Have you ever had a “close call/near miss” in the field?
Ask a Biologist Monday 11/14/22
Answers from Biologists:
Had several close calls with rattlesnakes in Southern California on spotted owl night surveys.
A new field tech though that charging the bear that was charging us was smart.
Saved a coworker from falling off a zodiac into some rocky wash.
While we were pulling samples 5 miles offshore in a boat, a coworker fell overboard. Wear your lifejacket!
Being towed behind a boat surveying and almost being decapitated by a tourist jet ski.
Running into an hours old litter of feral piglets in a coconut forest in Guam.
Mostly too hot or too cold near misses.
Caught in a tiny boat in a big storm.
Dead tree fell and hit my car while I was driving back from my last day of a 2 year field stint.
While pulling mountain lion cubs from a den, mom’s VHF signal was lost as she was heading back to us.
Worked as a wildland firefighter. My crew made a bad call my rookie year and shit got very rowdy.
Stepped on some vegetation covering a deep crevice and fell in to my hip. Luckily I didn’t dislocate my knee/leg.
Almost got heat stroke a couple of times.
Altitude sickness on a mountain. Throwing up and almost falling over the whole way back to my truck. My colleague carried me part of the way.
Almost sat on a juvenile Fer-d-lance in the Choco rainforest.
Got attacked by a wild turkey during fieldwork and chased for 400 meters.
My leg got caught in a trawl rope as we were sending a net out.
Got a concussion from a bear trap closing on the back of my head.
Stepped on a ground hive. Took 5 to the face. Hives, dizziness, 2 miles from the truck.
Mist netting for bats and we spooked a young cougar. 7 miles back at night was fun!
A colleague tore a muscle in the backcountry. Has to hike them and their gear out.
Assessing tree risk, many high risk trees felt a good time to fall was during their assessments.
Heat exhaustion alone in the field, almost too far from my truck that has AC and water. Could barely move.
I slipped on a rock in Gran Canaria while sampling shearwater nests. Nearly fell from the cliff to the sea.
Two wildfires erupted on either side of us and we had to run and drive for our lives.
An e-break slipped and truck rolled backwards over me as I was releasing fish into a river.
Harp net trapping a hibernaculum. Large tree fell where we planned on setting up.
Storm surge flooded our coastal AK field camp with 5 feet of water. We had 30 minutes notice.
Didn’t secure the truck door during high winds. Ended up cutting my head pretty badly while solo.
Confronted by armed pot grower on public land, ran for my life.
Charged by a cow moose while tracking chipmunks.
Sprayed both my tech and myself with poorly stashed bear spray from our pack.
Had a close encounter with a mountain lion (<6 feet away) during a spotted owl survey.
Ran out of gas in the helicopter up a remote inlet on the BC coast. Managed to land it by the water.
Stalked by a cougar doing an exit count-horses chased it off.
Escaped a flash flood in the aptly named Box-Death Hollow Wilderness while backpack electrofishing.
Stalked and harassed for 3 months by local “sportsmen’s” group for conducting whitetail research.
Accidentally stepped 6 inches in front of the nose of a 5.5 foot rattlesnake.
Chased by an aggressive western capercaillie (grouse) male through the woods.
Accidentally got too close to a calf in the field and mama cow chased me into the woods.
Surveying for barred owl. Ducked instinctively and one flew inches over my head.
3 hurricanes coming for our remote field site at once. Resulted in an emergency evacuation from the navy.
Me and my field partner were stalked by a black bear and didn’t know until it was right behind us.
Went to tube a western diamondback rattlesnake and the tube snapped.
First tech job. Allergic reaction to reed canary grass. Went into anaphylaxis. Middle of nowhere.
Stepped on a hibernating black bear (broke through snow).
A mother black bear charged my field assistant and I while we were doing bird surveys in Oklahoma.
Tripped in the middle of an elephant seal harem, got charged.
Held at gunpoint twice in less than 24 hours. First was at a BLM gate, second was my camp.
Coworker forgot to put work rig in park on a mountain road and I almost got stuck going down with the rig.
While surveying bird nests in AK, grizzly bear came within 20 meters of us.
Used too small of a bag to weigh a copperhead. Went to tie the knot and its head popped out next to my hand.
Checking bird burrows on Kaua’i, the ground gave out and I rolled downhill 15 feet and caught myself on a tree.
After a storm, a tree limb fell close to me and came close to hitting me on the head.
Almost got our truck pushed off the mountain by an enormous tanker truck barreling down.
Got stung in the face by a jellyfish while diving to collect critters for experiments.
Reaching over a log into lantana to collect a test nest, a small-eyed snake jumped out.
Left alone and my GPS unit quit working. Was familiar enough with the area that I didn’t get lost.
My partner sprayed bear spray in his eyes, and hour and a half drive from the nearest hospital.
Tanker ship generated ‘mini-tsunami’ while standing in the marsh in waders.
Stepped on a fat rattlesnake (it was fine).
Dime sized hail and lightning too close for comfort while hiking down a mountain.
3 different tick-borne illnesses including exposure to Lyme. On antibiotics for 6 weeks total.
Weeks later checking trail cam photos, I saw a puma had “joined” me on a night walk.
Almost getting run down by a bull moose in WY while doing radio telemetry on roads.
Netting bats last summer and startled a sleeping moose 2 feet from me.
Giant bullet ant flew into my field kitchen. Almost got bitten-they can put you in a coma.
Almost losing a coworker in the field. Always bring a radio.
Bear walked right past me while checking trail cameras.
A couple close calls with vehicle accidents with all the driving on rough mountain roads.
Shot at by private landowner while on adjacent public land tracking bats.
Rattlesnakes in my small mammal traps in SE AZ.
I got caught in quicksand.
Got struck by lighting at our field station. Still have the scar where I saw the spark go in.
Vehicle shot at while pheasant stocking.
Passing truck shattered the driver side window. Glass went flying everywhere.
A feral bull snuck up on me. We were both surprised by the bull’s reaction was much scarier.
Climbing up a 15 foot high rock wall. Tiny cactus invisible in handhold. Almost fell off high rock wall.
Picked the wrong size tube so a copperhead turned around to strike while we were tagging her.
Locals pulling a gun on us while spotlighting mule deer.
Chased off moose with a chainsaw that was bellowing at us.
Very close lightning strikes, on the metal boat, on open water.
Rolled my ATC over my head. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet.
Snake bite sent me to the hospital. So painful. Still permanently swollen.
Nearly got bitten when tagging a seal. They’re strong.
Almost drowned in a marsh while radio tracking turtles. Managed to haul myself onto a cattail mat.
Toxic coworker “forgot” to pick me up at the meeting point during a thunderstorm. Hitched back.
Got stung by several yellow jackers and had an allergic reaction.
Almost sat on a timber rattlesnake.
Came face to face with the camp elephant in Kenya and was not expecting it.
Falling off cliffs, scratched by a mountain lion, almost struck by lightning.
Lost in the woods, carrying a bag of neonate EDB rattlesnakes, trip and nearly land on them.
VHF malfunction led to us running into a momma mountain lion with her kittens on a kill.
Almost stepped on a small rattlesnake buried under sand on the way to a pre-dawn survey.
Nearly got bit by a few snapping turtles when releasing them in the rain.
Been stuck caught on the water in some sketchy out of nowhere thunderstorms.
Trapped in a thunderstorm in a salt marsh in a metal canoe during a terrapin survey.
After emergency surgery on a 3 yr old cougar, he started waking up faster than anticipated.
Struck by a rattlesnake. Luckily it only hit my jeans.
Being shot at by angry land owners while bat netting (we had permission to be there).
Briefly kidnapped by a sturgeon poacher. Successfully negotiated my release.
Nearly sat on an 8 foot boa at night.
Crossed a river in front of a female leopard without even realizing it.
Many close calls with great basin rattlesnakes in NV. One almost got stuck in a live trap meant for rabbits.
Flipping rocks in a stream for salamanders. Almost flipped a coiled timber rattlesnake.
Came face to face with a cougar my first day of my first field job.
Standing on a boulder during a veg survey, didn’t realize there was a skunk right below me.
Charged by a cow moose while I worked up her calf.
Deliberately shot at in the forest while conducting spotted owl surveys in Oregon.
Almost slid into a wetland because of a massive hole I couldn’t see in the dark when I pulled onto the shoulder.
A salamander escaped my grasp and I am confident it was undescribed in Western science.
Was struck by a rattlesnake. Thank god I was wearing snake guards so I was unharmed.
Charged by a momma moose while I was tracking her to get a visual on the calf.
First tech job with salmon in Alaska. Fell off the boat on the last day of work.
Stand off with a feral stallion when I stumbled between him and his mares.
Almost shot by an angry neighboring landowner.
Trapped in a lightning storm and had to lie down in a field. Survived the storm but covered in ticks.
While looking for Ozark big-eared bats, walked in on a sleeping mountain lion.
A deer chased by a wolf ran past me in the field.
While cutting loosetrife in a ditch a car ran off the road and came barreling down the ditch.
