View From The Solent spotted this...
The deep-seated foreign fear of bears roaming Russia’s streets might be coming true – and authorities in the remote Komi Republic is issuing guidelines to fend off attacks.
Among the top tips, residents are told to look the bear in the eye and speak to it firmly. Turning your back on a hungry mammal is not recommended. If the bear attacks, it’s best to meet fire with fire, apparently by shouting loudly and maintaining that all important eye contact, according to AFP.
... and asked: "Will this advice also work for cow attacks?"
Nope.
Joseph Muri, from the Agriculture Department in Nidwalden, Switzerland advises thusly:
Wichtig sei, dass einige banale Grundregeln im Umgang mit weidenden Tieren beachtet werden. Man soll die Tiere nicht berühren, direkten Augenkontakt vermeiden und auf Drohgebärden der Tiere achten, zum Beispiel wenn diese den Kopf senken und mit den Hufen scharren. So können viele Angriffe vermieden werden.
Translated; "It is important to follow a few basic ground rules with grazing cattle. Do not touch them, avoid direct eye contact and look out for signs of aggression, such as lowering heads or stamping with hooves. This will help avoid or prevent most attacks."
As to "not turning your back", I'd suggest the best advice when faced with aggressive cows is "run like hell". Unless you can run backwards, this inevitably entails "turning your back".
Monday, 25 October 2010
Contrasting techniques for fending off attacks by bears and cows.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
The bears worry me more because they manoeuvre better.
Time to go all literary:
A touch of Kipling needed to qualify that bear advice a bit -
'When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. '
And the cow advice reminded me of Herman Charles Bosman's "In the Withaak's Shade" -
'LEOPARDS? - Oom Schalk Lourens said - Oh, yes, there are two varieties on this side of the Limpopo. The chief difference between them is that the one kind of leopard has got a few more spots on it than the other kind.
But when you meet a leopard in the veld, unexpectedly, you seldom trouble to count his spots to find out what kind he belongs to.
That is unnecessary.
Because, whatever kind of leopard it is that you come across in this way, you only do one kind of running. And that is the fastest kind.'
Odd that the Russian advice is - presumably - meant to apply to Russian brown bears, which are not really any different from US grizzly bears.
Yet the advice if attacked by a grizzly is usually to 'play dead'.
JM, I can see it all now: "American tourists on coach trip through Russia attacked by bears: tour guides all survive, tourists massacred."
And vice versa for a coach load of Russian tourists in the USA or Canada.
The drummer's in the box office and he's counting all the money!
Post a Comment