[AZ-Observing] Re: Cherry Rd -Friday Night
- From: BillFerris@xxxxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 18:09:52 EDT
Mountain lion attacks are pretty rare, though the annual occurances in North
America have increased significantly to about 4 per year over the last
decade. Of course, not all attacks are fatal. Between 1890 and 1990 in the
U.S.
and Canada, there were 9 human fatalities confirmed as the result of mountain
lion attacks. There were 7 fatalities during the decade from 1991 to 2000.
Historically, most attacks targeted children. More recently, most attacks on
adults happened while the person was jogging. When you run, you look like
dinner. Most experts agree, the best course of action if you're lucky enough
to see
the mountain lion before it pounces is to stand your ground & raise your
arms to make yourself look as big as possible (Don't run; that looking like
dinner thing, again.) and make noise.
As far as risk goes, mountain lions rank well down the list of causes of
human demise. You're far more likely to die as a result of a bee sting, an
attack from a pet, a lightning strike or even a wrestling match with a soda
machine. That's right, you know who I'm talking about: the guy who loses his
70-cents in the Pepsi machine and decides if he shakes the machine vigorously
he'll
either provoke the release of his soda or of his change. During the 20th
Century, more people were killed as a reult of crushing encounters with
vending
machines than from mountain lion attaks. The lesson in this is, be careful
where you snack ;o)
And while we're on the subject of exagerated risks, which includes the risk
we face from thugs when observing out in the middle of nowhere--it's called
"the middle of nowhere" for a reason, I was surprised and relieved to read
there are no documented instances of any person being killed by a rattlesnake
bite or a scorpion sting in Grand Canyon. Before reading "Over the Edge: Death
in Grand Canyon," I was one of those guys who worried about snakes and
scorpions whenever I went into the desert. But according to the authors, there
isn't
one documented case of a person being killed in Grand Canyon by one of those
critters. The greatest risk to life and limb we face while hiking in the
canyon is human stupidity. People die from attempting "river and back" hikes
in
July with only a pint of water and a candy bar for sustenance; not from
snake bites or scorpion stings.
But getting back to astronomy, if there are any documented instances of
people dieing while observing with their telescopes, I'd wager the majority
would
be the result of heart attacks. Most amateur astronomers are men aged 40+.
And far too many of us are overweight and out of shape. So, what's my advice
for avoiding injury and death during a dark-sky observing session? A healthy
diet and regular exercise.
Bill in Flag
P.S. I encountered a Grand Canyon rattlesnake during my recent trip to Clear
Creek in Grand Canyon: _www.gcadventure.com_ (http://www.gcadventure.com)
In a message dated 4/14/2007 1:12:44 PM US Mountain Standard Time,
stan_gorodenski@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Hello Jennifer,
It appears this is becoming a debate so let me put my 2 cents in. I feel
I have lived to an age older than you for two reasons, luck and being
aware of and being prepared for the unexpected. For example, when age 14
or so while butterfly collecting in a wash outside of Roswell, NM I saw
a mountain lion tail disappear over a bluff about a hundred yards from
me. I was alone and this was not a hiking spot with other hikers that in
itself would tend to scare away wildlife like this. Lucky for me it ran
off instead of making me a meal. It was luck because now we read about
hikers or bicyclists being attacked by mountain lions. [snip]
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