Whether your next trip takes you to the woods or the
beach, here’s how to handle the animals you may find there.
Stay
Calm
According to the experts interviewed, the secret to
surviving a dangerous animal encounter, like one with a shark, bear or
rattlesnake, is to not panic. “Easier said than done, and sounds obvious, but
seriously, try and keep your cool,” “The bad stuff happens when you don’t.”
The best thing to do during such an encounter is to remove yourself
slowly from the scene if you can. Which means: if you see a great white in the
water, quietly slip out and don’t start splashing. If you see or hear a
rattlesnake coiled up, give it a wide berth. If it bites, stay still and call
poison control immediately — freaking out will only make the situation worse.
Look
Big
If
you come face-to-face with a bear, mountain lion or coyote, do your best to look imposing. Stand tall,
huddle together, open your coats, and raise your backpack overhead. If it’s a
mountain lion for example, look it in the eye and show it who’s the boss (in
theory, at least). Start yelling and screaming, throwing stuff or whatever else
you can to scare it off. Don’t lie down and play dead (this is also true for
bears and other predators): if the animal is hungry and views you as docile
prey, you’ll be dinner.
Don’t
Run
Running
from most animals — including coyotes, feral dogs and bears — is a futile
exercise. They’re just faster than you are, and won’t tire out before you do.
Plus, running can encourage these animals to chase you.
Alligators may be the only predators you have a shot at
beating in a race, although they rarely pursue prey on land. (But watch out if
you’re in the water: They ambush. If one latches on you, put up a fight and it
might decide to ditch you. If you come upon a predator, back away
slowly, turned sideways, avoiding eye contact.
No Selfies
This should be obvious, but getting near a wild animal in
the name of an Instagram-worthy selfie is setting yourself up for trouble.
Earlier this year, a tourist was mauled to death when
he tried to take a selfie with a wounded bear, and in recent years, several tourists in Yellowstone who
got too close to bison to snap a selfie were gored or injured by the 1,000- to
2,000-pound animals.
And
Please, Don’t Feed the Bears
Or
the sea gulls or the coyotes or any animal, really, other than your pets. If
you do, they may not leave you alone in the hopes of getting more food.
Seagulls, for one, are bold birds and will swipe your sandwich or a slice of
pizza right out of your hand. And, in some destinations, feeding these birds
may mean a hefty fine ($500 in Ocean City, N.J., for example).
Worse,
the more you feed wild animals, the more they grow accustomed to humans, and
stick around people instead of foraging for their own food — which leads to
people treating them like pests and trying to poison, trap, or kill them. In
general, it’s better if wild animals retain a healthy fear of (and distance from)
humans in densely populated places.