We were camping in bear country, in fact, very near the place where a bear attack happened just a few days before our trip. So we took the first step of self defense: awareness.
We learned about how to not attract black bears, what to do if we saw a black bear, and what to do if approached by a black bear.
We didn't see any bears.
We did see what we thought at first was possibly a copperhead, right near our campsite. As it turns out that one was more likely a northern water snake.
Copperhead
Northern Water Snake
That snake, however, reminded me about awareness, we'd been so focused on bear safety, I hadn't been thinking about snakes. So I started being more careful about where I walked, and where I looked while walking, and spotted this one.
So the lesson that I was reminded of was one I preach a lot. Awareness. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we should try to be aware of, not paranoid about, but aware of the threats we are most likely to face. We should be aware of how to minimize those threats and protect ourselves. By the way if you didn't click on that last link, you really should, it will help you be aware of the threats we face in the USA.
2 comments:
I tend to think it was the copperhead, by looking at the video you posted compared to the picture you posted. Thanks for the lesson, no matter how many times we've heard it!
We just saw a 300lb, 40 foot long constrictor at the Columbus Zoo. His name was Fluffy. We definitely watched out for him.
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