4 Watch for a bluff charge.
A gorilla may make a “bluff charge” before an attack to scare potential threats. It may scream or “bark,” stomp its hands on the ground, and tear at vegetation as it advances toward you. A bluff charge is fast and intimidating and resembles an actual attack.
5 Crouch down and make yourself as small a target as possible.
If the gorilla feels threatened during a bluffing display, it may decide to follow through with an attack.
6 Stay quiet and submissive.
An attack may include severe biting and pounding or tearing with the gorilla’s hands. Even if it appears that the gorilla means to harm you, do not actively resist or fight back: it will interpret this behavior as threatening and may attack more severely.
7 Groom.
If the gorilla has gotten hold of you, begin to “groom” its arm while loudly smacking your lips. Primates are fastidious groomers, and grooming the gorilla in this fashion may distract it in a nonthreatening way. As the gorilla’s grip relaxes, slowly move your grooming hand to the gorilla’s hand, showing keen interest in any bits of leaf or dirt on the gorilla.
8 Remain quiet and passive until the gorilla loses interest or help arrives.
WARNING!
If the gorilla has you in its grip, do not attempt to pry the gorilla’s fingers apart to remove its hand. A full-grown silverback gorilla is much stronger than any adult human. The gorilla’s grip will be like a vise that is impossible to open.
Piranhas are more active (and hungry) during the day, so cross an infested area at night
HOW TO CROSS A PIRANHA-INFESTED RIVER
1 Do not cross if you have an open wound.
Piranhas are attracted to blood.
2 Avoid areas with netted fish, docks where fish are cleaned, and areas around bird rookeries.
Piranhas may become habituated to feeding in these areas and may be more aggressive there.
3 Stay out of the water when piranhas are feeding.
When large numbers of piranhas are attacking prey—a true feeding frenzy—they may snap and bite at anything around them. If you see them feeding, stay away, or well upriver.
4 Cross the river at night.
Virtually every species of piranha rests at night, and when awakened, they will swim away rather than attack. Piranhas are most active at dawn, though some large adults may hunt in the evening.
5 Swim or walk across quickly and quietly.
Try not to create a large disturbance in the water that might awaken piranhas.
Poison Dart Frog Contact
Poison dart frogs get their poison from the insects and arthropods they eat in the wild; captive-bred dart frogs are not poisonous at all.
No true and reliable antidote has been discovered for the treatment of batrachotoxin poisoning, the most common cause of death from poison dart frogs.
Poison dart frogs secrete their poison all over their body. Do not touch.
Tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin secreted by the puffer fish, can slow or reverse the chemical effects of batrachotoxin, the most dangerous of the poisons found in dart-frog secretion.
Digoxin immune fab, typically used to treat overdose of digitalis, the poison secreted by the foxglove plant, may also be helpful.
Many species of poisonous dart frogs actually secrete very low levels of toxin, so contact may only cause a temporary muscle paralysis, rather than death.
Deadlier species, such as the golden poison frog (Phyllo-bates terriblis), have such high toxic concentrations that contact can lead to serious muscle contraction and heart failure within a matter of minutes. It secretes sufficient poison to kill 20 men and is considered the most toxic animal in the world. The toxin found in the golden poison frog is being used experimentally in low doses as a painkiller for humans.
Poison dart frogs are found throughout South and Central America, as well as in Hawaii. A typical poison frog is one or two inches long and bears a camouflage pattern, but there are nearly 200 species, found in a wide variety of often-beautiful colors and patterns.
BE AWARE!
Piranhas are freshwater, tropical fish. In the wild, they exist only in South America, in slow-moving rivers, backwaters, or foodplain lakes. Piranhas generally do not live in either mountain lakes or streams; the water is too cold and flows too fast.
Piranhas generally do not attack humans or large animals—unless they are already dead or injured. During the dry season, however, when their food supply is scarce, piranhas can be more aggressive. When driving cattle across a river suspected of containing piranhas, farmers will sometimes sacrifice a sick or injured animal downstream before letting the herd enter the water.
SNAKES
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HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A BOA CONSTRICTOR
1 Act immediately.
Once a boa wraps itself around you, begin taking action to free yourself right away, before the pressure reaches levels sufficient to prevent you from breathing or moving.
2 Make slow, careful movements.
Actively and energetically struggling will cause the boa to tighten its strong grip. Refrain from becoming completely still (i.e., playing dead), as a boa constrictor will typically continue to constrict, even when it thinks its prey is dead.
Hold the head still with one hand and slowly unwrap the boa with your other hand.
3 Splash alcohol in the snake’s face.
A small amount of rubbing or grain alcohol in the boa’s mouth and eyes will cause it to instinctively loosen its pressure.
4 Grasp the head.
With one hand, hold the head of the snake still.
5 Slowly unwrap.
With your other hand, take hold of the snake’s tail and slowly bend it upward. This alone may spur the boa to loosen its grip; if not, slowly uncoil the snake from the tail, ring by ring.
6 Stun the snake.
Should the boa begin to tighten its coils, making it impossible to uncoil further, rap it hard in the center of the head, stunning it and temporarily easing the constriction.
7 Douse the snake with water.
Hot water often makes a boa constrictor’s muscles involuntarily relax.
WARNING!
Boas are not poisonous and a bite will not kill you, although snakebites can and often do result in infection.
Boa constrictors can grow as long as 14 feet and as heavy as 60 pounds. An adult should not be handled by a single individual.
Boa constrictors can completely unhinge their jaws, and can eat animals as large as monkeys and wild pigs.
Do not approach a boa constrictor with the scent of another animal on your body.
Snake in a Sleeping Bag
Pick up the sleeping bag from the bottom and dump the snake outside. If you are in the bag and feel a snake, avoid sudden movements. Very slowly work the bag down toward your feet as you pull your upper body and then legs out. Keep the bag rolled up and tied when you are not using it to prevent snakes from entering, and keep your tent flaps zipped.
HOW TO SURVIVE A POISONOUS SNAKE ATTACK
How to Treat a Bite
1 Wash the bite with soap and water as soon as you can.
2 Immobilize the bitten area, and keep it lower than the heart.
This will slow the flow of the venom.
3 Immediately wrap a bandage tightly two to four inches above the bite to help slow the venom if you are unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes.
The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. Make the bandage loose enough for a finger to slip underneath.
4 If you have a first aid kit equipped with a suction device, follow the instructions for drawing venom out of the wound without making an incision.
Generally, you will need to place the rubber suction cup over the wound and attempt to draw the venom out from the bite marks.
Snakes can strike at a distance approximately half their length; half their body does not leave the ground.
What Not to Do
Do not place any ice or cooling element on the bite.
This will make removing the venom with suction more difficult.
Do not tie a bandage or a tourniquet too tightly.
If used incorrectly, a tourniquet can cut blood flow completely and damage the limb.
Do not make any incision on or around the wound in an attempt to remove the venom—there is danger of infection.
Do not attempt to suck out the venom with your mouth, where it might enter your bloodstream.
Do not assume that a snake is nonpoisonous unless you know for certain that it is not.
Venomous snakes have markings very similar to those of nonpoisonous ones.
Venomous Snakes of the Tropics
NAME: bushmaster
APPEARANCE: light brown body; very wide head
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Central and South America
HABITAT: rainforests
NAME: cobra
APPEARANCE: long body; spread hood
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: South and Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East
HABITAT: virtually everywhere
NAME: death adder
APPEARANCE: brown/red body, lighter crossbars; triangular head
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Australia
HABITAT: bush, rocky areas
NAME: Eastern tiger snake
APPEARANCE: olive or red body with lighter crossbars
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Australia
HABITAT: rainforest, grasslands
NAME: fer-de-lance
APPEARANCE: gray/brown/red body with geometrical blotches
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Central and South America
HABITAT: rainforests, tree branches
NAME: fierce snake
APPEARANCE: black markings on head; brown/olive body
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Australia
HABITAT: grasslands
NAME: giant black tiger snake
APPEARANCE: black body; lighter crossbars
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Australia
HABITAT: sand dunes, beaches, grasslands
NAME: mamba
APPEARANCE: uniform dark color; very skinny body; small head
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Africa
HABITAT: rainforest
NAME: tropical rattlesnake
APPEARANCE: dark stripes on neck; rattle at tip of tail
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Central and South America
HABITAT: dry, hilly terrain
NAME: viper
APPEARANCE: very wide head
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE: Southeast Asia, Africa
HABITAT: rainforest, grasslands
ANIMAL PACKS
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HOW TO ESCAPE FROM KILLER BEES
1 If bees begin flying around and/or stinging you, do not freeze.
Run away; swatting at the bees only makes them angrier.
2 Get indoors as fast as you can.
3 If no shelter is available, run through bushes or high weeds.
This will help give you cover.
4 If a bee stings you, it will leave its stinger in your skin.
Remove the stinger by raking your fingernail across it in a sideways motion. Do not pinch or pull the stinger out—this may squeeze more venom from the stinger into your body. Do not let stingers remain in the skin, because venom can continue to pump into the body for up to 10 minutes.
5 Do not jump into a swimming pool or other body of water—the bees are likely to be waiting for you when you surface.
Run away from killer bees. If no shelter is available, run through bushes or high weeds.
HOW TO OUTWIT A PACK OF WOLVES
1 Slowly move to solid terrain.
In winter, wolves tend to chase their prey into deep snow or onto frozen lakes, surfaces where the hooves of the victim sink or slide. The wolves’ large, padded feet give them a tremendous range-of-movement advantage in these areas. If you see wolves around you, slowly walk toward solid ground. Do not crouch down, and do not run. Even during warmer months, wolves will readily chase prey over solid ground and are capable of bursts of high speed, as fast as 35 mph over short distances. You cannot outrun a wolf.
2 Observe the wolves’ posture.
A wolf can attack from any position, but a tail straight up in the air and ears pricked up are a signal of dominance and often indicate that the wolf is preparing to attack.
3 Charge one member of the pack.
Wolves are generally timid around humans and have a strong flight response. Running toward one wolf while yelling may scare it and the other members of the pack away from you.
4 Throw sticks and rocks.
If the wolves continue with an attack, throw sticks and rocks at those closest to you. Wolves tend to attack the lower portions of their victims’ bodies in an attempt to hobble and then bring them to the ground. Kick or hit the wolves as they approach your legs until you scare them off.
WARNING!
Captive wolves are more likely to attack a human than wolves in the wild. Attacks are often a dominance display. Captive wolves may attack and then eat a person.
Solitary wolves are generally considered more of an attack threat to humans than pack wolves, though a pack of wolves can inflict more damage more quickly.
Wild wolves habituated to the presence of humans are more likely to attack, since they have lost their fear of people.
Wolves may hunt at any hour of the day or night.
The bite pressure of an adult wolf is about 1,500 pounds per square inch. By contrast, the bite pressure of a German shepherd is about 500 pounds per square inch.
A wolf pack may have 30 members.
HOW TO SURVIVE A SLUMBER PARTY
1 Begin the party at around 6 p.m.
Organize strenuous events such as tag, soccer, high-impact aerobics, calisthenics, or wind-sprint drills to exhaust the guests and encourage an early bedtime.
2 Serve carbohydrate-heavy foods.
Pizza, pasta, sandwiches, chili, and other heavy foods help induce sleep. Make certain that these are on the menu, and encourage everyone to go back for seconds.
3 Secure cabinets, rooms, and drawers you want to keep off-limits.
Use travel padlocks and cable ties to protect cabinets and drawers. To keep the children out of rooms that do not lock, place noisy pets inside the rooms, or stack cans behind the door to create an “intruder alert” system.
4 Do not serve caffeinated beverages or dessert.
5 Observe the gathering of guests unobtrusively. Use small bowls for snacks so that they need to be refilled regularly, providing you with the opportunity to ensure that the herd is well behaved. Listen with a tall glass pressed against a wall or door (holding the closed end to your ear) to eavesdrop. Check in every half hour or so in order to “see if anyone needs or wants anything.”
6 Use video games and movies to lower the activity level.
Lower energy levels with nonviolent video games as part of a cooldown phase. Show long, sweeping epic movies around 11 p.m. to get children into sleeping bags and a prone position.
7 Collect mobile phones.
At midnight, offer to recharge phones, and do not return them until morning.
Calisthenics will encourage an early bedtime.
Chased by a Pack of Dogs
Enter a car or nearby building as quickly as possible. Some breeds will tire after a short chase, while others may continue to chase you over long distances. Climb a tree only if you are able to get more than four feet off the ground.
How Many Animals in the Group?
ANIMAL: elephants
NAME OF GROUP: herd
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: 6 to 12
ANIMAL: bees
NAME OF GROUP: swarm
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: 1,500 to 30,000
ANIMAL: gorillas
NAME OF GROUP: troop
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: one to four males, a few juvenile males, a few females
ANIMA
L: sheep
NAME OF GROUP: flock
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: minimum five, can be 1,000 or more
ANIMAL: dolphins
NAME OF GROUP: pod
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: 12
ANIMAL: lions
NAME OF GROUP: pride
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: 40
ANIMAL: geese
NAME OF GROUP: gaggle
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: minimum five, can be 100 or more
ANIMAL: fish
NAME OF GROUP: school
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: hundreds
ANIMAL: army ants
NAME OF GROUP: colony
HOW MANY ARE IN IT: thousands
STAMPEDES
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HOW TO SURVIVE AN ELEPHANT STAMPEDE
Take available cover.
Elephants stampede when they are startled by a loud noise or to escape a perceived threat. If the elephants are running away from a threat but toward you, do not try to outrun them. Elephants can run at a speed in excess of 25 mph. Even while charging, they can make sharp turns and are able to climb steep slopes. Seek a sturdy structure nearby and take cover.
Climb a tree.
The elephants are likely to avoid trees when running. Grab a branch at its base and use your legs to power yourself up the tree, keeping three of your limbs in contact with the tree at all times as you climb. If you cannot climb the tree, stand behind it. Elephants will avoid large obstacles when running.
Ultimate Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook Page 5