Wildlife safety: Preparing for encounters with bears, snakes, and more
Dr. Grant Lipman
Grant S. Lipman, MD, is a clinical assistant professor of surgery in the division of emergency medicine at Stanford University and associate director of the wilderness medicine fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine.
A lack of wildlife safety becomes a problem when it’s too late. If you’re outdoors and come within close range of a rattlesnake — our body and mind heighten awareness immediately. An encounter with a known danger like a rattlesnake can kick in our fight or flight response for survival. Knowing how to handle the situation before it becomes a problem is the best way to stay safe around animals and other wildlife.
There is a saying in the outdoors, “luck favors the prepared.” A critical factor in preparing for an outdoor emergency is understanding your surroundings and what you might run into. GOES believes that everyone in the outdoors should be prepared with the knowledge of how to prevent an animal encounter and what to do if it happens.
The Wildlife Risk Index™ – GOES’ new in-app feature – can take your location and show what plants and animals to look out for on your excursion.
Here are wildlife safety tips like in the GOES app for common outdoor encounters with:
How to stay safe during an unexpected bear encounter
The two types of bears you’ll find in North America are black bears and grizzly or brown bears. But don’t be fooled by the names – you shouldn’t use the color of their fur alone to distinguish which kind of bear it is. Knowing where you are hiking and what bears live there is the best way to know what kind of bear you may be encountering.
Remember bears are wild and strong creatures, if you see one the goal is to not trigger the bear to attack.
5 rules to follow if you encounter a bear
- Stay calm
Sudden or hasty movements can make a bear think you are going to cause them harm (or are something they can eat). You can slowly wave your arms and speak in a calm voice, this will help the bear identify you as human.
- Back away slowly and sideways
Do not turn your back to the bear and slowly move away sideways to give the bear room to pass, if possible avoid stepping backwards as you may trip. Try to avoid stepping on brush or crunchy things on the forest floor if possible.
- Avoid eye contact
Direct eye contact with a bear can be seen as an aggressive threat.
- Do not yell
Loud noise can frighten a bear. When they are frightened — they attack.
- Avoid looking like prey
Do not run away or try to climb up a nearby tree. Bears will pursue you and can run, climb and swim faster than you.
Wildlife safety item: bear spray
Bear spray is a concentrated pepper spray that inflames the eyes and breathing system of a bear. Research suggests it is 90-92% effective against black and grizzly bears and 98% of bear spray users had no injuries in a bear encounter.
If you are going on an outdoor adventure and bring bear spray, make sure to check park regulations. Some parks restrict the spray for visitors. The National Park Service has detailed instructions on learning how and when to use bear spray.
How to reduce injuries when coming across snakes in the wild
Love them or fear them, there is a good chance you may run into snakes in the outdoors. Snakes prefer to avoid humans — but they will bite when threatened or harmed. Avoiding snakes is the best prevention.
The risk of encountering a snake in the wild can be affected by changing weather patterns. Dr. Grant Lipman of GOES conducted a study that showed that for every 10% increase in precipitation, there followed a 4% increase in snakebites in California. The opposite was true for drought patterns. Look for communications from local authorities before safely hiking in the wild.
There are 250 species of snakes in America and only four types of venomous snakes: rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths and coral snakes.
What to do if you encounter a snake:
- Keep your distance
Snakes can quickly strike a distance almost as long as their body.
- Stomp the ground or shuffle your feet
Snakes don’t have ears that can hear. They are more likely to pick up on the vibrations than hear yelling.
If you get bitten by a snake, the wound reveals their species:
- Scratches mean not venomous
This is the most common injury from a snake bite.
- Two puncture wounds mean the snake was venomous
You’ve just encountered a venomous snake.
Regardless of which species of snake has bitten you — immediately evacuate the area where the snake is. If you were bit by a venomous snake, get to the closest hospital as quickly as you can before the symptoms appear. See more on how to treat snakebites in our blog How to avoid snakebites: a doctor’s tips to stay safe.
Avoiding ticks and Lyme disease
Unlike snakes and bears, the size of ticks makes them much harder to see in the wild. Ticks can be found in grassy or bushy areas and are more active in warmer months. Ticks attach to humans and other mammals to feed on their blood. The longer a tick is attached to you, the more likely a bacteria can pass from the tick’s saliva and into your blood causing tick-borne disease. They carry bacteria that can cause diseases in humans and it could take anywhere from a few hours or up to a few days after attachment, for tick-borne illnesses to occur.
The most common tick-borne disease is Lyme disease and is responsible for 80% of tick-borne illnesses in the United States. These rates have almost doubled in the last few decades as documented with warmer weather patterns.
GOES Wildlife Risk Index™ lets you know wherever you are — what animals live there, how to avoid them and what to do if you come across them in the wild. Knowing when you are traveling in tick-infested areas can lead you to take preventative steps like wearing long sleeves and pants before heading out. Understanding the risks of ticks can also increase your awareness of checking for ticks after you spend time outdoors.
Mosquito bites can cause more than itching
The recurring buzz of mosquitoes can be annoying in the outdoors. Their itchy bites can keep you up all night, and the discomfort can ruin a trip. If you are like most people and want to avoid mosquitoes — know they need standing water to breed. They are most active in wet areas, especially during dusk and dawn. Wearing appropriate mosquito repellant if hiking through areas with standing water nearby can reduce the bites.
Know how to tell the difference between the redness of a mosquito bite and the spreading redness of a skin infection. Learn more with GOES.
Wildlife safety matters for toxic plant life too
Animals and insects are not the only forms of danger in the outdoors. The plant life that bears, snakes and other animals hide in can also cause humans issues. Plants that contain toxic oils (called urushiol) such as poison oak, poison ivy, or poison sumac can bind with your skin within 30-60 minutes of contact. Recognizing these plants can be challenging because they can grow from a low scrub to a tree-like bush, with leaves that change color depending on the season. Knowing where these toxic plants grow can prevent the extreme itchiness and skin blistering that can follow.
It can sometimes take days for a rash to appear after initial contact but the oils can cause the reaction within hours, so quickly washing of the skin with soap can wash away the oils that cause such intense inflammatory reactions and so much discomfort. You can learn more about how to treat a rash from toxic plants in our blog Remedying Rashes and the Poisonous Plants that Cause Them.
You can also learn about what dangerous plants may be hiding in your next outdoor adventure in our GOES Health app Wildlife Risk Index™ feature. It will show you what the plants look like and what to do if you come in direct contact with them.
