Dangerous Wildlife on Trail, and How to Survive

[@runningwithsimon]

I have to admit - I spent an ungodly amount of time looking at memes for this video...I hope you like the selection! But more importantly, be safe out there folks.

[@ArcaneSpells]

Hard work pays off; I was cracking up lol. “General Wildlife Tip: bring toilet paper and extra pants for that poop bear” 😂

[@Valaran1]

"Look, an eagle!" is one of the best videos on the entire internet. Bravo to you for using it.

[@runningwithsimon]

@@Valaran1 100% ! Absolute classic - one of the best commercial ever!

[@emmarunyeard6832]

Good grief... I am English and this is insane 😂😂

[@emmarunyeard6832]

We have wild boar (pannage season has just ended) but they are pretty mellow here x

[@ArcaneSpells]

Excellent tips with various wildlife. Mountain lion story - very scary! Also Thank you for touching on the importance of not habituating animals that humans = food is available! LNT note for any readers: sometimes black bears can also appear to have brown fur. Knowing the face shape and size difference between black and brown/grizzly help with identifying what type of bear, and thus actions to take when encountering.

[@runningwithsimon]

Good point - bear are best distinguish by their shape, not by their color.

[@Sunflowrrunner]

One time I was running a 50 miler and I heard at an aid station that the couple people behind me dropped out at the previous aid station and a few miles up the trail I ran into a couple black bears. One went up the hill, and one went down the hill. So I was like shoot, I'm between these two bears and I'm the slowest one on the course lol. I don't worry too much about black bear, but I did play music on my phone speaker for the rest of the race because I didn't want to sneak up on those dudes.

[@runningwithsimon]

Exactly - you don't want to spook them.

[@lindawilliams6220]

Thanks!

[@runningwithsimon]

Thanks for watching!

[@nataliamartinkova]

My biggest fear is the hunter encountered. I've had them tell me to be careful in the forest. How can I, a runner on a path dressed as a parrot, can be careful, when they are hiding and armed? The memes were great, Simon. I was pausing the videos to read them. The 4x4 matrix was particularly fitting.

[@runningwithsimon]

I know - I don't like running in area with active hunting. I really try to avoid it if I can. Ah, now I'm curious about the parrot outfit!

[@Kelly_Ben]

Hearing a human from far away, saying "nah, but with the problem", and avoiding the human... you just described me! I literally choose the bear. 😂😂 But to be fair, I've just got black bears, coyotes, and the very rare rattlesnake. Mountain lions and grizzlies, scorpions and venomous snakes... eek!

[@runningwithsimon]

I have the same eek! And add like crocodile. Basically, anything I'm not used to growing up in the northeast.

[@bikerdude6119]

I come across pacific rattlesnakes all the time in malibu and palos verdes. They mostly cross the trail or stay on the side . Not really scary. Ive came across a bobcat ,he just stared me down and i did the same 😂

[@runningwithsimon]

We have a few bobcat here too - and it's not wilderness, more like suburban, so I was surprised to see one too.

[@PatrickMartin-lw7tu]

Great tips. Have had multiple encounters, once ran up on a bear outside of Boulder CO. Bear coming up hillside we did not see, our group of 3 coming across the hillside, did not see the bear untill we were within 50yds of it. Saw and heard it huff at us! We backed up to give it the space to continue up the hillside. Think we only touched the ground twice the next 2 miles back to the trailhead. Mountain lions, always on the lookout on the trails west of Boulder. Rattlesnakes, meh, give em space, don't be a schmuck and harass it, and it'll move on. Cows…I hate cows! My friend and I were charged and chased by a momma cow when we were more than a 100yds from her in an area of open range with established trails…I hate cows!

[@runningwithsimon]

Charged or chased? Like did it litteraly try to ram you?

[@PatrickMartin-lw7tu]

@@runningwithsimon could probably call it chased. It was off trail, we approached to within a 100yds, and it looked at us, and came running towards us letting us know it did not want us anywhere in the area. We retreated.

[@runningwithsimon]

@@PatrickMartin-lw7tu Yes scary for sure. I've seen video of similar thing where multiple cows are clearly chasing someone. Not the typical behavior - but those guys are huge! Smart thing to move away...dang!

[@mattpelofske4632]

Bear horn is the way to go its way smaller and you get up to 50 uses per can😮

[@runningwithsimon]

And probably easier to use.

[@till_57]

I have fled into a tree to avoid an attacking wild sow after getting too close to her piglets. She gave one bark, and flew straight at me. Fortunately, there was a small fir tree right next to me.

[@runningwithsimon]

Good thinking!

[@pexcii]

I have encountered a moose 2 times, one time was a female with her young one. My heart was pounding as they ran and crossing ahead of my path lol

[@ericperramond3463]

99% of the wildlife I worry about on trails are dogs and dog owners, especially those that are OFF LEASH. It's chronic, risky, and they are endangering their own animals for no reason.

[@till_57]

I live in an area where I encounter dogs that are not on a leash all the time, with not a single bad experience in recent years. But I used to run in a much more remote area where I had problems with free running dogs at least once a month. Mostly the problem were the psychotic women that need dangerous dogs to protect them from evil men, and then unleash them when they think they are in the woods where there is no one else around. Never got bitten, but had plenty of stare downs waiting for the dog owners to finally arrive.

[@ArcaneSpells]

this is a good point! Scariest encounter so far was with an unleashed wandering dog. Unpredictable

[@Jambalayatrailforce]

I live in southern California there has been a few dogs off leash wandering around and bitten a few people in recent weeks 😢

[@Kelly_Ben]

​@till_57 Dang, that's me. 😂Woman here with German Shepherds, who let's them offleash when I don't think anyone is around... it's about the training. Shepherds are velcro dogs who rarely go more than 30-40 feet from their owners naturally. Add training to that, and you've got scary looking, but very well behaved dogs. A perfect combo for us solo wilderness ladies! And for the OP saying they're is no reason, they've never hit treacherous footing where it would be dangerous to be tied to a dog, or experienced the absolute joy of human and pup exploring the wilderness freely. There's definitely valid reasons we go offleash.

[@till_57]

@Kelly_Ben I am glad I did not offend you. The dogs I had annoying encounters with always were dogs that clearly lacked training, and that had run far away from their owners.

[@steve7882]

Great video and hints. Cows have killed people in the Uk, normally the people have dogs and the cows have calves resulting in the cows attacking people, sometimes sadly fatally.

[@runningwithsimon]

Sad for sure - always have to be careful with animals when they have little ones around...

[@stevenpatsey1604]

I’ve been charged by so many moose here in British Columbia 🇨🇦

[@runningwithsimon]

Makes you run faster...!

[@Pih_TV]

Every night run I do I see several glowing eyes thar stare me down. They are deers but it always get me when I see them with my head lamp,

[@runningwithsimon]

At the risk of sounding childish - the night amplify my fears. The worse feeling for me is when camping, and you hear noise outside. My imagination goes wild. And more than once they rub themselves on the tent. I'm 99% sure it was always ever deers but still.. .

[@gb2983]

In the uk the most dangerous wildlife we have are ticks 😂 (there is a lot of area where they carry lyme disease). I once went running in Bosnia, where land mines could pose problems if you stepped off the trail.

[@runningwithsimon]

Just remember - land mines are more scared of you, than you are of them! ... oh no, that's for bears. Jokes aside, I was close to do the cliche "the most dangerous animals on trail are human!"... but it's been overplayed.

[@JoelNads72]

Heureusement, je n'ai jamais croisé d'ours, mais je sais que si c'était le cas, j'aurais besoin d'un nouveau pantalon...

[@runningwithsimon]

haha - c'est pour ca que dans un autre video j'ai dit qu'il faut toujours avoir du papier cul avec soi!

[@wk633]

Some of your moose videos are actually caribou. I would add rattlesnakes. Some things to keep in mind: If bitten, don't use a tourniquet, and don't try to capture or kill the snake. It's not required for medical attention. Rattlesnakes don't want to waste venom on you. It takes time to make more. Most strikes are 'dry' strikes with no venom. That's even more likely with larger/older snakes who are better at regulating their venom. Try to keep the injury area low, below the heart, and seek medical attention ASAP. Most people will have at least several hours at least before it gets life threatening. And, most snake bite victims are young inebriated males. Not being a dumbass goes a long way, as it does with all wildlife encounters.

[@runningwithsimon]

I know - it's more time consuming than it sounds to get good B rolls of animals and not get copyright strike... I had recorded a segment about snake but opt not to include because I'm an expert at all myself, having grown up in different region (but regardless, the short clip of the snake at the beginning is a vestige of that). My strategy remains simply to not get bitten by being vigilant. Thanks for sharing!