposition to hunting. If you are not a Vegan, and you oppose legal hunting, you are a hypocrite. Sorry for the harangue.

 

[Puma concolor]

Ha! I knew this was about hunting all along. Didn't want to send the thread down that road but I'm patting myself on the back for picking up on it.

FWIW, I have no problem with hunters. Many of my friends hunt; I'm pretty much the only weirdo hiker dude in the bunch, but I'm not too sure about the whole demonizing deer thing to promote a hunting agenda. Of course, if you have any spare deer jerky, I certainly won't turn you down ...

 

[Little Rickie]

and rats are not a problem in parts of the world where they eat them. Tastes like chicken. I'm told.

We just need to eat more deer.

 

[griffin]

And as long as I'm venting; If "you" are a Vegan, I completely understand and respect your opposition to hunting. If you are not a Vegan, and you oppose legal hunting, you are a hypocrite. Sorry for the harangue.

Substitute "vegetarian" (imo, if you eat chicken, you don't count), and I agree. I don't think willing to eat dairy or eggs doesn't make you a hypocrite for opposing hunting because you don't have to kill the chicken to get the eggs.

 

[Little Rickie]

I don't think willing to eat dairy or eggs doesn't make you a hypocrite for opposing hunting because you don't have to kill the chicken to get the eggs.

I believe for many vegetarian it's a cruelity, pain & suffering issue more than a diet/health choice. Eating eggs, milk and fish for some is considered cruelity to animals.

It's all determined by ones belief on what is or is not cruel, which is very broad. I can respect that. I just don't have to eat like that and be respected back for that as well.

What do primates eat?

 

[Chip]

Ha! I knew this was about hunting all along. Didn't want to send the thread down that road but I'm patting myself on the back for picking up on it.

That actually was not my original intention, but I did wind up there, huh ? My actual intention was to try to point out the disparity between percieved and real threats, especially regarding bear.

Substitute "vegetarian" (imo, if you eat chicken, you don't count), and I agree. I don't think willing to eat dairy or eggs doesn't make you a hypocrite for opposing hunting because you don't have to kill the chicken to get the eggs.

Fair enough. Thanks for making that point.

 

[griffin]

I believe for many vegetarian it's a cruelity, pain & suffering issue more than a diet/health choice. Eating eggs, milk and fish for some is considered cruelity to animals.

Totally get that - was more the comparison with hunting that I was commenting on. I don't think eating eggs/cheese makes you a hypocrite if you're anti-hunting.

This primate had an egg for breakfast and some bad chicken korma for lunch - other species of primate are known include eggs, insects, crustaceans and even small vertebrates in their diet.

Deer are known to include errant cross-country skiers in their diet. At least, that's what I learned watching the Simpsons.

 

[Chip]

What do primates eat?

Surprisingly, each other, in some cases.

 

[Little Rickie]

If I wanted to assert my opinion as the only correct one I'd say logically we should eat the way our ancestors did and not get hug up on all these other nice nice issues but that would be insentive of me so to each their own and plaese pass the gravy.

Would a primate eat a cow?.............Oh I do.

I eat vegetarian when eating with vegetarians or vegans and provide for them if they are my guests. We all drink though.

OOOpppsss I'm drifting. I'm done.





for now

 

[Kevin Rooney]

...But lately the rattlesnakes--which are out year round down here and which I encounter a couple of times a month, most recently two days ago--have been freaking me out more: a friend was bitten last spring on Mt. Diablo (Bay area) and almost lost his leg... to say nothing of the $427,000 hospital bill...

Am curious - was your friend running or walking at the time?

Non-poisonous snakes don't bother me much - mildly startled but they usually slither away quickly. But, rattlesnakes are another matter - often times they don't move until they're sure you're not a threat to them, and then they move away very slowly, still in full defensive posture.

 

[Snowflea]

He was running on a slightly overgrown trail on Mt. Diablo, stepped on something that felt "gushy" and had the sensation that a branch had whacked his lower leg. Within seconds his extremities started tingling, and he knew he'd been bitten by a snake. He never saw the snake, however. He was able to jog the ~3 miles back to his car, drove himself to the nearest hospital, and was promptly admitted to the ICU, where he remained x 4 days and received 45 doses of anti-venom. There was massive swelling and necrosis--at one point there was talk of amputation. Fortunately he did recover (at least was recovering until receiving the $427,000 hospital bill ) and was running again by August, a couple of months later.

 

[ColdRiverRun]

Does anyone out there wear snake gaiters when they run? I have always wondered how hot and uncomfortable they would be.

 

[Puma concolor]

Does anyone out there wear snake gaiters when they run? I have always wondered how hot and uncomfortable they would be.

I'm not a trail-runner but I do own a pair of canvas snake leggings that I've used exactly twice (in North Dakota and Oklahoma). Not hot or uncomfortable but there is a significant dork factor.

 

[JR]

the domestic house cat must be pretty high up on the list.

 

[Chip]

Does anyone out there wear snake gaiters when they run? I have always wondered how hot and uncomfortable they would be.

The "real ones" are pretty stiff and designed to be worn over boots and pants. I have a thick, cordura pair that are thorn/pricker proof that could be used, but they aren't technically snake proof. They'd be better than nothing, I suppose.

 

[Snowflea]

Does anyone out there wear snake gaiters when they run? I have always wondered how hot and uncomfortable they would be.

Nah, not that paranoid yet. They DO look hot and uncomfortable. Probably the only behavioral change on my part is that if a trail is narrow or overgrown, I slow down and turn off my music, on the rare chance that I'm listening to it. Kinda neat how a rattlesnake has the ability to warn, through rattling, before striking. I think they don't strike unless they truly feel threatened.

 

[ColdRiverRun]

Probably the only behavioral change on my part is that if a trail is narrow or overgrown, I slow down and turn off my music, on the rare chance that I'm listening to it. Kinda neat how a rattlesnake has the ability to warn, through rattling, before striking. I think they don't strike unless they truly feel threatened.

Hmm..I use that excuse too when I slow down on some long runs. People started to catch on until I started carrying a baby rattle in my pack.

A funny true story like that is a time I did the Tongue mountain range with a friend and he kept swearing he could hear a rattle and would get sketched out. At the end of the hike I tossed off my pack and heard it too, upon opening I found a Advil bottle with only two left that was knocking around inside.

 

[sierra]

polar bear

Just a sidenote, I love Zoo's and on a trip to the san Francisco zoo, I posed this question to one of the trainers I had met. What would be the last cage or pen I would like to fall into? His reply was quick," the polar bear for sure", his reasonings where that the polar bear is so programmed for hunting, that he would be on you faster and more vicious then any other animal including lions.

 

[Dave Bear]

the domestic house cat must be pretty high up on the list.

No joke! "Cat scratch fever" is a real deal and deadly if not treated, but then was it the cat that got you or the bacteria!

If we ignore potential threats like coyotes, moose(on the trail) or bears and people help alter their feeding habits the stats will definitely change! Just looking at the changes in the coyotes since I was young has made me more wary in the woods. Coyotes that are healthier, more aggressive, and in larger packs is intimidating in a way much more real than thinking a bear would get a piece of me!

Fatality stats aren't nearly as ominous as injuries. If something takes me out my probs are over, cast my ashes from Liberty or Bondcliff and tip a cold one! On the other hand if something gets a good piece of me a long way from the trailhead I might wish I had a cold one or more!