Guard Against Animal Dangers in Colorado: 10 Tips

As a kid, I spent a lot of time hiking and camping in the beautiful Colorado lower mountain regions with my uncle who lived in Denver at the time. I always felt privileged whenever I saw a black bear or mountain lion from a distance. Although bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes usually steer clear of humans, there have been a few attacks. To reduce your chances of falling prey, here are a list of 10 tips you may want to keep in mind if you plan to brave the Colorado wilderness.

1. Keep a clean campsite

Although black bears are shy and don't typically view people as potential lunches, a hungry bear will however gain interest in your camping supplies and be seduced by the smell of any of the food you may bring along. The best method of defense if you don't want to be sharing campfire tales with a bear is to maintain a clean campsite and wipe away any grease or residue from cooking. A bear's keen snout can sense anything related to food or any toiletries such as toothpaste from within 100 yards or more.

2. Bear Spray Works!

If you do by rare chance make a close encounter with a bear, or any other potentially dangerous animal such as a mountain lion, use the Bear Spray. It's designed to deter much larger grizzlies and works better than guns as it creates a wide sphere of repellent mist that will take the fight out the animal.

3. Make Yourself Look Large

For both bears and mountain lions, make yourself look as large as possible if they attempt to engage you. Wave your arms out from your body giving the illusion of superior size. This might scare the animal off. Once again, you want to maintain distance by slowly and as calmly as possibly backing away from the animal with no sudden movements. Do not turn and run. No one can outrun a bear or a mountain lion, and running makes you the easiest prey of all.

4. Curl into a Ball

If you remember nothing else from this article, remember that if a bear actually lunges upon you, the only course of action is to curl into a ball, protect your face and throat, and let the bear paw at your back until it realizes your not a threat and moves on to something more worth its time.

5. Is a Mountain Lion stalking you?

Your chances of encountering these large kitty cats are rarer than encountering a bear since mountain lions are all nocturnal. However, unlike with bears, there are rare cases in which these animals have stalked humans for dinner with the intended purpose of chowing on the hiker, and not their Tiger Milk bars.

If you notice a mountain lion twice or more during one hike, there's a good chance you are being stalked. Although this may sound impossible, the best possible approach is to act fearless and superior, walking tall and proud. Use bear spray or the same tips for making yourself look large and backing off slowly that you would use for a bear if they approach and square off with you.

6. Rattlesnake avoidance.

Although there is little good to say about encountering a rattlesnake, the good news is you will almost always see or hear one before being bitten by one. Wearing boots and carrying a hiking stick, which a rattlesnake would probably bite first, will keep you in the clear even if you stumble upon one.

7. Buy a Sawyer Extractor Snakebite Kit.

These can be purchased at sporting goods stores and contain a syringe that can extract some of the poison but cannot substitute for emergency room care.

8. Examine the Bite Mark

If you are unfortunate enough to stumble upon one and get bitten, check your bite wound. Rattle snakes have a total of four fangs. If you notice no fang marks and just a semi-circular bite mark, than relax knowing you weren't injected and you just need to be treated for an infection. If you notice puncture wounds, or if the rattler clung to you for a long duration rather than a quick strike, than you are in much more serious danger and need to be hospitalized as soon as possible.

9. Relax, it's only a Rattlesnake Bite

For the bite victim, it is best to utilize mental toughness and deep diaphragm breathing to keep calm and keep the circulatory system flowing sufficiently. Panic can cause further constriction of veins and arteries and increase the likelihood of limb loss or paralysis. Remember, deaths by Rattlesnake bites are rare. The worst consequence is usually long lasting loss of dexterity and reduction of tissue where you were bitten.

10. Don't fear the mountains.

If these tips sound frightening to you, remember that having to resort to these measures are highly unlikely to occur. The benefits of getting back to nature outweigh the risks. Remember, there are risks everywhere; from taking a shower in the morning, to living in a metropolitan area where you are surrounded by the most dangerous animal in the world - the human.

Sources:

Foster, Lisa (2005) Rocky Mountain National Park The Complete Hiking Guide, West Cliffe Publishers Eaglewood, CO

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