Rhinos and Cougars and Whales oh my :)

Our class discussion of borders whales, cougars, and rhinoceri inspired me to search for tips on how to survive wild animal encounters. Us humans are pretty good at creating boundaries, enough so that we need help and expert advice when we cross them, especially into environments with animals that can kill us, and vice-versa.

What I found was surprising, there are tips to avoid cougar and rhino attacks , but no tips to avoid whale attacks, not even for killer whale attacks except for don't don't try your best seal impression on an ice flow, and don't swim with captive whales...

I thought "well maybe their aren't tips for whale attacks because percentage wise people are on land more then they are in the ocean, so land animal encounters are more common" but I found many tips to avoid shark attacks and jelly fish attacks and so on, but still none specific to whales. The following article at this LINK helped put this into perspective. 

The following are tips I gathered from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153--290552--,00.html 
"Established cougar populations are found as close to Michigan as the Dakotas, and transient cougars dispersing from these areas have been known to travel hundreds of miles in search of new territory. DNA evidence collected from a cougar hit and killed by a car in Connecticut in 2011 showed it had originated in western South Dakota." Also here are some tips on how to minimize wild animal attacks on livestock. 



Below are some screenshots from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Some helpful tips for sharing space with cougars. + legal relationships in the state of Washington.

Also here are some tips for those of us who may encounter rhinos - good information to have either way.

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A CHARGING RHINO 1. Climb a tree. The rhino is likely to avoid trees when running. Grab a branch at its base and use your legs to power yourself up the tree, keeping three of your limbs in contact with the tree at all times as you climb. If you cannot climb the tree, stand behind it. Rhinos will avoid large obstacles when running. 2. Run for scrub. A rhino probably will not follow you into thick scrub brush. Get as far in as possible. Adrenaline will prevent you from noticing the painful thorns until you try to get out. 3. Stand your ground and shout. If no tree or scrub is available to allow your escape, stand and face the animal (rhinos have poor eyesight but are attracted to movement). As the rhino approaches, scream and shout as loud as you can. A charging rhino may veer away from a noisy target. 4. Run in the opposite direction. A rhino will continue running in the same direction when it is charging and is not likely to turn around and come back for another attack. Once you have evaded the charge and the rhino has veered off, run in the opposite direction.