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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   1878 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 28, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I've been hiking a lot again. At least one day long hike per week and, thankfully, I've even engaged in a few 2 - 3 day overnights. Wonderful stuff.

Question for the motte; what are your thoughts on being "armed" on the trail. I put "armed" in quotations because this could mean one or more of;

  • Pocket knife
  • Large pointy stick
  • Inconvenient and heavy rambo style "survival" knife
  • Pistol
  • Shotgun / rifle toting.

Bear in mind I am specifically asking about a non-hunting situation. While I am experienced enough to agree with the adage that the most dangerous critters you will encounter are the two-legged kind, I sometimes have these intrusive thoughts about encountering something like a rabies ridden buck. That would be frightening.

So, open question. Not looking for advice per se, just everyone's thoughts.

As an avid outdoorsman, my personal recommendation is something small and compact, like a .22 pistol. That way, when the bear is on top of you, it's a lot easier to get the barrel into your mouth...

All kidding aside, concerns about attacks by wildlife are usually the mark of a greenhorn, and rabies is a particularly odd thing to be concerned about. Your scenario about deer isn't really plausible, since deer fight by butting with their antlers and kicking, not by biting. They do get rabies, but not in numbers large enough to report outside of "other wildlife", and deer attacks on humans are rare to begin with, especially considering how often we encounter suburban deer that have lost their fear of humans. And if you're hiking in the deep dark woods, you aren't likely to see many deer to begin with, since they prefer forest edge ecosystems where there's more to browse.

If you somehow were attacked by a rabid buck, stabbing at it with a knife would be about the worst possible thing you could do, and shooting it wouldn't be much better. Rabies is usually transmitted through saliva, but it can be transmitted through blood as well, so drawing blood probably isn't a good idea. Rabies is usually transmitted through raccoons on in the East, skunks in the Midwest, and foxes in the Southwest, and bats can transmit it anywhere. Trying to defend against these small mammals while they are attacking you and unlikely to do any permanent damage seems like just increasing the risk of shooting or slicing yourself and making a bad situation worse. And if you do get attacked and are exposed to rabies, it's not like it's a death sentence. Rabies has an incubation period of several weeks, plenty of time to get to a doctor for prophylactic treatment, which is almost 100% effective. It's even more effective if you wash the wound thoroughly immediately after getting bitten.

Thanks you for this reply. This is prime Motte advice.

Part of the reason I asked the question was to become more informed. Which is exactly what your post did. I used to have a mild to moderate fear of flying until I spent about an hour talking with a coworker who had had his pilot's license for over a decade. He walked me through everything about clear air turbulence, pressurization, and all of the checklist protocols that pilots go through in the event of any sort of emergency. It's not hyperbole to say it cured my fear of flying.

So, now, when I crash in the Alaskan Bush after unexpected turbulence, I won't be nearly as worried about rabid deer.

concerns about attacks by wildlife are usually the mark of a greenhorn

Except of course attacks by ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies, blackflies, deerflies and wasps (not to forget midges if you're in Scotland). And probably a bunch more that luckily don't live up here. Goddamned motherfuckers.

if I'm worried about being attacked by anything, it's wasps. Evil bastards. Can't see the nest until it's too late half the time, and even if someone else steps on it, they can just randomly decide it's your fault anyway

I am terrified of wasps and yellow jackets. But ticks are not to be underestimated - I say, out of maybe irrational fear, because I don't live and haven't lived in major tick-infested locations, but the idea that I could go hiking and end up with a life-changing inability to eat meat without even realizing is scary

Large horseflies are even worse in some ways. When they’re circling you they look like angry wasps and then you can’t quite know if you should smack them or run from them. And the fuckers keep following you unless you run many tens of meters (or over a hundred).

And the fuckers keep following you unless you run many tens of meters (or over a hundred).

I've had them follow me for miles while I was driving away in the truck! Not sure if they were clinging to the side, tracking my scent, or flying supernaturally fast, but either way I drove to a place previously without horseflies and had a handful of them at again as soon as I got out.

Here they were simply infesting the entire countryside on sunny days and would often attack me after barely walking 10 meters from the car if stopping by the side of the road. Worrying about human or animal attacks is for noobs. Real men fear insects for a reason!

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