Fact: If you’re in the wilderness and see a bear, the best advice is to quietly back away. If it’s in your yard or campsite, make yourself as big and loud as you can and try to scare it off. In the case of an attack, your response depends on the bear. Never play dead if a black bear attacks. In the event of brown/grizzly, first attempt to back away, then play dead.
Fact: Punching a moving shark in the nose can be extremely difficult. Hell, punching a shark sitting still is tough. Instead, try to put something solid between you and claw at its eyes and gills.
Fact: Many animals, like birds and squirrels, eat certain berries and mushrooms that will lead to an ugly, painful death for you.
Fact: Bear Grylls might be able to survive the arctic in a lean-to, but the right shelter is always determined by the surrounding conditions. High heat dictates shade, but colder climates make keeping warm a priority. This means protection from the wind as well as a layer between you and the ground at night. Lean-tos are great wind breaks, but won’t keep you insulated.
Fact: Moss can grow on all sides of a tree, depending on where the tree is located and the conditions. Don’t use this folklore as a basis for navigation.
Fact: Rubbing frostbitten skin can damage it further and hot water can put someone into shock if they’re freezing. You need to warm someone up slowly, preferably with blankets or warm water bottles under their armpits.
Fact: Venom from a bite is immediately injected into the bloodstream. Putting your mouth on the bite just adds bacteria to the wound as well as potentially getting venom into your mouth and esophagus. Let the doctor and the anti-venom be the hero, keep your mouth to yourself.
Fact: Many rip currents travel ay an angle. The best idea is to stay alongside the shore, but swim perpendicular to the current—at an angle away from the current and toward the shore.
Fact: Picking out the right kind of barrel cactus can be difficult, but if you have the knowledge it can work. Most of the time, however, the liquid in a cactus will make you sick, causing you to vomit and making you more dehydrated (i.e. death).
Fact: You can survive up to six weeks without food. Finding water and shelter, in that order, should be your first goals.If the water source is a river, it might also be your best course to finding some civilization.
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