A hiker in Canada was approached by a cougar. She blasted Metallica to scare it
cnn.com
cnn.com
Clearly, Gallant is not a Motorhead fan.
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13344 [2] https://wildlife.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Suraci_...
I would've left it alone and hoped that it did the same in return.
Then again, if I were to start hiking, I'd probably read up on these things so I'm not a complete idiot in the wild.
Cougars and Black Bears -> when encountered you want to appear as big and menacing as possible. You scare them off. AKA if you have a coat you hold it up like a cape to make yourself appear really big. The best way to approach a cougar is to scare it off.
Brown Bears -> Make sure there are no cubs between you and the mother bear and back the fuck away. They are faster and climb better than you. Don't try to scare them just go away. (Please read up on this before doing it) but with a bear I believe playing dead is the best way to go when attacked. This is similar to a bull I believe. A good deterrent with a bear is bear mace, if Hiking in a place where there is a bear I'd suggest taking some.
Also there's a ton more to avoiding bear meetings but you mostly need to worry if you see a cub bear.
Edit: if you do start hiking please please do read up on this. Cougars and bears can and do kill hikers even when treated properly. While not the biggest risk to your life in the US, it's still a good idea to go forewarned. Also changed wording in first sentence.
Edit 2: Changed advice to specify brown bear and black bear.
BTW in case it isn't clear to readers:
brown bear === grizzly bears and are massive
black bears are relatively much smaller
Black bears can be either black or dark brown in color and that doesn't make them a brown bear.
Should add: the number of actual attacks is really low and deadly ones are even rarer. Probably pretty much every activity you do during a hike is more dangerous than cougars or bears. Things like driving, dehydration or tripping and falling. The most dangerous wild animal is probably a tick.
Still:
- stay calm
- don't run
- know when you're in bear country, and talk or sing at a good volume, especially in thick foliage
- brown vs black bears _do_ behave differently, know how to ID them
- read the guide I linked!
- talk to rangers if they're available wherever you're going
I've seen bears running and climbing trees, and it's simply incredible what they're capable of. Above all, cultivate a healthy respect of them before going into their home...
If you have ever considered outrunning or outclimbing a bear watch these to get an idea of what they can do:
Black bears are pretty skittish. If you make noise, they'll likely run away, unless theyve became acclimated to humans. Still, they can be dangerous, but rarely are, unless youre around a sow and her cubs. You do not want to fuck with a sow and her cubs. Best you can do there is slowly back away, ensuring you never get between the sow and the cubs. If you do get between a sow and her cubs, you're in for a bad day. Do not run. Black bears are mostly scavengers, but running away can trigger their instinct to view you as prey. Best stand your ground, make yourself as big as possible and a helluva a lot of noise. I did this once from about 30-40 yards away, and it worked. Couldn't tell if it was male or female, but there were no cubs around. It did rear up up on its hind legs amd grunt and growl at me, but after about 30 seconds of it grunting and me yelling and waving about like a lunatic, it dropped back down on all 4 legs and plondered off.
My second bear encounter happened about 2am on our back porch. We didnt have AC, so in the summer, we'd open up all the doors and windows, only having screen doors keeping critters out. Well, I was up late reading and I heard a big metallic crash from the kitchen. Figuring either the dogs or cats knocked some pans off the stove, got up, without my glasses to investigate. Seeing nothing amiss in the kitchen, I flipped on the back porch light and open the screen door. Technically never saw it on account of no glasses, being near sighted and a near moonless night, and it being a black bear, but I heard it. Soon as I flipped on the light and openned the door, I heard a distinct bear grunt and heard it plod off. It could have easily walked right through the screen into our home, putting itself between me and the loaded gun at the door.
The one that creeped me put the most was being stalked by the cougar. I was 11 at the time, hiking with my dad who was hunting for deer/elk. We had spent several hours hiking up an old logging road with maybe an inch of fresh snow on the ground. We didnt see any tracks at all until we turned around. After a short while, we noticed the cougar tracks that had been following ours. We never saw the cat, and some nearly 30 years later, still sends shivers down my spine. Regarding attacks by a cougar, they generally only attack children, and from an ambush position. Adults may be attacked if the cat is threatened or in poor health. You generally need to do anything to fend of a cougar as they generally wont approach an adult human. Things you can do to prevent attacks is to keep brush and grass trimmed around your home, especially if you have small children. They are ambush predators and dont like being exposed. As an adult, if you are attacked, fight back, and go for the face. In the heat of the summer, they often seek out cool spots such as window wells or garages.
Bears worry me less because they're usually after human food, not humans, and I'd have time to get my bear spray out. Cougars, while statistics show they are not much of a threat on average, psychologically worry me more because their attack mode is ambushing, and you wouldn't see its face at first if it really was sure about attacking you.
Edit: I hate to explain these, but the joke is that it is (for them) a slow ballad, and not the kind of thing you expect to be scary.
Not a single other album gets all thumbs down. It's shocking that not only are their worst songs on that album, but also that there's not a single gem in the rough.
I mean, I thumbs upped several songs on Load and Reload, and those albums are rightly considered pretty bad.
It is at least more pleasant to listen to than Frantictictictictictictic tock.
Next time someone mentions that they had a negative experience about being attacked or some such I'll be sure that the HN community does not encourage learning by asking about it.