In the parking lot at work a couple weeks ago, before the snow, after a food giveaway...
She asked me to look up what to do if you encounter a bear, cougar, or rattlesnake. Basically, back away slowly.
Yearly, 1,610 people die from animal-related injuries in the US.
For comparison--some 80,000 (+/-) people die every year from motor vehicles (38,659 in 2017, the first year guns outkilled cars) and firearms (39,773).
Farm animals and other non-wild animals kill far more humans every year than scary predators or venomous snakes.
You're more likely to be killed by a cow or a bee than a bear or a snake, but far more likely to die via car.
From Science Daily:
The most common nonvenomous encounter group... is 'other mammals,' which includes cats (!), horses, cows, other hoof stock [are cats "hoof stock"?], pigs, raccoons, and other mammals. ...The majority of deaths associated with "other mammals" occur on farms, and horses and cattle account for 90 percent of farm accidents."
I looked it up and wild/farm cats carry all sorts of diseases. Marz is in more danger from these half-wild farm cats than a rattlesnake.
But the kitten!
I see lots of non-domesticated animals in the city--bald eagles, raccoons, squirrels of course... More, since winters are warmer. A friend reports an opposum lives in the garage next door--they didn't use to come this far north.
When I went hiking out west I had to wear bells to ward off any bears in my path. I don't know if it works but I did it. Probably won't work on cats, though.
ReplyDeleteSTEVE: Right, the guides also suggest making noise to let animals know you're coming--or, in the case of rattlesnakes in the distance, stomp on the groung--they sense the vibration.
ReplyDeleteI wrote to Marz about the danger of cat scratches & bites, in case she didn't know. She did know, and she says she stays well away from the cats (even though she likes them).
I'd have a hard time not picking that cute kitty up!
Yes, bells and other noise to let bears know you’re around. I know about this from exactly one walk in the Berkshires. But the only bears we saw were crossing the road as we drove — a mother and cubs.
ReplyDeleteI have come upon bear several times- I am not a ninja walker so they knew i was there. Love the mother and child grey bits of fluff!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a lot of wildlife in the suburbs here, possums and some outer suburbs have foxes, most have lizards of one kind or another, I have a blue-tongue lizard living (hiding) in my garden patch. We have rats in some areas and closer to the edges of the city, way out in the outer suburbs there might be brown snakes which are quite deadly.
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