View Full Version : Whats your "greatest threat" WILDLIFE encounter
All this bear talk made me think of what I considered the greatest threat I have ever experienced ON THE AT from WILDLIFE.
Although I have had several encounters with bears on the trail, roaming around camp at night among I have been more less comfortable with the un-attached dog.
WILD DOGS
In '78 I come up out of Lehigh Gap and began hearing growls in the wood. Soon there was like 4 dogs around me.
Tell you what, they all looked like they hadnt seen a master in months, mangy and dirty and that look saying bite, you know. Didnt know what else to do so i began blowing my whistle and banging my hiking stick on the trees like a madman, lol.
I drove em off but I was looking around, ahead and behind me for a couple o days after that.
More recent I was bit in the calf in Caledonia ST park in 2001....10 minutes after starting a planned 4 day trip SOBO ! It wasnt rabid however it took a long time to heal. It also ended the trip with my companions as they were all newbies and afraid to go on (no matter how I told them "this never happens")
Jack Tarlin
04-17-2006, 12:02
An infected spider bite around eight years ago.
The potential threat from bears---despite what some terrified city folk have been spouting here likely---is statistically insignificant on the A.T. Minor cuts, bites, scratches, burns, etc. are far more likely to affect your trip, or even end it.
If you consider the deer tick "wildlife", IMO it is by far the biggest threat to humans on the AT. That could be quantified with calculating the lost days from work, lost hiking time, maintainers sidelined, health dollars expended, thru hikes ended. Just about any way you look at it.
If you consider the deer tick "wildlife", IMO it is by far the biggest threat to humans on the AT. That could be quantified with calculating the lost days from work, lost hiking time, maintainers sidelined, health dollars expended, thru hikes ended. Just about any way you look at it.
GOOD Point Mowg, I guess really, other than death the affects of the deer tick (if you do get the Lyme) would be probably the best example of a long term threat from a wildlife source.
But how about everyone's example of what they think was their own greatest threat. (an experience)
Dances with Mice
04-17-2006, 12:16
Bunch of years ago at Low Gap (Georgia) I was out with my son and a few of his friends. After dark we went out on a firewood scrounge (...plan ahead!...) and on the way back to camp, just before the fire ring, one of the boys thought he saw a rolled up coat, or a hat, or something and since his hands were full he kicked it towards the campsite.
It was a skunk.
A well-mannered skunk, fortunately. One with a forgiving disposition. It did some chattering as we did some scattering but it didn't choose to retaliate.
The biggest threat I've ever felt was when a platoon of starving Army Ranger trainees tromped up just as I was biting into a big overstuffed burrito.
Blue Jay
04-17-2006, 12:22
But how about everyone's example of what they think was their own greatest threat. (an experience)
I'd still go with deer tick. I've pulled hundreds of them off me (an experience).
If you want a noninsect danger, I'd have to go with picking up Baltimore Jack's Pack.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
04-17-2006, 14:54
Not directly on the AT, but close enough it could happen on the AT (this happened in Slickrock Wilderness in NC about 1981) I encoutered several wild boars during mating season. They were behaving aggressively and destroyed my tent. I climbed a tree to avoid them. They weren't after me - just rowdy young male boars looking for female companionship.
Looking at a rattler straight in the eyes about 6inches away in the serria nevadas :banana :banana ky
sparky2000
04-17-2006, 15:12
The most dangerous time on the trail for me was a good blower two nights before NOC. The branches flying around.........
gr8fulyankee
04-17-2006, 15:17
Off the coast of Small point ME,
I was about 100 feet out and a seal popped up in front of me.
Then it went under and I felt it as it brushed my inner right thigh as it swam between my legs.
Doesn't sound like much, but it was a little to close to a very personal part of me.
bulldog49
04-17-2006, 15:22
I have two close encounters, both happened on Isle Royale on different trips in early spring, the first week the is park is opened.
The first one was after a particularly harsh winter where a large portion of the Moose died. I was walking aways ahead of my wife and noticed a still-born moose calf lying near the trail. I stopped a little ways past it to wait for my wife to catch up. When she didn't catch up to me, I backtracked to find her. She was hiding behind a tree near the dead calf because the mother moose showed up to protect her dead offspring and would not let my wife pass. I circled around and finally got the mother's attention long enough for my wife to get away.
The 2nd incident involved a Gyr Falcon. As we approached the tree where it was nesting it repeatedly dived bombed us until; we were well out of the area. It actually grabbed and pulled my wife's hair.
The closest I came was sleeping in a shelter only to find out it was infested with black widow spiders the next day. Deer Park Shelter I think was the name of it. The one just before Hot Springs.
max patch
04-17-2006, 15:42
Massachussets mosquitos. Thot they were gonna fly off with me.
the goat
04-17-2006, 16:57
definitely my scariest is getting chased by a black bear on the AT in snp, on a mid-winter trail run (also definitely my fault).
it was a sow protecting her two cubs who had just been treed by my "always well-behaved except for this one incident" dog. i was yelling at my dog to come back the whole time, but the fun was too much to resist for him, so he decided to chase the sow too. i was watching and yelling the whole time, and they were maybe thirty yards off the trail.
well, she got pretty pissed, turned around & roared (quite a chilling sound when hurled in your direction) and charged after him and i, in turn, ran like hell. as my dog came back towards me (finally listening to me a most inopportune moment) the sow gained on us both. at some point, my dog passed me (that bastard) and the sow got even closer. thank God she abandoned the chase as the trail dropped down to skyline drive & elkwallow. although it seemed like a mile, the chase maybe lasted 100+ yds (i'm thankful i had a head start), and at her closest she was probably a mere 10 yds behind me.
*please spare me the lecture on leashes and dogs, you couldn't possibly be telling me anything i don't already know;)
papa john
04-17-2006, 17:05
If you want a noninsect danger, I'd have to go with picking up Baltimore Jack's Pack.
Not sure about his pack, but you definitely don't want to get between him and a can of spam. I've seen that close up and personal. Hawk Mtn Shelter, April '00. Wasn't pretty.
RockyTrail
04-17-2006, 17:42
it was a sow protecting her two cubs who had just been treed by my "always well-behaved except for this one incident" dog. i was yelling at my dog to come back the whole time, but the fun was too much to resist for him, so he decided to chase the sow too. i was watching and yelling the whole time, and they were maybe thirty yards off the trail.
well, she got pretty pissed, turned around & roared (quite a chilling sound when hurled in your direction) and charged after him and i, in turn, ran like hell. as my dog came back towards me (finally listening to me a most inopportune moment) the sow gained on us both. at some point, my dog passed me (that bastard) and the sow got even closer. thank God she abandoned the chase as the trail dropped down to skyline drive & elkwallow. although it seemed like a mile, the chase maybe lasted 100+ yds (i'm thankful i had a head start), and at her closest she was probably a mere 10 yds behind me.
That dog!....ROFL!!....really loves his master!!!:) :D :D Sorry,
Thanks for sharing your unique experience, that has to be the funniest thing I've read on this board in quite a while!!! However I'm sure you didn't think so at the time. What a great story, I'm still ROFL!:sun
I encoutered several wild boars during mating season. They were behaving aggressively and destroyed my tent. I climbed a tree to avoid them. They weren't after me - just rowdy young male boars looking for female companionship.
We have lots of those damn critters in Western South Carolina. I have seen the aftermath of their rootin around. They sure can tear up a hillside. From everything I have heard they are no fun to be harassed by.
Viking (US)
04-17-2006, 18:51
The "greatest threat" I had that scared me the most was a grouse that burst out of a bush a couple yards away my first day in the Smokies. It was sunset, still a mile or so to the shelter, and I was thinking about bears. Damn bird nearly gave me a heart attack.
The "greatest threat" that might have caused grevious bodily harm was a moose that tromped through the gap (3-4 feet) between my and another hiker's tents in Maine in the middle of the night. I slept through the whole thing, though, so I dunno if it counts.
I saw no rattlesnakes the whole time and only 2 bears, one in the Shennies and one in New Jersey, both of which went away when they saw me. There were probably a lot of both that I didn't see.
Skidsteer
04-17-2006, 18:58
Greatest threat on the trail?
Prosecution rests.....:D
Click here. (http://www.clpc.org/images/clowns.jpg)
And here (http://www.browncardigan.com/auq/id/2005-06-30---clowns-at-war.jpg).
Viking (US)
04-17-2006, 19:03
With respect, Skidsteer, clowns are ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE a threat. I thought we were talking about the AT . . .
Skidsteer
04-17-2006, 19:27
With respect, Skidsteer, clowns are ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE a threat. I thought we were talking about the AT . . .
Their powers are greatest on the trail, where they draw strength from trees marked with white greasepaint. ;)
Blue Jay
04-17-2006, 19:45
Their powers are greatest on the trail, where they draw strength from trees marked with white greasepaint. ;)
Please let me never see a clown on the AT. I'd rather pick up a bear cub and some rattle snakes and put them in my tent with me. This is the first time I've ever considered carrying a gun.
Skidsteer
04-17-2006, 20:05
Please let me never see a clown on the AT. I'd rather pick up a bear cub and some rattle snakes and put them in my tent with me. This is the first time I've ever considered carrying a gun.
I suspect you already know that a gun is useless against clowns, Blue Jay.
You must use Clown spray, clipped to the shoulder strap of your pack, where it is easily accessible if the unthinkable occurs.
Pacific Tortuga
04-17-2006, 20:05
Bee Stings :eek: actually, anaphylactic shock.
I have to agree with Pacific Tortuga on the bee stings. Oct of last year I found out I was allergic to yellowjacket stings the hard way - it was my first systemic reaction and I was a couple miles into the backcountry - hives, swollen lips, itching everywhere, wheezing, splotchy skin, etc - fortunately I did not get the blood pressure drop (ie the shock part) and so was able to hike out and also fortunately I had antihistimines with me as well as an inhaler so I was able to self medicate but it did rather get my attention. Currently I am getting desensitized and I now have an Epi-Pen to carry everywhere also.
Anyways that was my "greatest threat" wildlife encounter.
Bee Stings :eek: actually, anaphylactic shock.
My mother found out the hard way about this as well. She was gardening and got hit by about 5-6 yellowjacket stings. She had a severe reaction and her airway started to close. Scary stuff. Now she carries the epi-pen EVERYWHERE she goes.
I really hope everyone already knows about clowns. I am going to have to stop reading this thread until this subject passes.
Dances with Mice
04-17-2006, 20:55
You must use Clown spray, clipped to the shoulder strap of your pack, where it is easily accessible if the unthinkable occurs. "You have encountered a circus tent in the middle of the woods. Enter (http://www.geocities.com/kkfos1988/index2.html) if you dare. "
One of my all-time favorite movies! It makes "Gone With the Wind" look like a big budget epic.
Skidsteer
04-17-2006, 21:17
A clown-proof shirt is a prudent precaution for the skittish hiker, although it's not as reliable as Clown-spray.
Clown-proof shirt. (http://www.ghearing.net/gallery/d/11392-2/Can_t_sleep_Clowns_will_eat_me_crying.jpg) :)
The 2nd incident involved a Gyr Falcon. As we approached the tree where it was nesting it repeatedly dived bombed us until; we were well out of the area. It actually grabbed and pulled my wife's hair.
THat couldn't have been a GyrFalcon. They don't breed on the island, and are only occasional winter visitors. Most likely it was a Goshawk. GyrFalcons are arctic breeders. Goshawks nest in the northern forests, and the behavior you describe is very characteristic of the species. In fact, I'd bet $$ on it.
Thanks for sharing the story.
bulldog49
04-17-2006, 23:26
MOWGLI, you are correct, it was a Goshawk. It happened a few years back.
We did not know what it was when it happened, but when we got back to the Windigo Ranger station we met a Ranger and he asked us about our hike. When we told him we hiked a certain trail, he asked us if we had been attacked by a bird. Surprised, we told him yes and he explained it was a Goshawk and had done the same thing to some trail maintainers who passed thru there several days earlier.
MOWGLI, you are correct, it was a Goshawk. It happened a few years back.
We did not know what it was when it happened, but when we got back to the Windigo Ranger station we met a Ranger and he asked us about our hike. When we told him we hiked a certain trail, he asked us if we had been attacked by a bird. Surprised, we told him yes and he explained it was a Goshawk and had done the same thing to some trail maintainers who passed thru there several days earlier.
That story is the true definition of "hair raising." There was a Goshawk on the AT in Maine in 2000. He was dive bombing hikers. I was SO looking forward to an encounter, but never saw the bird. Perhaps Lobo or some of the other Class of 2000 encountered the bird. I'm almost certain Freighttrain did.
Rather than re-type it, here is "Blood Mountain Nightmare (Almost)".
I looked it up from a few months back.
I wrote this on another non-hiking forum, but thought it may interest you guys.
I drove my kids up to summer camp in North Carolina, and took some time with my wife (and beagle) for a short vacation. I wanted to show her the highlights of Northern Georgia, which I found to be very beautiful, and not at all what I had expected.
Last year I hiked a 50 mile section of the Georgia Appalachian Trail, before moving on to NC (to avoid the rain) so having and extra 4 days, we drove down from the Asheville area where the camp is located to Hiawassee Georgia, and Lake Chatuge. This is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen. Lake Chatuge is a man-made lake, part of the TVA, and has 120 miles of shoreline, with 4,000 foot mountains all around it. It's 7 miles log, and 4 miles wide at it's widest, but has scores of small fingers of water branching off. The house on the lake are gorgeous, but expensive, as the TVA owns most of the shore line, so lake front lots are large in number, but limited in supply.
We stayed at the Hiawassee Inn, a place that specializes in the hiking community, and was the exact place I was on the 4th of July last year, coming off the trail at Unicoi Gap.
http://www.fototime.com/{3469170A-BD23-49DA-B154-B59CB59BA3D8}/picture.JPG
From Hiawassee, we headed up to Neel's Gap, and to the Hostel and camping store there, to stock up on gear. I had virtually everything, from my long trip last year, but my wife had never done any mountain hiking, other than a trip out to Glacier, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons a few years back, and that was just side trails from the road, nothing serious. We stocked up on camp food, and picked up a set of Crocs sandles for my wife, for camp shoes, and I picked up a cheap poncho, as I had forgotten to pack all of my rain gear. (last year it rained on me all day, 18 days in a row)
Neel's Gap is at the base of Blood Mountain, which is the highest Ga. mountain on the AT, at around 4500 feet. The trail is only 2.5 miles, but it's like straight up, so I would rate it as difficult, for a beginner with a moderate pack. I made sure she was only carrying a day pack, with 15 pounds, while I carried my usual Gregory pack, with about 35 pounds. There is no water source up top, so I was maxed out on water.
Blood Mountain also has the oldest shelter on the AT, and has a pretty spectacular view, so we planned an overnight there, and then would hike back down, and drive further south on the trail, and do another overnight at Long Creek Falls, where tech30528 was last week, and near the beginning of the AT.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/tech30528/006_06.jpg
tech30528 at Long Creek Falls
The beagle was having an absolute blast, being off the leash for the first time in the mountain woods, and probably hiked twice the distance we did, and did so at an amazing pace, running forward, and backwards, as we climbed.
http://www.fototime.com/{6CFC1944-0C07-4554-8F65-267C9DC31043}/picture.JPG
Angel, our 3 year old 13" tri-color beagle
http://www.fototime.com/{2D47248B-8A42-4714-924A-671BD35CC1A5}/picture.JPG
http://www.fototime.com/{E1C39AA3-0E26-49DC-8000-83302FA55C23}/picture.JPG
Near the top
http://www.fototime.com/{335E14BB-FB4A-4537-A972-4AC7C0F25370}/picture.JPG
Near the top
http://www.fototime.com/{CA0BCA9E-B436-4E01-8DAC-EDB8CEBA399B}/picture.JPG
At the top, finally....
http://www.fototime.com/{86B8C42E-040B-4ECC-807F-4915A8D93BBD}/picture.JPG
Blood Mountain Shelter
When we got to the top, the temps started dropping, and we were made aware that a front was moving in, ahead of the tropical storm, so temps started droppping, and we got a light rain, with some mist. Luckily, we had bought 3 camp blankets, and had 30 degree down bags with us.
Blood Mountain Shelter is a stone structure, with two rooms, a front room, and a back sleeping area, with a raised plywood platform, about 6 inches off off the ground. There is no door, and the windows are completely open.
http://www.fototime.com/{30E26BB5-1C0A-4C05-BAD5-A5E2D27452FD}/picture.JPG
Sleeping room
http://www.fototime.com/{8EE4E93D-6348-47AD-B47D-55C2DA94D159}/picture.JPG
Karen reading "DaVinci Code" in the sleeping area.
We got there about 3:30 in the afternoon, and had the place to ourselves for a while, and then were joined by a man and his two sons, who had put in a 12 mile day, so were exhausted. It started raining, so they started cooking, but inside the first room of the shelter (a no-no, as food aroma attracts wildlife).
When it started getting dark, I hung my food and trash with a rope about 15 feet up in a tree, to discourage bears, and other animals from getting at it. Most shelters have mice, and we call them "mini-bears' as they will chew a hole into your pack, and get at anything inside.
I asked the man if he was going to hang his food, and he said he wasn't, as he hadn't seen any bears from his hike from Springer, and didn't see the need. He actually kept his pack, with food in it, in the sleeping area. I strongly disagreed, and told him that if a bear came through the door, I would insist on him dealing with it. He laughed, and said he would.
Now, it's dark, and before bed time, I tied the beagle's leash around my foot, and gave her about 8' of play, so she could move around, but not go bolting out into the darkness after a rabbit, or a mouse. The 8' proved to be a wise choice, as you will soon see.
Now it's about 11pm, and I can't sleep, as the dog has stolen most of my down bag, and I'm laying on plywood, freezing, as I gave my wife my Therma-rest sleeping pad. For the next 20 minutes, the beagle starts shaking and whining. She obviously is detecting something, but I'm assuming it's just the shelter mice, as I can hear light scratching in the next room. I try talking to her to calm her down, but she was wound up pretty tight.
All of a sudden, the scratching noise moves from the front room, to the back sleeping room, right over where this guy's pack was. The noise was pretty loud, and I was starting to form a plan of action for the worst case scenario. I eased my fanny pack over, and grabbed my Surefire 6P flashlight (very powerful and small, same as the cops carry).
Without warning, the beagle shot across the room in the direction of the noise, and was brought up just short by her leash. I reeled her in, and got a firm grasp, then brought my flashlight up, hoping when I flicked it on I would not see eyes 6 feet off the floor.........................
What I saw, was the next worse possible scenario..................
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Oh s**t!!!!!!!
"Dude" I whispered, "wake up!"
No answer.........
"Wake up everybody, we have a situation!" I yelled.
Everybody bolted upright, and stared at the image in my flash light.
And here it was, our second worse nightmare:
http://www.fototime.com/{46B05946-28A2-43FF-B813-CAD19A1102D3}/picture.JPG
Note the tail emerging from the guy's pack!
Yes, it was the biggest skunk I had ever seen in my life!
http://www.fototime.com/{4FC11C76-AC5D-4CA3-80BE-24A9D0874914}/picture.JPG
For 20 minutes we held our breath, as this skunk went in, and out of this guy's pack, and even came over and sniffed their feet.
We discussed what to do, and when the skunk was entirely inside the pack, I told him to just zip it up inside, and take the pack outside. He said "No way, he'll spray my pack." I said "It's your fault he's in here, so take one for the team."
I also considered grabbing the skunk by the tail as it was hanging out, and chucking it out the window like a live grenade, but decided that was a high risk operation, with a large penalty if i failed to use the proper skunk tossing technique.
At one point, it was joined by a smaller skunk, but I couldn't get a pic, as it left the room too quickly.
All the while, I'm holding onto 25 pounds of pure muscle, that is baying, whining, and trying desperately to get at the "kitty" across the room.
2 more feet of leash, and the beagle would have gotten to the skunk, and the entire room would have been the victim of a chemical warfare attack nearly as bad as anything Al Qaeda could dream up.
We would have had a miserable night, then a morning hike with all stinking to high heaven, and then would not have been able to get into our car in our condition.
http://www.fototime.com/{C9DB454B-E7D2-441A-A31E-BADA84360ECA}/picture.JPG
Finally, after a long period of time, the skunk lost interest, and left the room, and the guy took all of his food, and put it in the other room, tossing a handfull of trail mix outside to satisfy the skunk family.
We hiked down the next morning, and learned that our plans to stay at Long Creek Falls would be spent in a rainstorm (Tropical Storm was moving through), so we elected to check into a hotel in the Atlanta area, and just take it easy, having had enough excitement to last us a while.
Hahaha!! I really enjoyed reading that, JLB. Totally made my day :)..
littlelaurel59
05-26-2006, 11:39
Over the years, I have had the pleasure(?) of meeting rattlesnakes and copperheads, a variety of skunks, and a bear on trips. Never felt threatended.
I had a car broken into at a trailhead by one or more Yellow-Bellied Southern Mongrels (the 2 footed variety). Broke out a window, bent up the trunk and busted the trunk lock. By FAR the most dangerous wild animal out there.
Gray Blazer
05-26-2006, 12:17
Good stories!! IMO, JLB wins.
Cookerhiker
05-26-2006, 15:44
Considering all my hiking - AT and otherwise - not much. Encountered 2 copperheads on the AT. The first I almost stepped on but he was sluggish; it was early Spring. Never saw a rattler on the AT but heard one on a hike in the Ramsay's Draft Wilderness in Yirginia but never saw it. My bear encounters were non-threatening.
Now black flies and mosquitos are something else. Worse black flies was hiking in Vermont at Pico Camp in '78 (now a blue-blazed alternative but the AT/LT at the time) and the Perch Shelter just below treeline in the Presidentials in '82. Worse mosquitos were on the AT in NJ June '04. Combined with extreme humidity, it was truly misearble.
Not an encounter but I had a Mountain Lion walk through my camp while on the PCT at Kleghorn Picnis Area 12 miles east of I-15 and Cahon Pass.
gsingjane
05-27-2006, 09:41
Last summer we were attacked during the night by a horde of hellgrammites that crawled in through a hole in our tent and swarmed all over us and pinched us with their iron claws. Hellgrammites are like 1.5 inch long centipedes with a hard carapace, bunches of horrible little legs and two sets of mandibles, and that cannot be killed. I no longer need to read books by Stephen King, let's just put it that way...
Jane in CT
Skidsteer
05-27-2006, 09:58
Last summer we were attacked during the night by a horde of hellgrammites that crawled in through a hole in our tent and swarmed all over us and pinched us with their iron claws. Hellgrammites are like 1.5 inch long centipedes with a hard carapace, bunches of horrible little legs and two sets of mandibles, and that cannot be killed. I no longer need to read books by Stephen King, let's just put it that way...
Jane in CT
:D . They(hellgrammites)also make excellent live trout bait. Impaling them on the hook is kinda like petting a rattlesnake though.
I'll bet you repaired the hole in your tent pretty quickly after that trip!
Rift Zone
05-27-2006, 15:33
Both of my greatest wildlife threats came from the Santa Cruz Mountains.
I was hiking cross-country in Portola Redwoods State Park with an inexperienced friend. We got down near a creek line and I noticed a huge pile of freshly disturbed dirt –easily enough to cover a deer or human. As I got closer, there was no mistaking the very large kitty prints all over the area. Oh S***! Never did see the cat in question but I knew that it wasn’t too far away. I still fully suspect that the cat saw me. I didn’t let go of my blade till at least a half-mile away… Watching every possible ambush point I could imagine as I hiked.
On another occasion, I saw a fawn on the trail ahead of me. Got a little closer and the fawn moved up the slope in a little clearing. When I got the clearing, I looked up the slope to see the fawn and it’s momma. A couple seconds later, I noticed an older female a bit further up the slope. It was quite an experience, viewing what I took to be 3 generations of deer right before me. Well, momma deer was not as moved by my presence. Within a few moments, she started stomping her front feet in a clearly aggressive manner. I was being challenged by a deer! How cool is that? I smiled and made a few comments about how bold she was and assured her that I wasn’t looking to hurt her family. She stomped again. I said a few more words then just stood in silence for a few moments to allow the experience to touch my soul. I left the family to themselves without incident.
sourwood
05-27-2006, 17:37
Yesterday we were hiking along an ancient road bed following a stream up the mountain. We had just come through a small field and were commenting about how easy it would be to stir up a snake in the weeds. As the path re-entered the woods, I was feeling more at ease. Then, I heard a sound which I had never heard before. But I knew immediately what it was. A big timber rattler was sitting at the edge of the path coiled and not too happy. I had darn near stepped on it. We jumped back and considered our options. Walking by that rattling snake was not one of them. So, we lobbed a variety of sticks, etc at it in hopes of chasing it back into the woods. No luck. We then decided which way to go around it. The choices were down a steep prickly bank to the stream or climb up a steep slope, around a rock ledge. We went up and over, past the snake. It worked pretty well until we hit the stinging nettles. So, down we went. I decided to go down backwards, which didn't work too well as with my first step, I just slid down the bank through the nettles. That felt good. As is often the case, the path ended and we had to bushwhack our way up to the train tracks to walk out. As we scrambled up the steep, rocky slope we just knew we were going to run into a relative of that first snake, only this time we would be eyeball to eyeball. I was quite happy to reach the tracks and have a clear view of where I was stepping!
Julie
The greastest threat to a hiker on the trail are themselves and improper hygiene.
Walkingdude
05-28-2006, 13:01
Aside from bad decisions you yourself can make, human beings are the worst threat you will face when hiking. And unless you are near a road, the chances of even that happening are very slim.
I've been extremely fortunate when backpacking the AT. In all of the miles I've logged on it, and in all of my trips, I have never once found a tick on my body. And keep in mind that I check thoroughly for ticks, especially when I set up camp.
I have gotten ticks on the Foothills Trail in SC, and in various state parks in NC, SC, TN, GA, and VA, but never on the AT. I have no idea why.
Butch Cassidy
05-28-2006, 16:07
I was almost ran down by a doe deer that was being chased by something. I did not see what she was so afraid of but it sounded big. Not a single bear or moose in 2200 miles. It would have been bad to be taken out by Bambi in Ct.
Butch (Paladin GAME 05)
...a sidewalk preacher in front the Doyle blocking my way to cold one. Luckily for me, a wino sitting on the curb distracted him just long enough for me to escape.
You know, it could have been a clown.
A big timber rattler was sitting at the edge of the path coiled and not too happy. I had darn near stepped on it. We jumped back and considered our options.
Julie
It may be easier said than done, but if you had given the snake a 3'-4' berth, you would have been fine. Timber Rattlers are not aggresive snakes, and they won't chase you. What you did was unnecessary. Live & learn.
sourwood
05-28-2006, 19:59
It may be easier said than done, but if you had given the snake a 3'-4' berth, you would have been fine. Timber Rattlers are not aggresive snakes, and they won't chase you. What you did was unnecessary. Live & learn.
Yeah, In my head I knew that. But there was that coiled snake with his head pointing towards where we would be walking and he was rattling away. We've passed them when they were stretched out sunning, but rattling away. Well, we just could not bring ourselves to do it.
Julie
Yeah, In my head I knew that. But there was that coiled snake with his head pointing towards where we would be walking and he was rattling away. We've passed them when they were stretched out sunning, but rattling away. Well, we just could not bring ourselves to do it.
Julie
I hear ya! FWIW, coiled snakes can strike about half their length. Timber rattlers approaching 6' are extremely rare. That's why I mentioned the distance that I did. They are magnificent creatures. You're lucky to have seen one,
fiddlehead
05-28-2006, 22:08
The only problem i've had on the AT from "Wildlife" was a false charge by a black bear (protecting her young) and a brown recluse spider bite. I don't consider someone's dog wildlife but have been as scared or more scared from people's dogs who let them run loose than i have from that bear.
It's a shame that people let their dangerous dogs run loose like that. I've been bitten more than once but of course the original question was about wildlife so i'll keep it to the bear and spider.
Years ago at the tower at top Wayah Bald, which is accessible by car. two friends and I ran into the terror of these here woods. The Redneck with a gun. He was a young guy on top of the tower with a bulldog on a leash and a pistol hanging from his belt.
I am not a gun person. Certainly would never feel a need to wear one around. It detracted from his buckle.
We howdied to him.
"We are yawl from" he politey inquired.
"Down in Florida" one of my friends responded.
"Round here, we really dont like folks from Florida" he volunteered. He was a cliche of a redneck, Jeff Forxworthy or not.
It is not real animals that I ever worry about. It is the two legged creatures that always put me on DEFCON.
Uncas
Kerosene
05-29-2006, 07:38
The only problem i've had on the AT from "Wildlife" was...a brown recluse spider bite.How and where did this happen, fiddlehead?
sourwood
05-29-2006, 07:41
I hear ya! FWIW, coiled snakes can strike about half their length. Timber rattlers approaching 6' are extremely rare. That's why I mentioned the distance that I did. They are magnificent creatures. You're lucky to have seen one,
It really was a special treat to see that snake, and especially to see one that was rattling. They are beautiful snakes. Earlier last week we saw a young bear drinking out of our fish pond early one morning. So, it was a good week for wildlife here in the mountains!
fiddlehead
05-29-2006, 22:29
How and where did this happen, fiddlehead?
Believe it or not, i discovered it when i woke up in the Manchester, NH hostel at the church. (no longer open to hikers) I don't know if that's where i got it but that's where i found out about it. It started as a small brown speck, a lot like a freckle that itched a bit. I watched it get worse everyday for about a week when you could look right inside my ankle all the way to the bone and puss was coming out. It was horrible looking although it didn't hurt a whole lot. So, when it got that bad, i went to the hospital at Rutland. The doctor there was really cool and gave me a powerful shot of antibiotics in the butt, a run of pills (antibiotics) and told me to rest up for about 5 days when i would probably get a bit sick from the powerful drugs but that i would be ok. he didn't charge me as he always wanted to hike the AT. (i did have to pay the hospital bill) He was right on with everything he said and i don't even have a scar today.
Years later, i got another one in Northern Ca. and this time, i went to the hospital and told them what it was and after giving me the shot, they tried to charge me $700.
I don't think there's a whole lot of preventative stuff you can do about these spider bites. but i did run into a woman on the CDT (Barbara, the postmaster at South City, WY) who told me about some powder that the Indians' used to use in that area and one of the things it supposedly fixes is a brown recluse spider bite. I don't remember the name of the stuff but have a bottle of it at home in PA.
Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars Chiggars
UnkaJesse
05-29-2006, 23:25
This didn't happen on the AT, but it's certainly a close encounter....
I'm not much of a hunter, but most of my family is, which means I've been more than a few times. When I was a teenager, I went squirrel hunting in the swamps of south Georgia. If you don't know, you do this on the ground, not in a treestand. Well, I got bored, laid down and fell asleep. (I did this before and had a cousin totally freak when he found me and thought I was dead, but that's another story!)
I woke up when I heard something running toward me. I opened my eyes and saw a huge bear in full sprint coming right at me. I sat straight up and realized that the huge bear was actually a cub. It had just looked big because my head was on the ground. When I sat up, it took an abrupt turn about 20 feet from me and bolted off into the woods.
Thinking about the bullet I'd just dodged, I wondered what the cub was running from. Then I wondered what might be chasing a cub......Momma Bear!!!!
Momma Bear came out of the bushes running all out to catch her cub. She looked right at me. I tried not to look into her eyes, but you could tell that she was confused. For all of a half a second, she was trying to decide if I was a threat. It sounds like a long time, but it just amounted to a half-step while she thought it over.
Luckily for me, she realized that I did not have the cub and posed no danger. She turned in the exact spot the cub had turned at and disappeared into the bushes.
It was all over in four or five seconds, but it's something I'll never forget. When you see something like that you realize how inteligent these animals are and why there are so few attacks. Garbage bears aside, the generally mean us no harm.
kinda of a funny story here...
over 20 yrs ago a buddy and i would drive from small town AL on Friday nights to kayak on the Chattooga over the weekend. we'd pull into the area about midnight, find a campground, flop for the night, and get up early to get in as much white water as we could the next day.
We pulled into a State Park just over the GA NC line late one Friday night. He put his new state-of-the art thermarest on top of a picnic table and went to sleep. I lay on the ground under the seat of the table (in case it rained!) and fell deep asleep (no pad, just an old cotton sleeping bag - enjoy being young while you are!). At some point during the night, I struggled out of sleep dreaming that rats were attacking me - biting at my nose and eyes. As I woke up, I realized that I was hearing skittering and snuffling right in front of my face (was sleeping on my side). The night was completely black - I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I began yelling and flailing around - imagining hordes of rats about to jump on me. I finally calmed down, found my flashlight, and swung it around frantically looking for all the rats.....only to see the tail of a fat skunk waddling off about 10 feet from me.....
Kerosene
05-30-2006, 21:02
About 4 miles south of Harpers Ferry, hiking north on a beautiful cool day in October 2002, I came up over and around a small knoll to sight a reasonably large animal 40 yards in front of me. Without thinking I clapped my hands (this was before I used poles) to scare it off. The animal looked right at me and quickly loped off the trail into thicker woods about 30 yards away. I still believe that this was a cougar given its coloring and feline movement. I only wish that I had waited a second before clapping my hands.
Needless to say, I kept looking over my shoulder for the next half hour to make sure it wasn't stalking me.
Most terrifying experience ... A hen partridge in June with a brood of a dozen young ens at foot. She flew up in my face just before I stepped on them (well camoed) and commenced to pick my eyeballs out! I swatted her down and she pecked at my boots. She came back up for another eyeball peck and I ran away as fast as I could. Another story of David and Goliath.
Beware the mother of anything. A Northeast AT experience.
Programbo
06-04-2006, 21:45
Once while I was rock hoping along a creek on a hot dry summer day thru an area with a lot of dry fallen trees etc I stopped to eat something for a bit and was sitting on one of the larger warm rocks...About halfway thru my meal I was glancing around at some of the driftwood when my eyes came to rest upon a particularly long fat piece that came out from behind one rock and disappeared behind another about 2 feet behind where I was sitting...Seeing the odd pattern in the "wood" I suddenly realized that it wasn`t driftwood at all but the longest fattest rattlesnake I had ever seen!...Although I`m sure my eyes got as big as silver dollars and my heart was pounding rapidly I had the good sense to freeze in place and then ever so slowly pick up my things and beat a quick retreat
Bears, snakes, dogs, humans, and bugs seem to be most people's 'greatest threat' on the Trail. Most of these, if not all, have been built up to such an extent that even newbie/perspective hikers begin to fear them.
Big bad bears are pictured just like that in most media forms, big and bad. Standing up on two legs, roaring. A menace to all good woodsy folk. We have bear bags, bear-proof containers, and bear mace available to us. Now I have no idea what it would be like to face a brown bear, I'd prolly piss myself, but black bears hold a special place in my heart. In my mind, they are shy creatures that only want live by the 'live, let live' mindset.
Snakes....well I can't think of many fond things to say of them, sadly. They eat mice! Yeah! Go snakes!
Humans are very dangerous. No more so on the Trail than off.
While hiking I always heard complaints of the bugs, or more specifically, bug bites. A lot of people couldn't get a break from the onslaught. Legs and arms covered in them, some bleeding ('cause they couldn't stop scratching them). Though I can't say I went unscathed, I can say that what I got was a fraction of what everyone else I came across got. I'm not sure what it was. I don't smoke. I don't use bug repellants. Whatever it is, I'm not complaining.
So all of the above are seen as threatening by a good majority of hikers (experienced and novice), but my 'Greatest threat' is none of the above. What, you ask? Well I'll tell you...
DEER.
Yes, thats right. Your eyes aren't failing you. I said 'deer'. I had seen countless of them before I had started my '05 hike. Then a few dozen during my hike (most in the Smokies). When spotted, we would scramble for cameras or just watch them as they meandered by our shelters. While on the trail we could only catch glimpses of a white tail bounding away into the bush. Yes, like everyone else, I was lured into a false sense of security. They were just deer. No more harmful than a bunny rabbit and just as elusive. Right? WRONG!
It was my second day into the Shenandoah's. Beautiful day, beautiful trail. My legs were warming up while I took to the next hill. Now I'm not always looking ahead 24/7 (which is how I ran into that mother bear), sometimes my eyes drift down to my feet. This is what I was doing when I suddenly felt something ahead of me. That feeling you sometimes get when you're walking into something. About five yards up the hill was a handsome young buck. All the deer I'd seen before had been does. I didn't even want to reach for my camera, that I might spook him. After a while (maybe a minute) I wondered why he was still there. Sure, it was his forest, not mine. But I've never had a deer give me this much attention. And he was smack in the middle of the Trail! So I took a step toward him, thinking that this would surely send him skipping off deeper into the woods. No. Worse. He stepped closer to me! What the -beep-?! He grunts and starts pawing the ground, never looking away from me. Okay, at this point I really didn't know what to do. I had been briefed on many things, but this wasn't one of them. My next thought was to try a slightly different tactic, making a commotion. I yelled, banged one of my poles up against a tree, and took another step towards him. Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. He charged me. So in the briefest of moments, between his first step and the next, I made a decision. Fight or flight? Flight, for sure. I mean come on, what would you have done? Really? I ran like ..well... like I had a rabid deer on my heels! I don't really remember how far I ran, but it was enough to have me winded when I stoped. He had stopped chasing me at some point and I had felt it in me to not stop, but keep running back south. When I came to a point where the trail crossed Skyline drive, I took to the road for a while. While at the shelter that night, no one else had even laid eyes on the 'beast'.
Deer-1 Rain-0.
Rain's Greatest Threat = Deer.
We were chased down by an armadillo.
Rockman1
07-31-2006, 13:17
Easily my most frightening moment, I was salmon fishing on a very small stream in the Lower Cook Inlet of Alaska. Suddenly, and almost without a sound, a full grown Brown Bear appeared out of the bushes directly across the stream from me. I had no gun, no repellent, no whistle; I was at his mercy. Fortunately, he just looked at me for a second and then ducked back into the bushes, where I didn't see him again. As soon as I thought I could safely retreat, I was outta there!!!
Squirrels really freak me out.
:D
I have two close encounters, both happened on Isle Royale on different trips in early spring, the first week the is park is opened.
The first one was after a particularly harsh winter where a large portion of the Moose died. I was walking aways ahead of my wife and noticed a still-born moose calf lying near the trail. I stopped a little ways past it to wait for my wife to catch up. When she didn't catch up to me, I backtracked to find her. She was hiding behind a tree near the dead calf because the mother moose showed up to protect her dead offspring and would not let my wife pass. I circled around and finally got the mother's attention long enough for my wife to get away.
The 2nd incident involved a Gyr Falcon. As we approached the tree where it was nesting it repeatedly dived bombed us until; we were well out of the area. It actually grabbed and pulled my wife's hair.
But seriously folks . . . .
I've actually heard (I'm from MI) that more people are injured in Michigan by Moose then by any other wild animals.
I'm headed to 'ole Isle Royale on 3 weeks. - hoping to see a moose, and if I'm really, really lucky, a wolf.
Ramble~On
07-31-2006, 19:18
While in Pennsylvania I was off trail for......the only reason anyone would want to go off trail in Pennsylvania......anyway while making my way back up to the trail I pulled myself up a rock and came face to face with a coiled rattlesnake...it never made a sound and my hand was about a foot away from it....So i guess that rule about watching where you put your hands while in rattlesnake country is something that should be given attention.
I could easily have been bitten and still wonder why it didn't.
StarLyte
07-31-2006, 19:43
There are a LOT of rattlesnakes on the mountain above Blackburn Trail Center.
The largest black snakes I've ever seen too.
There's a lot of large rock and boulders sitting on that mountain and I believe it to be the homes for many snakes. Beware though.....there's a small path at the top of the mountain that leads to the other side of the mountain for a city view, you'll see the sign. It's a rattlesnack haven.
I do find snakes of all kinds fascinating. I've always wanted to handle a rattlesnake-suppose I could learn from a pro if I wanted to. (No I'm not on meds)
........ I've always wanted to handle a rattlesnake-suppose I could learn from a pro if I wanted to. (No I'm not on meds)
If you where going to get into the supply of venom for the manufacture of anti-venom, I'd say cool. It would be a fascinating way (albeit dangerous) job to pursue. I like watching the snake wranglers in Australia do it on the Animal Planet channel. Otherwise, I'd leave the snakes along and let the pros do their thing.
The only good snake is a . . .
oh, never mind - -
I'd have to say that it was the little runt of a raccoon on the Massachusetts section which had been damaged by a tornado in the 1990's. I went through there a couple of years later. As I was crossing an earthen dam at the end of a swampy lake, a small raccoon met me, coming from the other direction. He tried to stare me down in a threatening posture (he couldn't have been more than 20 lbs). We stared at each other for what must've been 10 seconds, neither one of us wanting to turn his back. I finally decided to make the first move, setting the tip of one trekking pole on the ground and hitting it with the other making a loud noise. At first, he didn't flinch, but finally relented, climbing slowly down the embankment to the right. I passed by carefully, and kept looking back for the next 100 yd. or so until I got to the road (where the tornado had crossed and killed three people who just happened to be driving through there when it passed). I have no idea whether the little critter was rabid, had distemper, or was just ornery. It was quite unnerving at the time. The tornado story is something which haunts me to this day, as do similar stories. Sometimes folks are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, a matter of seconds in time, perhaps, and millimeters in space. Sometimes tragedies can be avoided by remaining alert...........and sometimes, unfortunately, they cannot.
If you where going to get into the supply of venom for the manufacture of anti-venom, I'd say cool. It would be a fascinating way (albeit dangerous) job to pursue. I like watching the snake wranglers in Australia do it on the Animal Planet channel. Otherwise, I'd leave the snakes along and let the pros do their thing.
I'd always known it as antivenin. I guess anti-venom is acceptable. I just had to check.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivenin
I've seen it done on television, and it's not something I'd do myself, though I'm glad someone else does. I hope they get paid well.:D
boarstone
07-31-2006, 20:27
women hikers w/dogs...:o
Blue Jay
07-31-2006, 20:49
While in Pennsylvania I was off trail for......the only reason anyone would want to go off trail in Pennsylvania......anyway while making my way back up to the trail I pulled myself up a rock and came face to face with a coiled rattlesnake...it never made a sound and my hand was about a foot away from it....So i guess that rule about watching where you put your hands while in rattlesnake country is something that should be given attention.
I could easily have been bitten and still wonder why it didn't.
You were not bitten because rattlesnakes are just not that fond of biting people. It's clear it cannot eat you, so why bother. I once saw another hiker step on one and it didn't bite him. The vast majority of rattlesnake bites involve a drunk idiot picking them up.
..... I guess anti-venom is acceptable. I just had to check.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivenin ......
Quote from the above link: "Antivenom (or antivenin, or antivenene)". Manufacturers sell it as Antivenom, however my MS Word says the correct spelling is Anti-venom, I would say both are probably correct.
SGT Rock
08-01-2006, 15:21
Just don't be around a tree when birds land. You could get hurt. HAMMOCKERS BEWARE:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=efd6e4b1b519baebab4f1514f8652f60.632761&cache=1
grouse............scariest creature on the trail...............
grouse............scariest creature on the trail...............
Dont know about scary however they can sure get a jump out o you when they blow out o their hiding place. Especially if they are close.
Gray Blazer
09-25-2006, 12:37
Not clever enough to get the pic here, but, if you view my gallery, it's the first pic in there. This guy (bear) came out of nowhere and really harrassed me!!!
soulshine26
07-07-2007, 21:38
Neither of our encounters took place ON the AT, but were in the general vicinity of it. (within 30 miles)
Two encounters took place at Burrell's Ford in Western SC. Once while camping by the Chattooga River, my friend and I approached our tent to turn in for the evening only to find a LARGE copperhead coiled up around the entrance to the tent. My companion was certainly braver than I, taking a large stick and moving the venomous snake to the river. (I wanted him to kill it with the stick instead).
The second encounter took place years later at practically the same spot. My husband and I (he wasn't my husband yet at that point) hiked in to the Chattooga River trail from Burrell's ford and set up camp in the dark. (It was January, and we had gotten a late start). As we gathered some firewood for a fire, we noticed that at a campsite nearby (about 20 yards or so) there was a stack of already gathered firewood neatly placed beside an empty campsite. We were unsure of why someone would gather firewood and not use it, but decided that we would capitalize on this since it was cold and it was pitch black at this point. As I approached the stack with my headlamp, I noticed two cat-like eyes in some brush beside the wood. This startled me, because I could tell from the width between the eyes that this was not someone's lost housepet. I backed away slowly and alerted my husband to it, who said it was probably just a fox and that we would just get our own firewood. We did so, and built a fire. As we sat down to enjoy the warmth a good 30 minutes later, I noticed that the same pair of eyes were still there. I pointed it out to my hubby, so he got his flashlight and we approached. As he shone the large (superpowered) flashlight toward the animal, it stood up, revealing it's massive size. I will never forget the shoulder blades of this cougar... moving like a seasaw as it took a couple of steps forward, out of the brush. I thought at that moment that we were going to die right there in the cold and the dark. Jeremy made a loud catlike noise repeatedly, which both startled me and pissed me off... I thought he was trying to provoke it. I kept saying "shut up" and he kept doing it. (Thank GOD he knew what he was doing.) The cat retreated back into the brush and we stood in paralyzed fear as it walked away back into the woods. We immediately packed up our camp (at lightning speed), poured all of our water on the campfire and hiked out in record time. If that thing was watching/stalking us, we weren't going to be an easy supper for it after we fell asleep. We drove to my apartment in Greenville, SC and slept like babies in my bed instead. When we reported it to the local ranger station in Walhalla, SC the next day... he informed us that we *couldn't possibly* have seen a cougar in the area because they just weren't native animals. I told him that a "figment of our imagination" wouldn't have forced us to hike 3 miles in the dark and the blistering cold at a rapid pace.
Seems we are not the only ones who have seen a cougar and then been laughed at when we reported it...
My most dangerous wildlife encounter happened in southern Montana on the CDT.
I had a moth fly into my ear and lodge itself in as deep as it could go.
We couldn't get it out with tweezers. After three days and 60 miles of hiking I had to go to a doctor's office to get it removed in West Yellowstone. Only time I've had to visit a clinic for any reason on any of my thru-hikes.
entry from when the bug flew in my ear
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=151716
entry about getting it removed
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=151714
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=176282
Probably the scariest encounter I've had was the bear the was trying to knock food off the bear cables and then came and shook the fence at Silars' Bald Shelter in the Smoky Mountains. That and a few rattlesnakes that have made me jump out of my skin (but that fright lasts a second, not all night).
Jim Adams
07-08-2007, 01:24
most dangerous encounter was with ...myself!
i just happened to finish all of my whiskey on the third day of a 5 day AT hike. it was terrifying!
geek
I hopped up on a rock to get a better view and a Mountain Lion was on the other side of the rock enjoying the view as well. :eek: It took off like a flash before I fully realized what had happened.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
07-08-2007, 10:10
My most dangerous encounter was on the main street of Damascus -- Jack and The Dude on one side and Pirate, Wee Willy and CrazyHorse on the other. Big honking redneck truck in the road piloted by a PBR-fueled fellow in the middle. Dino ducked into a shop to avoid the confrontation and was tortured by an antique saleswoman for 30 minutes.
Here's a picture of two Beaver (http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p200/woodsy2007/100_0076.jpg) planning their attack on me, the 3rd and largest one is under water at the moment. The attack (http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p200/woodsy2007/100_0062.jpg)begins:eek:
taildragger
07-08-2007, 14:37
While trailing a deer one day bow hunting (I knew that I had missed the deer two days before and was trailing just to put some other peoples minds at ease, that and I had already tried trailing it twice) but anyways. I found where his tracks entered the woods about 400 yds from my shot, then I saw some blood and thought, d*mn, I hit him and lost him, then I found where a deer had "bedded" down. There was a large pool of blood, then I could see the trail where the deer had been drug into the woods. My first thought was "oh crap, we've got hogs" so I followed the trail and found part of a young buck (thankfully not the one that I had missed). I got a really really eerie feeling and looked up into the trees and saw the rest of the kill. I had no gun or knife (very very rare occurence when I hunt) and I slowly backed out.
Found out later on that one of the farmers in the area had said that a cat had been living there for a while and that he would see it hunting a few times a year. This was still when the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept claimed that we didn't have resident Mt. Lions. When I talked to one of the biologists that I used to work for, he told me about how he always just dismissed the old sighting as a yellow dog and that the kill I described was a Mt. Lion.
BTW, the kill was still fresh, blood and meat still wet.
As for hiking, I nearly stepped on a cotton-mouth near a creek one day in Oklahoma.
Closest encounter period, a wild turkey with 1.5" long spurs spurring at my face while I ran like hell.
Oh, if you ever have a young buck staring you down on trail during the rut, you could try a grunt snort wheeze call at them. Usually only very dominant deer make the call, and if they aren't the biggest buck in the are, they will run in fear of having their butt whipped. Don't do it with a large buck b/c it will just piss him off...
soulshine26
07-08-2007, 15:12
This was still when the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept claimed that we didn't have resident Mt. Lions. When I talked to one of the biologists that I used to work for, he told me about how he always just dismissed the old sighting as a yellow dog and that the kill I described was a Mt. Lion.
...
So, are all of the biologists in this country in agreement that mountain lions are an urban legend except in the mountains of California where they actually have killed humans? It baffles me when I see the number of people who have had these encounters (including myself) and yet are repeatedly told they must have been mistaken...
So, are all of the biologists in this country in agreement that mountain lions are an urban legend except in the mountains of California where they actually have killed humans? It baffles me when I see the number of people who have had these encounters (including myself) and yet are repeatedly told they must have been mistaken...
They aren't only in California. I know they are in Big Bend. The website link below takes you Non-California attacks.
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_nonca.html
soulshine26
07-08-2007, 15:33
They aren't only in California. I know they are in Big Bend. The website link below takes you Non-California attacks.
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_nonca.html
Looks like most of these attacks took place out west. Our encounter was in the Appalachians in western SC. I suppose an actual attack has to take place before authorities acknowledge that the cats actually inhabit the area. I'd rather people laugh at me than have had to get the scars to prove my story, though.
taildragger
07-08-2007, 18:33
You have to understand that most of the people that the biologist talk to believe that almost everything is a Mt. Lion. So usually they are doubtful of these reported events. One of the other things that they would always say is that the cats might just be moving through in an attempt to establish a territory. The first confirmed instance of a cat was a young male that was hit by a train. He had been colared and I believe that he was from the Dakotas originally.
The closest I came was sleeping in a shelter only to find out it was infested with black widow spiders the next day. Deer Park Shelter I think was the name of it. The one just before Hot Springs.
:eek:
Gaaa! I don't dig spiders! Anything with 8 legs is pure evil man!
Johnny Thunder
07-09-2007, 14:24
Attacked by Cyborgs in the summer of '98.
Johnny
Nightwalker
07-13-2007, 04:59
*please spare me the lecture on leashes and dogs, you couldn't possibly be telling me anything i don't already know;)
And the dog was saying "don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than you, daddy."
Nightwalker
07-13-2007, 05:02
You must use Clown spray, clipped to the shoulder strap of your pack, where it is easily accessible if the unthinkable occurs.
Helps if it's embedded in a plastic flower.
mobileman
07-22-2007, 05:51
Jimmy Carter claimed that while he was in the middle of a lake, a big rabbit attempted to climb into his boat.
I have encountered black bear, lightning, a rattler, a great dane, & a redneck with a gun on the trail, but I consider my closest call to be yellow jackets.
I was hiking alone in the Addis Gap area one moonless night and began searching for a campsite about 11:00 pm. I felt relieved to find a flat hard packed site with a rock fire ring just off the trail. (this was before I started hammock hanging) I began setting up my tent by headlight and noticed a flying insect or two buzzing in the light. I turned off my light for a moment hoping the bugs would disappear, then relit my light and began to look around. What & saw scared the piss out of me. My tent was inches away from a 6" dia. hole in the ground with the yellow jackets starting to fly out en mass. I killed my light again & dragged my tent ~40 feet away in the dark. I still got stung two times. I beat it out of camp in the dark about 5:00 am the next morning before they started swarming again.
I consider hypothermia & lightning to be the greatest threats on the trail. Fortunately, these can be managed by making the right decisions.
The drive to the trail is usually the biggest risk any AT backpacker encounters. If you don't believe it, drive up from Atlanta one Frightday night. (pun intended)
Egads
SawnieRobertson
07-22-2007, 12:29
definitely my scariest is getting chased by a black bear on the AT in snp, on a mid-winter trail run (also definitely my fault).
it was a sow protecting her two cubs who had just been treed by my "always well-behaved except for this one incident" dog. i was yelling at my dog to come back the whole time, but the fun was too much to resist for him, so he decided to chase the sow too. i was watching and yelling the whole time, and they were maybe thirty yards off the trail.
well, she got pretty pissed, turned around & roared (quite a chilling sound when hurled in your direction) and charged after him and i, in turn, ran like hell. as my dog came back towards me (finally listening to me a most inopportune moment) the sow gained on us both. at some point, my dog passed me (that bastard) and the sow got even closer. thank God she abandoned the chase as the trail dropped down to skyline drive & elkwallow. although it seemed like a mile, the chase maybe lasted 100+ yds (i'm thankful i had a head start), and at her closest she was probably a mere 10 yds behind me.
*please spare me the lecture on leashes and dogs, you couldn't possibly be telling me anything i don't already know;)
Rolling on the floor, laughing my . . . . Great story.--Kinnickinic
AmyJanette
01-25-2008, 14:44
Well, I haven't yet hiked the AT, but since other people have been posting stories from elsewhere, I will too.
My closest encounter happened when I was camping outside Duluth, Minnesota. My friend and I were sharing a tent, and in the middle of the night, we heard a whoosh---THUD noise, and something hit me on my leg through the side of the tent.
I whispered to my friend, "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, maybe we should go and check it out!"
"You first!"
So we decided to wait till morning, and I pulled my sleeping bag closer to the middle of the tent and didn't sleep much because I kept hearing these scuffling noises outside, but as long as they were outside, I was happy, and I dozed off just before dawn. In the morning, my friend got up and left the tent before I woke up, and when I woke up, I heard some more scuffling noises from outside the tent. They didn't sound too terribly threatening, but I waited till they were gone and cautiously poked my head out of the tent...and hit it on something...
It was a huge tree! It had fallen during the night, and one of the branches had ripped my tent fly and another had hit me in the leg. The trunk was about six or eight inches in diameter, and if it had fallen five feet farther north, my friend and I both would have been severely injured, if not killed.
I ducked out of the tent through the branches, and saw, to my surprise, that the scuffling noises I had heard had been beavers carrying away sections of the tree. They had felled the tree, almost on top of us, and had proceeded to chew it into manageable sections to haul away, which they proceed to do during the night and into the morning.
And as if that wasn't enough, the park manager, an incompetent lout who had no people skills whatsoever, came over, acted all nice and then when my friend asked if there was any insurance (cause my tent had rips in it from the branches of the tree, and the top of the tree had fallen on and scratched my car), he acted like we were just trying to get money out of him, and said that just because a 'twig' fell on us, we weren't getting a penny out of the park. I was fine with that, cause it was a fairly cheap tent, and it was a few years old and needed replacement anyway, but my friend mentioned calling her lawyer, and the park manager stalked off and made a phone call. I guess whoever he called told him to be nice to us, because when he came back he was all smiles and asked how much the tent had cost, and he'd pay us the replacement cost, plus refund our money for the night we had spent there. When I told him how much I had paid for the tent, he argued and said it couldn't possibly be worth that, and then his cell phone rang, and when he was done, he left and came back with the price I had said.
Then he said that another camper had abandoned a tent down by the river, and we were welcome to it if we cleaned it out. He led us down there to this mangy old tent that was half as big as mine, and we looked inside and it was absolutely filthy, and had old food containers that were all mouldy and assorted clothing items that looked like goodwill wouldn't even take them, a wallet, and a hatchet. My friend and I looked at each other and were about to decline his kind offer, when he said that he'd help us and that when it was empty we could run it through the washing machines to get it clean.
Then he left and when he came back, he gave us a garbage bag, looked into the tent, and said, "Oh, that's my hatchet."
I was beginning to wonder if the previous tenant had REALLY abandoned the tent...then the guy left and my friend and I discussed the possibility of finding another campsite as our homebase while we hiked around. He came back with a black garbage bag and basically said, "There you go," and walked off. So, my friend and I went to work (even though the guy said he'd help us) and we soon had the tent emptied, but it had this funky smell to it, so we decided to take it up and launder it. When we got up to the office to get some change for the laundry machnes, the guy said "You can't launder that in our machines! They'll get dirty inside!"
:rolleyes:
So then we said, "Well, we don't want the tent then," and the guy completely went off his rocker...he started yelling at us, and then he started using racial slurs against my friend (who is Korean) and I said, "We won't be staying here any longer." Then I pulled on my friend's arm and we walked away, the whole time with the guy following us and changing back to Mr. Nice Guy trying to apologize and then yelling at us again. I seriously think he was bipolar or something.
So we went back to my wrecked tent, and started to pull it out from under the tree, and he came along and said he had to take pictures. So we let him, and then he stalked off again. We still had our campfire wood, which we did not want to take with us, so we gave it to the neighbouring campers. We just said that our tent was ruined so we were going to leave the campsite, and then the park manager came over and started yelling at us again in front of these other campers saying that we were saying things behind his back and making him look bad.
I said, "We don't have to say anythign to make you look bad, you're doing it all on your own!" and the other camper we had given our wood to looked at the guy with a bewildered expression and said, "They never said anything about you...they were justing giving me their wood since they were leaving." That shut the guy up for a minute, then he tried to kick us out of the campground...LOL...
I said, "We already told you we're leaving, so you don't have to kick us out. We wouldn't camp here another night if you paid us!!"
"Oh, well, stop by the office, and I'll refund your money. Thanks for camping here!"
What was this guy on???
We stopped by the office, and he returned our money, and then changed back into Mr. Hyde and told us we'd have to sign a thing to say that we had been refunded our money and had the tent paid for. We did, and then i said I wanted a copy and he started to argue, and I was getting fed up by this time and said, "Just write!" he spluttered for a moment and then wrote out another copy, which we both signed. And then my friend and I booted it out of there.
It was the long weekend, so we couldn't find another campsite to go to, and the hotels were mostly full, so we ended up staying at the Radisson for the night, roughing it...lol...
So yeah, that's my story of the greatest threat story, both from the beavers and from the park manager. Frankly, I'm happy we left when we did...we might have ended up like that other camper whose tent was abandoned with his ID, clothing and food and Mr. Park Manager guy's hatchet still inside.
Bulldog but more specifically the human owner. Last summer I was solo hiking the WV & MD sections. I saw 2 oncoming hikers each with dogs. I normally mountain bike in an area that has heavy horse use. So my instinct is to speak softly to the animal to try to reassure it. I did this with the dogs "good boy... it's OK". The bulldog went for my throat. I stepped back, hit a rock and my pack took me to the ground. The only thing that save me was my hiking poles which I kept between my neck and the dog.
The owner finally got the dog off me and was apologetic. As I regained my feet the dog went for me again. Once again the poles saved a nasty bite to the legs. The other dog, a mutt, was bouncing around but never went for me.
I love animals and know exactly what this dog was doing. I blame this on the owner for not having firm verbal control over the animal. I could very well have bled out if that dog got my neck or femoral. The dog would have been put down and the owner's life would have changed forever.
The lesson I take away is this: Upon seeing an oncoming dog, I will always open my hip belt, take my hands out of my pole straps and be cupping a locking drop point flip action blade. I'll never be unprepared again.
If you ever plan to bring a dog on the trail. Be 100% certain you have the animal under control. If you can't stop it in its' tracks with a verbal command, it shouldn't be out there.
Just down the trail from where I was attacked was a popular day hike destination. Mothers with small children climbing up to see the view. If that dog had decided to defend the owner by going for a 6 year old... well you understand.
dessertrat
01-25-2008, 15:20
That dog!....ROFL!!....really loves his master!!!:) :D :D Sorry,
Thanks for sharing your unique experience, that has to be the funniest thing I've read on this board in quite a while!!! However I'm sure you didn't think so at the time. What a great story, I'm still ROFL!:sun
I'll bet the bear finds it amusing to look back upon too.
dessertrat
01-25-2008, 15:22
The greatest threat to hikers in terms of wildlife is ticks, mean dogs, and bad people. I would not sell a bear short if it attacked, but the odds of an attack are quite low.
Mrs Baggins
01-25-2008, 15:24
:eek: Definitely rattlesnakes! We were day hiking in the Michaux Forest in PA, me, husband, son, and son's friend. Son and friend were about 15 feet in the lead when he and I both stood stock still and said at the same time "Yes I heard it!" Maybe 10 feet from son's friend was a large rattler, coiled and pissed off. He showed no signs of uncoiling or moving away so we started tossing small rocks at him to get him to move. He was not remotely afraid of us! He finally uncoiled and then started crawling fast straight for me and my husband! We threw bigger rocks and he kept on coming. Son finally hit him with a good sized rock (didn't hurt him in the least) and that made him turn and get off the trail. We had no place to go around him so he had to move off for us and not vice versa. So I'm afraid I'm not a strict believer of the "their more afraid of you than you are of them" because I've experienced otherwise!
Also, day hiking from Keys Gap to Harpers Ferry with 2 friends - we were on the last mile or so before entering Harpers Ferry and stopped to look at a weirdly painted building up to the left of the trail. Suddenly we saw debris (leaves, dirt, rocks) go flying up in the air again and again! And we could hear alot of snuffling. We stood still for about 2 minutes and then yelled "Boar!" and ran as fast as we could towards Jefferson's Rock! We never saw it but from the way he was throwing up all that stuff he had to be pretty big! :eek:
I think the greatest non-human threat up here is feral dogs. After that I would say coydogs, which are part feral dog part eastern coyote. I think eastern coyotes could become a threat in the future but currently they too shy. They are certainly big enough. Bears up here are too shy, and I don't think they are as changeable as wolves/coyotes/dogs. I could be wrong, but I think wolves/coyotes/dogs are less predictable and more 'plastic' in terms of their adaptability, partly because they mix more east/west north/south and domestic/wild. In general however, there are no serious threats in New Brunswick of any kind, including humans, except when they are behind the wheel of an automobile.
I don't think there is a single recorded fatality of humans by animals in New Brunswick, other than automobile accidents. Most of the fatalities in the woods would be hunting accidents, atv accidents, and snowmobile accidents. Not sure what order but I'm fairly sure hunting accidents is now a distant third.
My girlfriend thought some crazy wild animal with glowing eyes was staring at us in West Vaginia. Turned out to be a bud light can shining in the fullmoon. The zombie movie the night before probably didn't help things since she'd never been backpacking up that point, so it was a whole new experience for her. Most importantly, she didn't let all the little critters running around stop her from enjoying future nights.
Johnny Thunder
01-25-2008, 15:52
Manbearpig...duh
Crazed deer.
I was mountain biking on a logging road near Table Rock, NC. I rounded a curve and saw a deer (no antlers) high on a cut. Kept going and dam it started running down the hill. Ohmygawd! I thought, :eek: it is heading right towards me. I'm going maybe 15 mph. Slamm on the brakes, skidding in the sandy gravel, and this deer HITS ME in the back tire. I plant both my feet while skidding to keep from turning over. The deer gets knocked on its side, spins around like 540, slides to a halt, then gets up and runs in the woods.
True Story.
I look back up at the top of the cut, and there are two other deer, one holding two Buds. I hear that one say, "Told you he'd had too much!":D
DesertMTB
01-25-2008, 16:10
Mountain biking in Arizona I have rolled over several diamondback rattlesnakes stretched on the trail sunning. They come up on you so quick you have no choice but to roll over them. If you have a chance, sometimes you pick up your feet. But of course a rattlesnake can't strike you unless they are coiled.
One time hiking the grand canyon I was one foot away from a coiled pink rattler.
SlowLightTrek
01-25-2008, 16:14
Had an encounter with a grizzly in Yellowstone. I had a 6' x 8' tarp setup as a pup tent, (open on both ends). Woke up to the bear sniffing me. I made a sharp, quick, loud noise and it startled him and he left the campsite. I feel pretty lucky that it turned out the way it did.
AT-HITMAN2005
01-25-2008, 19:11
rattler in the SNP. coil and well camoflaged right on the trail. came about half step from stepping on it. also had some copperheads at one of the shelters just north of SNP.
hurryinghoosier
01-25-2008, 19:24
On the first night of a 4 day hike my son and I had spent the night on the Discovery Trail in Southwest Indiana. We hiked out the next morning to relocate the car and returned to a spanking new Buick to find it had been beaten to the ground with clubs, rocks, etc. Every window was broken. The interior was broken and ripped. Every square inch of the outside was beaten with objects. The car was totally destroyed. This was after asking the park ranger where a safe place was to park our car. The State Police said we were lucky we did not come out of the park while they were still working my car over. I did not want to tell him what I had in my pocket.
AmyJanette
01-26-2008, 12:13
Manbearpig...duh
ROTFL!!!
I see I'm not the only one who watches South Park...
Nearly Normal
01-26-2008, 19:14
Neither of our encounters took place ON the AT, but were in the general vicinity of it. (within 30 miles)
Two encounters took place at Burrell's Ford in Western SC. Once while camping by the Chattooga River, my friend and I approached our tent to turn in for the evening only to find a LARGE copperhead coiled up around the entrance to the tent. My companion was certainly braver than I, taking a large stick and moving the venomous snake to the river. (I wanted him to kill it with the stick instead).
The second encounter took place years later at practically the same spot. My husband and I (he wasn't my husband yet at that point) hiked in to the Chattooga River trail from Burrell's ford and set up camp in the dark. (It was January, and we had gotten a late start). As we gathered some firewood for a fire, we noticed that at a campsite nearby (about 20 yards or so) there was a stack of already gathered firewood neatly placed beside an empty campsite. We were unsure of why someone would gather firewood and not use it, but decided that we would capitalize on this since it was cold and it was pitch black at this point. As I approached the stack with my headlamp, I noticed two cat-like eyes in some brush beside the wood. This startled me, because I could tell from the width between the eyes that this was not someone's lost housepet. I backed away slowly and alerted my husband to it, who said it was probably just a fox and that we would just get our own firewood. We did so, and built a fire. As we sat down to enjoy the warmth a good 30 minutes later, I noticed that the same pair of eyes were still there. I pointed it out to my hubby, so he got his flashlight and we approached. As he shone the large (superpowered) flashlight toward the animal, it stood up, revealing it's massive size. I will never forget the shoulder blades of this cougar... moving like a seasaw as it took a couple of steps forward, out of the brush. I thought at that moment that we were going to die right there in the cold and the dark. Jeremy made a loud catlike noise repeatedly, which both startled me and pissed me off... I thought he was trying to provoke it. I kept saying "shut up" and he kept doing it. (Thank GOD he knew what he was doing.) The cat retreated back into the brush and we stood in paralyzed fear as it walked away back into the woods. We immediately packed up our camp (at lightning speed), poured all of our water on the campfire and hiked out in record time. If that thing was watching/stalking us, we weren't going to be an easy supper for it after we fell asleep. We drove to my apartment in Greenville, SC and slept like babies in my bed instead. When we reported it to the local ranger station in Walhalla, SC the next day... he informed us that we *couldn't possibly* have seen a cougar in the area because they just weren't native animals. I told him that a "figment of our imagination" wouldn't have forced us to hike 3 miles in the dark and the blistering cold at a rapid pace.
Seems we are not the only ones who have seen a cougar and then been laughed at when we reported it...
There have been other reports in that area as well.
not on the AT, but the colorado trail at waterton canyon just south of denver. i was ridng mtn. bike with a friend chatting away and enjoying the day. suddenly we were startled by four bighorn sheep up on the rocks to the right of us?! apparently we startled them as well? i've seen a great number of bighorn sheep and mtn. goats on this section before and had never felt threatened. i've always given them plenty of room and respected their territory. on this particular day, the bighorns decided to give chase!!!!!!!!! just for the record, i was riding a single-speed mtn. bike! i think i set a land speed record over the next 50 yards or so! my friend and i pedaled as fast as we could until we spotted an outhouse to our left near the river. i saw to people with fishing rods standing there and yelled at them warning them of our impending doom! i'm sure i made absolutely no sense, but seeing them throw down their rods made me realize they knew what i was trying to yell!!! long story short, the four of us huddled in an outhouse for the next 5 or 10 minutes while these four beautiful sheep grazed. they finally left us and the outhouse and we all went about our business! a very scary day for sure, but also very educational seeing them up so close! it was an amazing and scary experience!
i wish someone would have filmed this? glad to be able to share this today as nobody was injured! pretty funny though!
warraghiyagey
01-26-2008, 19:44
ROTFL!!!
I see I'm not the only one who watches South Park...
You're a towel.
Toolshed
01-26-2008, 20:52
1. Lynx - 25-40' away from me just off the South shore of Lake Ontario 1992. Went to the library to look it up it was so amazing. We locked eyes for about 5 seconds - Love at first site. Found out later it was from a NYSDEC experiment to relocate lynx in the Dacks. Some of them left and were tracked west along the lake.
2. Fisher on a tree over my head, sneaking up just behind me as I sat at the trail junction of Algonquin and wright Peaks eating lunch one fine cold February day. I felt like I was being watched and turned around, seeing nothing, then looked up about 45 degrees and it was poised perfectly still on branch watching me. It turned and sauntered off after about 10 seconds.
Lynx didn't threaten did it? I think the eyelock would be wicked!
A fisher is one beady eyed thing I have no desire to be real close to. Was it checking out your lunch, or you? Something about the eyes.
Fisher and big range cows. Not for me.
Toolshed
01-27-2008, 00:19
Lynx didn't threaten did it? I think the eyelock would be wicked!
A fisher is one beady eyed thing I have no desire to be real close to. Was it checking out your lunch, or you? Something about the eyes.
Fisher and big range cows. Not for me.
Yikes. I thought it was "Greatest Treat".....:o
No, the lynx didn't threaten me, but I really felt uncomfortable with that Fisher above and just behind me on that branch!!
I was trail running at night last year, and was about to plant my foot on a big rock in the middle of the trail. Half a second before my foot came down, the rock moved and pointed it's spikey quill-covered butt right at me! I had to do a rather acrobatic dance to avoid stepping on it. That would have ended my run really quick.
whiterockjock
02-06-2008, 12:07
Kayak camping in the Misty Fiords (Alaska) went for a hike up to Punchbowl Lake and on way back to camp walked right up on a brown (grizzly) bear. He reared up on hind legs to sniff me out then went about his business. My first grizzly encounter and for me a real heart stopper!
Red ant's.Went to set up camp in the dark and walked over and the feeling,from hot to cold from god know's how many.Will take a cotton bite any day over Red ant's.
Several bear encounters, none of them particularly scary.
Biggest scare on the AT was a solo in NC. Was asleep and awoke to something pawing the ground and snorting right outside my tent - good size buck didn't like the look or smell of my tent, I assume. Got my adrenaline going until I figured out what it was.
Another AT close call - hiking in PA a couple of years ago, took a break with a group of folks. About two minutes later another hiker came into our clearing, excited about the big ol' copperhead he had just seen basking right on the trail - had a picture of it. We had all just hiked right over it, none of us had even seen it!
Closest call was probably getting treed by a bull moose during the rutting on Isle Royale. Kept us up the tree for about 45 minutes while he circled below, snorting, pawing, and rubbing - apparently looking for the intruders to his territory.
Varmint, deer, moose.
Kirby
Pedaling Fool
02-06-2008, 23:26
Red ant's.Went to set up camp in the dark and walked over and the feeling,from hot to cold from god know's how many.Will take a cotton bite any day over Red ant's.
One day, very hot day, I sat down on a log trying to recuperate from the intense heat. Having a rock conviently near, I leaned back and started to doze off. I then started feeling crawly things on my legs and areas a guy does not want crawly things. When I looked down I was covered in large black ants all over me, I immediately jumped up and started knocking them off, but many of them had gotten in my shorts, so without delay I immediately kicked those shorts off and continued jumping all over the woods yelling and frantically knocking off about a million ants. After I got them all off I realized I was standing in the middle of the woods with nothing but my boots on. Took me an additional 5 minutes to find them damn shorts.