RetiredUSNChief
Member
Wild animal defense is two-fold:
- Understand the nature of the animal(s).
- Be armed.
It's not reasonable, in my opinion, to be "armed for bear (burro)" all the time for a variety of reasons. Make up any such list as you see fit.
Wild animals have instinctive behaviors, and many people are quite ignorant of many basics. Most non-rural people probably because they tend to anthropomorphize animals and their behavior. You absolutely should NOT do this, because you are almost certainly going to totally misinterpret animal behavior. The fact that you MAY appear to be "right" about how certain encounters fortunately turned out most likely means you were really WRONG, but were lucky.
Animals interpret actions, sounds, and postures DIFFERENTLY than humans. The simple act of observing an animal can be taken as an act of aggression, which will elicit an instinctive response from the animal in turn.
For example, once upon a time, way back in 2000, while the USS L. Mendel Rivers was preparing for IceEx 2000 deployment under the polar ice cap above North America, we had training on various forms of Arctic wildlife which could be encountered after surfacing through the polar ice. One, of course, was the Polar Bear. Did you know that simply orienting your body side-on to a Polar Bear while observing it can cause a violent response? It can. Why? We humans don't see this as a problem, why should a Polar Bear?
Polar Bears will stalk prey by pacing back and forth while observing it. When a human does this by orienting sideways to a Polar Bear and continuing to observe, especially while moving around on the ice pack the bear may recognize that as stalking behavior on the human's part and naturally interpret this as the prelude to an attack.
Meanwhile, back at the range, the stupid Sailor ignorant of the instinctive behavior is watching a couple snow-white Polar Bears cutely pacing back and forth while continually watching him walk around the ice pack, looking all innocently curious.
No, the Polar Bear is simply seeing the next side order of steak he's hoping to have served up rare for dinner as soon as he can figure a way to get at you.
Every year, Yellowstone sees far more than their fair share of stupid people who think wild animals like Bison are petting zoo animals, and a number of them are injured as a consequence...despite all the posted warnings.
Wild burros are no different.
Defense in layers applies for wild animals just like it does for "wild" humans. And it starts with understanding their nature, looking for signs of danger, and avoiding wherever possible. Just like for defense against violent humans.
- Understand the nature of the animal(s).
- Be armed.
It's not reasonable, in my opinion, to be "armed for bear (burro)" all the time for a variety of reasons. Make up any such list as you see fit.
Wild animals have instinctive behaviors, and many people are quite ignorant of many basics. Most non-rural people probably because they tend to anthropomorphize animals and their behavior. You absolutely should NOT do this, because you are almost certainly going to totally misinterpret animal behavior. The fact that you MAY appear to be "right" about how certain encounters fortunately turned out most likely means you were really WRONG, but were lucky.
Animals interpret actions, sounds, and postures DIFFERENTLY than humans. The simple act of observing an animal can be taken as an act of aggression, which will elicit an instinctive response from the animal in turn.
For example, once upon a time, way back in 2000, while the USS L. Mendel Rivers was preparing for IceEx 2000 deployment under the polar ice cap above North America, we had training on various forms of Arctic wildlife which could be encountered after surfacing through the polar ice. One, of course, was the Polar Bear. Did you know that simply orienting your body side-on to a Polar Bear while observing it can cause a violent response? It can. Why? We humans don't see this as a problem, why should a Polar Bear?
Polar Bears will stalk prey by pacing back and forth while observing it. When a human does this by orienting sideways to a Polar Bear and continuing to observe, especially while moving around on the ice pack the bear may recognize that as stalking behavior on the human's part and naturally interpret this as the prelude to an attack.
Meanwhile, back at the range, the stupid Sailor ignorant of the instinctive behavior is watching a couple snow-white Polar Bears cutely pacing back and forth while continually watching him walk around the ice pack, looking all innocently curious.
No, the Polar Bear is simply seeing the next side order of steak he's hoping to have served up rare for dinner as soon as he can figure a way to get at you.
Every year, Yellowstone sees far more than their fair share of stupid people who think wild animals like Bison are petting zoo animals, and a number of them are injured as a consequence...despite all the posted warnings.
Wild burros are no different.
Defense in layers applies for wild animals just like it does for "wild" humans. And it starts with understanding their nature, looking for signs of danger, and avoiding wherever possible. Just like for defense against violent humans.
