Fear

[cottonwoodroot]

Hello All,

First post from a newbie!! Anyway, I have noticed that more than a few bush craft enthusiasts have difficulty sleeping soundly "in the field". The source of the trouble seems to be uncertainty in a new environment. Perhaps the idea of becoming so vulnerable in the presence of wild animals is unsettling.
I knew of a bushcraft "guru" who seemed to have dealt with this anxiety completely. If weather conditions permitted, he would simply lay down somewhere under a tree and sleep the entire night out. No tent, no sleeping bag, and he was always rested and ready to go in the morning. He has done this on and off for the past 30 years.
Yesterday night I decided to give this a try. By the light of a full moon I took a river walk and found a nice place to lie down. I couldn't have asked for a better conditions. The entire area was bathed in a silvery glow, and the stars were shining brightly. I used a grassy area as my "bed" and found that I was completely comfortable physically. However, the occasional sound of cracking branches in the bush kept me awake. After a few hours of short periods of sleep, I decided to I needed some real rest and headed home at about 4 a.m.
The next morning, I returned to my "camp" and found a large bear bed about five feet from where I had slept. It appeared to have arrived after I left.
I am not saying that I was in any danger, however, there is some risk associated with sleeping in the wilds, (or anywhere I suppose). So, finally to my question.

Has anyone else experienced a heightened level of anxiety (whether real or perceived) while trying to catch some zzz's in the wilderness? If so, how have you dealt with it?

 

[Ruud]

A week before arriving in Sweden two years ago, a shot had to be fired to scare a bear away from the huskyfarm where I spend most of my holidays. We slept outside one night, about a km away from the place of sighting. We took no food with us and decided to catch fish in the morning for breakfast. At first we were quite nervous but inevitably one starts to feel comfortable. We had a means of defending ourselves, which sure helped to acquire this feeling i just overthink what might be te worst that can happen and try to plan an escape route or drill to get away. Sh*t can happen anytime, traffic is what frightens me the most these days.

Boar is what I fear the most in Belgium, I setup camp where it is harder for them to come without making lots of noise.

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Hello Ruud
You make some excellent points. First of all, making sure that you take some precautions. But I particularly like what you said about traffic. It goes to the heart of the issue I believe. I am likely far more safe sleeping in the bush than I am driving to my camp, yet the anxiety levels in some case seem to be backward. In most cases I would argue that the heightened anxiety levels are unjustified. For many though, justified or not these emotions interfere with, or become a barrier to the enjoyment of the outdoors.

 

[Ruud]

The "fear" will go away with experience I think. After having slept a good number of nights outdoors you start to recognise those creepy cracks of wood and howls of beast and sleep right through them. Don't want to take this to a spiritual level, but letting things happen is all you have to do, it's all natural ( especially a bear attack ) that you can sleep outside without a piece of nylon between you and the outside means you can cope with your fear, respect to that!

 

[cottonwoodroot]

Wouldn't you know it, after this short discussion I happened to be watching a ted talk on the human mind and the lecturer offered a theory on the source of the "fear" many people feel during circumstances such as the ones we discussed. He described his thoughts thusly;

When we are looking for patterns, or relationships we have a tendency to make two kinds of errors (any research design experts out there please correct me if I am wrong).
Type 1 error: We assume that a correlation exists when in fact it doesn't (e.g. I assume that the noise I hear in the forest must be a bear coming to eat me and represents a real danger. The noise is in fact a dead branch falling off a tree.)
Type 2 error: We assume that no correlation exists when if fact it does (e.g. I assume that the noise I hear in the forest is a dead branch falling off a tree and represents no real danger. It is in fact a bear coming to eat me.)

According to the lecturer, the reason that we often default to fear in these circumstances is because although a type one error might be more frequent, it is also less costly. If I get scared and run away from a danger that does not exist, I may expend some energy needlessly but I am not likely to die from the experience. If I do not recognize, and consequently do not flee from a real danger, I might wind up dead. (In addition the speaker also mentioned that this might be part of the reason that superstition is common in human beings).

Thoughts?

 

[Goatboy]

Hi Cottonwoodroot and welcome to the forum,

There was an excellent thread touching on this a while back that's well worth a read - though maybe not whilst alone in the woods looking at it on a mobile! You can find it HERE, hopefully it'll go away. Must admit in most places I find it more peacefull outdoors that in.

Good luck.
GB

 

[santaman2000]

A week before arriving in Sweden two years ago, a shot had to be fired to scare a bear away from the huskyfarm where I spend most of my holidays. We slept outside one night, about a km away from the place of sighting. We took no food with us and decided to catch fish in the morning for breakfast. At first we were quite nervous but inevitably one starts to feel comfortable. We had a means of defending ourselves, which sure helped to acquire this feeling .....

Yeah, having a means to protect yourself certainly helps ease the apprehension. But that said, "firing a shot to scare a bear away" might not be such a good idea out in the western states over here. During hunting season they've learned that the sound of a gunshot usually means a fresh kill is being loaded onto a pack animal and they move towards the sound in search of an easy meal.

 

[xylaria]

The dead branch falling is a lethal as the bear.

I normally sleep quite soundly when out. But then I am normally with other people. I slept alone on a remote beach last year , and what sleep I had was anxious dreams. The place was alive with rodents and other very noisy critters though. The dreams were all dreams of invading predators, mostly human. Part of our mind needs predators, in the absence of them we make them up. OP your bears are real so the fear is justified. You just have to spend long enough out and carry the appropriate firearm that you are comfy with the threat.

 

[cbr6fs]

Some folks tend to be more fearful than others, for me personally i try not to let fear stop me from doing anything i want to do, obviously there is a thought process to weigh up the risks, but i tend to be a bit of a determined type personality so if i really want to do something i'll do it.

Of course there have been times i've been concerned, but i find if i get up and have a walk around or think things through i am able to override those concerns.

Funny thing is a lot of the time when dangerous stuff does happen we have very little time to be fearful.

We had a bear walk right through our camp, was close enough that i could smell it, it walked through had a good sniff and walked right out again.
Most of my companions were sleeping and had absolutely no idea, they went a bit pale when i showed them the bear tracks

Can't say as i felt fearful as i watched it, i was more excited and thankful for seeing it than fearful.
Did make me a bit nervous the following night, but then i figured that if it wants to eat me while i'm asleep there is not much i can about it.
A bloke in a hammock = human burrito to a bear

 

[Bishop]

I recall the words of master Chiun who summed it up nicely here. Bear's are of course a rarity here in Wales and the dragons are friendly so long as one can say hello to them in Welsh, Badgers however deserve serious respect.

 

[Ruud]

Part of our mind needs predators, in the absence of them we make them up.

Interesting theory/fact! Great how most of our actions and automatic reflexes which keep us safe today are still parts of our ancestors lingering in our genes and mind.

@ Santaman: Indeed, I've heard of highly populated bear-areas where bears are very used to humans. The bears roaming the Swedish plains where we stay are mostly scared outcasts which made a journey from the Hotagen-mountains, where they normally stay and thrive. In this case firing a shot was the only means of scaring it away. (or could a pack of 10 sledding-dogs take on a bear? makes me think... )

Bears are rarely spotted in the mountains, although it is the most dense population of bears in Europe. Seems they still fear human and are not used to human presence and are not linking humans with food.

 

[santaman2000]

Interesting theory/fact! Great how most of our actions and automatic reflexes which keep us safe today are still parts of our ancestors lingering in our genes and mind.

@ Santaman: Indeed, I've heard of highly populated bear-areas where bears are very used to humans. The bears roaming the Swedish plains where we stay are mostly scared outcasts which made a journey from the Hotagen-mountains, where they normally stay and thrive. In this case firing a shot was the only means of scaring it away. (or could a pack of 10 sledding-dogs take on a bear? makes me think... )

Bears are rarely spotted in the mountains, although it is the most dense population of bears in Europe. Seems they still fear human and are not used to human presence and are not linking humans with food.

It would be better for both the bears and the humans if that were the case here. Here in the East, the black bears associate humans with food in the form of rummaging through garbage or food caches. Out West, the grizzlies have never feared anything; why should they? They're the biggest, baddest SOB on the continent. They're the ones who've begun to associate gunfire with fresh killed elk, deer, moose, etc.

Interestingly enough there was an experiment in California about 10 years or so ago to try to teach bears fear of humans. Officers with the California Fish and Wildlife Department would shoot problem bears with non lethal shot (plastic/rubber buckshot) The obvious idea was to get the bears to associate the resulting pain with humans and the sound of gunfire so as to condition them to avoid both. Unfortunately they never published the results so I've no idea how well it worked.

 

[Ruud]

Sorry for hijacking this thread with our rambling about bears.
But this might be an interesting read for you Santaman!
http://www.bearsmart.com/docs/responding-human-black-bear-conflicts.pdf (free pdf for download!)

The subject about pelting stones to bears in the hope they get 'conditioned' to link humans with pain (thus staying away from them) is also explained.

I'll make a separate thread in the Animals-section too to keep this thread a bit tidy

 

[santaman2000]

Sorry for hijacking this thread with our rambling about bears.
But this might be an interesting read for you Santaman!
http://www.bearsmart.com/docs/responding-human-black-bear-conflicts.pdf (free pdf for download!)

The subject about pelting stones to bears in the hope they get 'conditioned' to link humans with pain (thus staying away from them) is also explained.

I tried to read that lin but it's a slow scroll. I'll try again later.

LOL. Hand thrown stones wouldn't deter one. Even the comparatively wimpy black bear is more or less impervious to that little pain. They happily ignore the attack of an entire beehive until they finish raiding the honey.

 

[Ruud]

They mention the use of bean-bags and light calibre guns too

 

[bikething]

I tried to read that lin but it's a slow scroll. I'll try again later.

right-click the link and choose "save target as" - then save the file to your hard drive first. Downloads a lot quicker and can be read at leisure

 

[santaman2000]

right-click the link and choose "save target as" - then save the file to your hard drive first. Downloads a lot quicker and can be read at leisure

Thanks! I'll try that.

 

[General Strike]

Out West, the grizzlies have never feared anything; why should they? They're the biggest, baddest SOB on the continent.

Interestingly, I don't think this is true. Further to the expert accounts of grizzly behaviour I've seen video footage of people stumbling across a grizzly - a yell and a thrown walking pole sent the grizzly running for cover, defecating with fear as it went. In fact the cause of the distinct fear of humans that grizzlies exhibit is an interesting area of debate, because as you point out, they are massive, strong and resilient, so you wouldn't expect them to fear much at all.

One must be careful not to draw conclusions about individual animals or specific situations, of course. One must also account for human behaviour in encounters, too, as a fearful reaction from the human may elicit an aggressive or curious response, or stimulate hunting instincts - and most people are going to respond with fear when encountering a bear.

My understanding is that black bear attacks tend to be stalking/hunting based, but brown bear attacks on humans tend to be territorial in nature.

 

[santaman2000]

Interestingly, I don't think this is true. Further to the expert accounts of grizzly behaviour I've seen video footage of people stumbling across a grizzly - a yell and a thrown walking pole sent the grizzly running for cover, defecating with fear as it went. In fact the cause of the distinct fear of humans that grizzlies exhibit is an interesting area of debate, because as you point out, they are massive, strong and resilient, so you wouldn't expect them to fear much at all.

One must be careful not to draw conclusions about individual animals or specific situations, of course. One must also account for human behaviour in encounters, too, as a fearful reaction from the human may elicit an aggressive or curious response, or stimulate hunting instincts - and most people are going to respond with fear when encountering a bear.

My understanding is that black bear attacks tend to be stalking/hunting based, but brown bear attacks on humans tend to be territorial in nature.

My comment was indeed a generalization, and as you say, there can be some differences in individual animals. However as a general rule I stand by the statement. I'd also add that assuming grizzlies are dangerously aggressive is always safest policy.

I'm also reading more these days about black bear attacks being hunting based but even so, it seems most are chance encounters resulting from being interrupted while foraging through garbage or some such. Even here in NW Florida we get several reports every Summer of black bear wandering through residential neighborhoods getting into garbage cans or poorly stored pet food. There's often an accompanying photo I the local paper of the bear in a tree in the yard waiting for everybody to eave so it can escape back to wherever. Even so, we've had two attacks in the last year just here in the tri-county area (Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay Counties)

This one was taken in Shalimar just a few weeks ago.

And here's the accompanying article:

By Wendy Victora | Daily News ed:
Published: Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 11:15 AM.

A bear who has been captured and relocated twice since April was euthanized late Monday night in Shalimar by officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Spokesman Stan Kirkland said they had run out of options. "This bear had a real bent on coming back into urban areas," he said. "There wasn't anything else we could do with this bear."
The 350-pound adult male was caught April 14 in Panama City, relocated 90 miles east, and returned to the same neighborhood three weeks later.
This time, he was brought to the Eglin Reservation, Kirkland said. Monday, he appeared at the Shalimar Yacht Basin, where he spent the day in a tall tree.
Officials used a dart gun and crash bags to get him out of the tree about 9 p.m. Monday. He was taken to a different location to be euthanized, Kirkland said.
Several hours later, a second bear had to be euthanized after being struck by a car on U.S. Highway 98 in Mary Esther.
The adult female had been relocated to Eglin Reservation Saturday, after appearing in Panama City Beach at daylight down by the beach.
Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said they got the call about an injured bear in the eastbound lanes just after 1 a.m. Tuesday.
After consulting with an FWC biologist, deputies euthanized the bear who was severely injured.
A passing motorist called about the injured bear. The car that hit her has not been located, Nicholson said.

 

[Drewboy64]

I definitely have - though it's usually only when I'm alone. If I'm with other people, I can generally get rid of any fear.

Some people I've talked to are afraid of wild animals, others are afraid of dangerous people. But I'm actually afraid of things that don't pose a real threat. My mind just wanders a bunch, and when I'm alone outside at night, it seems to remember all of the horror movie's I've seen in my life, haha.

One time I was sleeping out in a small bit of woodland and kept hearing weird sounds. I later learned they were probably owls. So I think one thing I'm trying to do is just learn more about the sounds you might hear at night so I can think rationally about them. Barn owls, for example, sound like the demonic scream of a banshee. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/barn_owl/sounds Imagine hearing that at night if you didn't know what it was.