[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[at-l] Mace; Dogs, Snakes: Warnings

I just had to say a few things about dogs and snakes.

I will now carry pepper spray because I was bit by a dog while hiking back
to  the trai from a hostel. Thanks for the suggestion. WARNING: I was bit
by a dog in PA (I figured a snake would get me first) after leaving the
Blue Blaze hostel. One of the neighbors had  two dogs that approched me in
two different directions. Luckily, thanks to gaiters,  the dog did not
break the skin.
         I also have been growled at several times. I had never thought
this would be a problem, but I am convinced the "hiker odor" makes
non-hiking dogs go nuts. Many owners could not understand why there dogs
growled at me. "They usually don't act like this", they would say. However,
they are not accustommed to seeing  someone carring a backpack and giving
off such a strong odor that is overpowering their sensitive smell.

On the snake issue, I would not carry a kit. However, I do know someone's
thru-hike ended because she was bit by a copperhead in PA. Would a snake
bite kit have prevented this? I do not know. However, she was close enough
to civilization to receive medical help.

I almost stepped on a rattlesnake's head once. Luckily, it rattled before
it tried to bite me. It was a huge snake, too. It scared me to death, but
it eventually went across the trail and I proceeded on my way. Another
snake also caused me climb down a rock off the trail and climb up the other
side. However,  other hikers have been killing them as well as other
snakes. This is beyond my comprehension. I agree that you will rarely see a
snake on a trail so why do you need to kill them when you do see them.

Cough Drop

GA-ME
95/96
>
>Nice to hear from someone else who has had to use mace on dogs on the trail.
>
>I have had to mace dogs three different times in past two years.
>


>Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 13:36:00 -0500
>From: Ken Bennett <bennettk@wfu.edu>
>Subject: Re: [at-l] pack pick apart
>
>Gas@aol.com wrote:
>>
>> I agree with Phil, lose the snake bit kit.
>>
>> Why.  If you see a rattlesnake, you will be very fortunate.
>>
>> If you see a rattlesnake and it actually bites you, you will be among the
>> chosen few.
>>
>

Thomas Ludden
Department of Geography  and Earth Sciences
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
tmludden@unccvms.uncc.edu


* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================