You mentioned rabies in the context of bats but re it across the small mammals range like coyotes/foxes/raccoons etc, isn't that a seasonal thing? IIRC it peaks in late Summer? And maybe vanishes in cold Winters? Is it a 3 season thing?Originally Posted by Salamander
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
I’ve linked this bear range map before, it’s a useful overview of North American bears https://geology.com/stories/13/bear-areas/
There are three types of bear in North America. The Polar Bear is limited to northern Alaska and Canada. They are the largest of the three varieties, at 700-1,500 pounds, and they are specialized predators focused mostly on seals. I won’t spend too much time on them here, but if you’re one of the very few people who visits within their range, learn more about them, and carry a long gun. They are potentially the most dangerous of the North American bears.
The brown bear, or grizzly, is a little more widespread. It occurs throughout Alaska and NW Canada. For those of us in the lower 48, there are only a few areas to be concerned: The northern Rockies in Montana, in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and a small area of the northernmost cascades in Washington.
Brown bear density in Alaska can be up to one per square mile in productive coastal areas. It’s usually much less inland. The caveat to that is that resource availability can concentrate animals in certain times and places; for example a lush valley surrounded by higher mountains in Alaska, or along streams during salmonid runs. There’s more info on the Alaska populations at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cf...rinterfriendly .
There’s a wealth of discussion on defense against brown bears in the various field pistol threads and those tend to evolve over time, so check there for the latest. There’s more info on global brown bear attacks on humans at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44341-w with 183 attacks documented in North America between 2000 and 2015.
Black bear are much more widespread, especially in the western mountains but also in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; in part of the Ozarks; the Appalachians; parts of Florida; and parts of the North Carolina coastal Plain. Best to look at the linked map, the range is complex. The map doesn’t attempt to distinguish abundance, so I’ll note that I see lots of black bear in northern coastal California and the Rockies, but spent a fair amount of time for three years on a project site in the heart of the mapped Ozark range and never saw a bear or sign of a bear, and the locals had heard stories but never seen one themselves. This was 20 years ago, so not exactly the latest info.
There is a lot of info on the internet about black bear-human interactions; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._North_America is a useful summary of recent attacks and there aren’t all that many despite the sensationalism implied in some of the media accounts that come up on the same search.
With black bear, the key is to know the region because bear behavior various a great deal by place. Here’s in north coast California bears are afraid of humans and run on sight, I know of only a couple of exceptions and there are no documented attacks near here. The conflicts tend to occur where stupid people feed bears or otherwise provide a ready source of food. Once while spending a couple of weeks at Camp 4 in Yosemite, one or more bears would walk right through camp about dusk each day, showing no fear at all. Every couple of days another car would be ripped open in the lot because someone ignored the warnings about not leaving food in cars. The damage was impressive, doors ripped off hinges and interiors completely trashed. Needless to say there have been documented attacks in that county, and in other parts of the Sierra’s with high human recreational use.
I’ll spend less time on Gray Wolves because of limited experience. Someone once said that if you’re in Gray Wolf habitat, you probably had to work to get there. The range includes most of Alaska and Canada, the northern Rockies, parts of Washington, Oregon, and northeast California (Lassen-Modoc, with an estimated 25 animals in multiple packs at last count); portions of Arizona and New Mexico; and northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the UP of Michigan. The range is expanding in some areas including California where they’re been present only the last handful of years. This will, over time, increase the risks of wolf-human interactions.
There have been very few attacks on humans, see https://wolf.org/wolf-info/factsvsfi...ous-to-humans/ for details. The danger of course is that they are pack animals. If encountering wolves don’t run, that will trigger hunting instinct. I can’t recommend shooting one in anything less than a life threatening or major injury situation because they’re still federally listed in most of the range. Even a legit shoot is going to bring down a world of bureaucratic hurt and paperwork to get cleared. If it’s not legit, it could mean criminal charges. I work on ESA projects all the time and need to maintain my agency credibility so need to stay inside the lines.
There's a very small Red Wolf experimental population in the east, I've encountered it only on desktop exercises and therefore don't have a whole lot to share.
Last edited by Salamander; 02-18-2023 at 04:25 AM.
I’m struggling to come up with any real risks associated with birds. They’ve lost a step since evolving from dinosaurs. Vehicle interactions are about it. I’ve had Turkey Vultures come up off the road on winding mountain routes and barely clear the windshield. Once a Barred Owl did hit my windshield, came out of the dark and just glanced off as it flew up, it did not hit the road behind me so may have been OK. That could have been very different if it had been a straight-on hit a foot lower.
Reptiles: Most of the risks are associated with venomous species. As noted above most negative interactions with rattlesnakes are initiated by the human. More than a few reportedly involve alcohol and dares to kiss a snake.
Scientists who work repeatedly with venomous snakes eventually get bitten, all it takes is a momentary lapse. The late Roger Conant, author of the Peterson Field Guide to reptiles, once showed me his scarred hands at lunch during a scientific conference. He joked that he’d been bitten a bunch of times (can’t recall the exact number, but a lot) and had survived both the bites and the treatment.
A acquaintance who researched rattlesnakes was bitten twice, once while feeding an animal. The second time was a very close call, he was on a USMC base in the east with other researchers, was photographing a Timber Rattlesnake, and got too close. I’m told that if he hadn’t been in proximity to helicopter evacuation capability and combat-trained doctors that he wouldn’t have made it. Another guy got bitten in his basement while handling a snake and was found by his daughter as he tried to crawl up the stairs. Then there’s the classic bit of arrogance, Karl P. Schmidt was the curator of reptiles at the Field Museum in the 1930’s and was involved in an academic argument on whether or not a species of African rear-fanged snake was venomous, he argued that it was not. One night after hours he was bitten, I’ve been in that room and it’s in the basement of the museum and off the traffic routes. They found him dead in the morning, he had taken detailed notes on his symptoms. Guess he was wrong about it being venomous.
My advice on dealing with snakes is simple: Unless it’s someplace like under your back porch where it’s a potential risk to kids or pets, leave it alone, walk around it. Three basic reasons: 1) any interaction at all increases risk; 2) if we killed all the snakes we’d be over run with rats and mice; 3) more than a few people have been bitten after killing a snake and then handling the carcass. The muscles can still function for a while after death.
If a bite does happen, the best treatment is a set of car keys. Stay calm and get to a hospital ASAP, which means knowing where the nearest hospital is. Once a USFS intern was bitten during training on a site near mine, big guy, he went into shock and wasn't much help. Took the entire field crew to get him in the car. He was fine the next day, hospital was nine miles away.
In spring 2020 we did the permits and construction clearance for a certain very large factory in Arizona that you’ve probably seen in the news recently. It was a large site, mostly beat-up creosote bush scrub. I had a field team of five out there for 11 days, and they averaged two to three rattlesnakes per day. Two species. Western Diamondbacks we usually heard before we saw them, they rattled from as much as 30 feet away. They stood their ground, and would strike and rattle the entire time. Mojave Rattlesnakes on the other hand would freeze in place, we were unable to get one to rattle or strike even by poking it repeatedly with a snake stick. That makes sense, Mojaves have one of the most potent venoms of any rattlesnake but they don’t have a lot of it. So, expending it might mean not eating for a day or two. We just identified each one and photographed it and moved on. Even though those snakes were going to be destroyed by graders in a few days or weeks, we left them alone. Shooting one would have just increased risk. There were lots of small rocks and thus a ricochet risk, and we were within sight of the interstate.
Most venomous snakes will act like those Mojaves and try to hide. A few are more assertive: Diamondbacks, Timber Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths. Two of those are pretty common within their range, and Cottonmouths can be found in roadside ditches in Florida. They won’t come after you, those aggressive ones just won’t back off. Wear good leather boots in snake habitat and you’ll be fine, the only strike I’ve seen in the wild was after we’d been looking for an animal for a while (radiotelemetry, so we know it was within a few feet) when it finally got annoyed enough and came up out of the crevice it was hiding in and snapped off a strike at the guy with the antenna. I was right behind him and watched the strike bounce off. If in a high risk area for an extended time consider snake gaiters, we used them on that AZ site.
If you must move a venomous snake, the safest way is to basically lay a plastic garbage can on its side and sweep the snake into it. I’ve done that several times, and seen a whole lot of other rattlesnakes, and have never been bitten. I walk around the majority of them.
There are a few other species that are not venomous but can inflict nasty bites. Water snakes and racers come to mind. Same concept, if you don’t handle them or get really close it’s unlikely to happen. Same reason to not handle an adult Snapping Turtle, once I saw one bite a six inch long fish clean in half.
There are also a couple of venomous lizards, the Gila Monster is best known. They have strong jaws and will bite, hang on, and chew. Best to avoid these too, they’re faster than they look.
Amphibians, I really can’t think of many amphibian related risk unless you lick toads. I know one high-level federal agency guy who was driving on a rainy night near the border in Texas, he picked up a toad off the road, brought in out of the rain to ID it, and bufotoxin from the paratoid glands was somehow atomized by the car defrosters. Not making this up, I’ve been in the field with this guy and one of my relatives was in the car when it happened. They were both pretty useless for the next 10 minutes, burning eyes and couldn’t see very well. No reports of hallucinations but they wouldn’t tell anyway, that wouldn’t look good on a resume.
Last edited by Salamander; 02-18-2023 at 05:34 AM.
A quick search shows three reported cases in North Carolina in the past week, two raccoons and a fox; so I wouldn't count on it vanishing in winter. There could be seasonal cycles, they could be tied as much to when humans are in the woods or when animals have the most social contact as anything else. I'm not finding any solid data so far though. Rabies is viral, spread by bites or scratches.
According to CDC, 70% of human rabies deaths are from transmissions by bats. The species which most often get rabies are bats, foxes, skunks, and raccoons; but any mammal can get rabies. Even the big guys, some of the otherwise rare attacks by wolves have been linked to rabies.
Dogs with rabies are rare in the US because of required vaccinations, that's not true in many third world countries. If traveling overseas, that's one more thing to be aware of.
Last edited by Salamander; 02-18-2023 at 11:29 AM.
Most of the risks and hazards in this category are more tied to the waterbody itself than to wildlife. Of course Alligators deserve respect in the southeast US, but probably more people die each year by falling out of boats. Fisheries biologists get into some crazy risks like playing with electricity in the water to sample fish, once I helped IDNR for a week on a basin survey and the safety talk was mostly about check on each other frequently, if someone slips they can go under. Although I thought the really crazy part was hauling the generator up and down a steep bank, that's something best left to young backs.
Once I saw a Corps of Engineers guy get badly bitten by a Bowfin he was holding for a photo, caught during a boat electrofishing run. We call Bowfin "Jurassic fish" although really they're more like Miocene, haven't changed much since then. Torpedoes with teeth.
The water thing is mostly common sense, and the fishermen probably already know it. Be careful of deep holes. Be careful of fast current. Be especially careful after heavy rainfall, even if it's not right in that spot; rivers can come up fast after a thunderstorm upstream. Swimmers can get in trouble up to at least several miles below dams because they underestimate how cold it can get during summer flow releases, the Trinity River is a good example of that. I've been in rivers with slick clay substrate where it's hard to keep footing, and that same river had lots of underwater brush and debris jams which can puncture waders or get tangled. And so on.
Saltwater is a whole other deal, and beyond the scope of what I'm trying to do here.
Just an aside, the risk may be low, but is never zero. This may be the exception that proves the rule, but when I was 15 a large Western Diamondback did come after my buddy and me while we were slaughtering jackrabbits with .22 pistols on his great uncle's ranch in Cotulla, TX.
In my AO, we have the aforementioned Diamondbacks, Cottonmouths, Copperheads, and some Coral snakes. Lots of non-venomous imitators. The county I work for hosts one of the two annual Rattlesnake Roundups in this part of the state. The Copperheads are practically docile, whereas Cottonmouths are reputed to be more ill-tempered than the rattlers.
Edit to add.....The biggest critter threats are probably feral dogs, cattle, feral hogs, and then the potentially rabid ones.
....Forgot to mention the feral emu that was put down a few years ago. It was a traffic hazard, but I can't imagine that trying to handle it in any way would've ended well.
Last edited by Chuck Whitlock; 02-18-2023 at 03:24 PM.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
The amount of rage that Ol’ Bessie can generate after spending a winter or two in the wilds is impressive.
A guy I know thought he was being attacked by a Blue Racer once. He stood firm, the snake went right between his legs and down a hole a few feet behind him. He just happened to be on the path to a favorite hiding place. Of course who knows, maybe Mr Snake thought hey they're teenagers, let's have some funYou're correct though that there's an exception to every rule... after all, animals can't read, they don't always know what they aren't supposed to do. Example, out of many hundreds of black bear observations around here by lots of biologists, most ran; one treed a friend of mine on private timberlands. He wasn't very serious or he would have climbed up after her, she got on the radio for help and the bear left. Maybe they'd just clear-cut his house and he was ornery, or maybe he was just having a bad Monday morning.
Copperheads; once near Van Buren Missouri we were camped on a project site for several days in late spring, getting up at night to take a piss meant checking every step with a flashlight because there was usually a copperhead or two out there. We saw something like 27 of them that trip. Docile is a good description, most of them didn't move at all. Pretty animals, from a safe distance.
First emu story I've heard, but a guy near here got chased by a llama once. That fence was there for a reason.
Let's not forget the little creepy-crawly guys. There are a zillion of them so I can barely touch the surface. Most can mean discomfort, a few are more serious.
Everyone knows about bees/hornets etc and they're about everywhere. Most of us who are outdoors much have been stung. They're a bigger concern for those who are allergic.
Ticks are a much bigger concern because of Lyme Disease and a few other afflictions. There are a few parts of the country where one can't walk a block without being swarmed by them. The general protocol is to brush off clothing before getting back in the truck, then toss clothing in the washing machine or at least in a bag so they don't crawl around the house; and then do a self-inspection and hopefully remove any before they get deeply attached. It's the little ones that are the biggest risk, lots of info available online.
Seed ticks aren't really ticks, they're tiny little guys barely visible to the eye and they can go right through the mesh of your jeans, usually by the hundreds. We used to pull them off our pants with duct tape. They're like chiggers on steriods, severe itching for days. The good news is I've seen them only in the Ozarks and only in September, not sure where else they occur. Chiggers are much more widespread and can be annoying.
Spiders, most are harmless, a few are not. We pick up minor bites when working in marshes, no one has had a serious bite when I've been present and I know only one person who has. It does happen though, more in some regions than in others.
Scorpions, I remember during a training in Phoenix at the start of my career there was an Arizona Game and Fish guy in the class, and he did a quick scorpions of the Phoenix area talk. Found one of each in about five minutes under debris, told us don't worry about five of these that are like bee stings but this sixth one can be fatal. It was a little tan guy, and that kind of info is readily available online. Oh, and check inside your boots before putting them on in the morning after camping in the desert. On a more recent trip we put fiber optic cameras down kit fox burrows looking for burrowing owls, and all we found were scorpions. Lots of scorpions.
That's just a quick summary, there's probably more.
Plants: Poison oak (west), poison ivy (east) and poison sumac (bogs in the east) are the main offenders. The last is the worst, but also the hardest to get into. I once had to train a stunt double for a major film on how to recognize and avoid poison oak, which is one of the more unique things I've been paid for. Turned out she enjoyed shooting and was pretty good at it.
Lesser annoyances include anything with thorns. There's a plant whose name escapes me right now, yellow flowers, blooms in June in northern Illinois, it's photoreactive; brush it in sunlight and it can cause blisters. It usually occurs at low density so is easy to avoid. Again, there's certainly more but unless you're eating random things they aren't likely to kill you.
Last edited by Salamander; 02-18-2023 at 06:38 PM.
Now something a little different: How to find info on wildlife and habitat.
All 50 states have a natural heritage program, although it's called different things in different places. While parts of the framework have been standardized there's also tremendous variation depending on funding and local philosophy. Some states (Illinois) have a lot of information but it's not real easy to access without a written request to a state agency. Some are remarkably transparent and informative (Arizona, see https://www.azgfd.com/Wildlife/ ) and cover both game and non-game species. Some only make info on special-status and game species available. A few (California CNDDB) have a ton of info and the ability to generate GIS maps, but require an annual subscription that costs enough to not really be worth it for the non-professional.
To expand a little on how awesome Arizona's system is, you can self-generate habitat and species maps at https://habimap.azgfd.com/ . These do require a little explanation; the species maps are usually based on physical and habitat modeling so they indicate potential presence, not known presence and sometimes they're wrong at a micro-scale. Zoom out a little and they're a pretty good representation.
There's also a lot of info on other state wildlife agency pages and, for federal listed or candidate species, on the USFWS ECOS page. Some jurisdications are more up to date and detailed than others, but it's generally good info.
You'll notice that where I've linked things above it's to government agencies, research institutions, or occasionally a major non-profit. There are no links to random unaffiliated guys on the internet. That's because every corner of the internet is as filled with derp as those other gun forums. Everybody thinks they're an expert because they read it somewhere else on the internet, and a lot of it is wrong. So stick with known sources whenever possible. They aren't perfect and not all scientists and planners agree on everything, but they're usually mostly accurate. I may circle back on this later with more ideas, for now feel free to see what your state has available.
Reply With Quote