[pct-l] PCT bear attacks...........

[tom aterno]

Read Jim and Wendy's May 23, 2010 Trailjournal (first one on the list of PCT journals for 2010).  It will be interesting to see how that dog situation develops.
 
The Incredible Bulk

--- On Mon, 5/24/10, David Ellzey <david at xpletive.com> wrote:


From: David Ellzey <david at xpletive.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] PCT bear attacks...........
To: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 6:49 PM


"...In 1994, an estimated 4.7 million persons (1.8% of the U.S. population) sustained a dog bite..."

Holy crap, I knew it would be high but that number is ridiculous and a whole other topic of discussion unto itself.

Anyhow, my comparison was not to say dogs are necessarily more dangerous but rather to show that people regularly go for runs/walks in their neighborhoods and feel comfortable that they are not in any significant danger of injury or death. However statistically speaking, they are probably in much greater danger between dogs, cars and other people with bad intentions than if they went for an extended hike. 

It is my opinion that most of the "so called" wildernesses are actually a lot safer than people's everyday lives, especially with a modicum of experience and/or skills training. People seem to have an unreasonable fear of the backcountry because they have no experience what-so-ever with that environment to relate to. They are very comfortable in their urban or suburban world because they know it, not because it is actually safer. So all these fear-based questions about guns, bears and the like are coming from that mindset.

Now maybe that mindset is too deeply embedded in most people to alter but I think that those of us who know better should do whatever we can to try and reason with those people who have a misconception of what the natural world is actually like.

BigToe

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Lee [mailto:saintgimp at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 4:15 PM
To: David Ellzey; PCT-1
Subject: RE: [pct-l] PCT bear attacks...........


BigToe wrote:
>
> Just to put this in context, do you have statistics regarding domestic dog bite injuries/fatalities for California?
> 

According to a fairly old article published by the CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00047723.htm, there were 279 dog-attack fatalities across the U.S. for the 15 years from 1979 to 1994, or about 18 per year, compared to 0.1 per year for bears.

The other factor that influences an evaluation of risk is the population size and rate of exposure.  That is, there are a lot more dog-related fatalities than bear-related fatalities, but then there are presumably a lot more dogs in the U.S. than bears and a lot more people are regularly exposed to dogs than to bears.  So is the average dog more dangerous than the average bear?  I have no idea.

The CDC article goes on to state, "In 1986, nonfatal dog bites resulted in an estimated 585,000 injuries that required medical attention or restricted activity; in that year, dog bites ranked 12th among the leading causes of nonfatal injury in the United States. In 1994, an estimated 4.7 million persons (1.8% of the U.S. population) sustained a dog bite; of these, approximately 800,000 (0.3%) sought medical care for the bite."

Wow, that's a lot of dog bites.

I think the comparison to lightning is more interesting because at least there you're talking about kinda/sorta the same group of outdoor enthusiasts.  Still pretty rough, though.

Eric                           
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 9.0.819 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2892 - Release Date: 05/24/10 11:26:00
_______________________________________________
Pct-l mailing list
Pct-l at backcountry.net
To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/