Jellyfish are a problem in the ocean up north - there will be plenty of places I simply won't be able to go in the water at all.
But really, I see more bears in Canada in a summer that I've seen "dangerous" things in Australia in 6 months.
-Dan
Nothing like sharing your watering hole with a full size adult Wolverine (animal casually walked up to drink from the lake I was filling my water jug in, 5 feet away). Won't lie... that scared the bejesusses out of me. That being said I'll never forget the experience.
As a Canadian I always have to smile when I hear about people down south asking how to bring their side arms and rifles into Canada for protection in order to camp.
40+ years now and I have not once needed a firearm - encounters include multiple black bears (including mom's with cubs), grizzle bears, kicking a black bear in the ass through my ground tent as it had decided that sitting and leaning on my tent wall was a good place to sit it's rear end and relax on that particular morning, timber wolves, cougars, rattlesnakes, big horn sheep, moose (gods they are soo soo big), elk, etc.
On the mainland rattlers and black widows are honestly my biggest fear and that is just because they react so quickly when once accidently comes across one - larger mammals - the one normally sees are nomally more interested in getting away from a human, and they typically see you long before you see them.
Tourists (un-experienced drivers of larger trucks/overloaded RVs) in rental RVs/overloaded RVs scare me more than any wildlife.
That being said, I still camp in a tent 90 percent of the time.
Common sense, smart habits (regarding food storage and cooking and such) go a long way.
Yes I carry a bear bell when walking.
I always shake out boots/shoes before putting my feet into them regardless of them being safely inside my tent all night. I always shake out my sleeping bag before crawling in just in case.
I always store food and garbage out of reach of wildlife.
I always have a fixed blade on my waist - not saying it will actually help but it does feel better knowing it is there.
All of that being said when I used to live in Alberta we used to do "betting pools" on how far into tourist season it took before someone got done in by a bear. Freely admit it was childish/immature game at the time - but year after year people ignore ALL the signs and try to feed a wild bear or get between mom's and cubs trying to get that photo and the animal reacts (and then sadly it gets put down).
Thanks again Dan for being approachable, interacting with us all here and sharing your experience. You ever get over to Vancouver Island look me up Mate.
