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When I was a boy I would go play "mountain man" for days on end in the Selkirk mountains of my home. A knife and a army blanket where my only companion.......unless I could get a buddy to come along. The human mind is a wonderful thing.......when it cannot see it tends to fill in the blanks for you. The trick is? What does it fill in with? For instance I would lay under my blanket at night and hear twigs snapping in the woods around me. Obviously because I could not see anything my mind would fill in the void with a very large grizzly bear that was coming to eat me. More often than not? It was a deer....... I began controlling my fear by actively filling the void with the most plausible explanation.....and imagined a peaceful doe munching on clover as opposed to the griz (that do reside in the selkirks btw). I disagree that fear is a good thing......it makes us make rash decisions that usually make the situation MUCH WORSE. My daughter is deathly afraid of bees, wasps, etc. I'm afraid that she is going to have one buzzing around her someday and she is going to blindly thrash around and run right out onto a busy street or something. You simply must eat the pie one piece at a time........you can only control what is in your power to control. And in the wilderness with very few "tools", one had better learn to master the most important tool, their own brain. If that grizzly had materialized when I was a boy? Of course I would feel fear.......but why feel fear over an over active imagination? The best course of action with mother nature is a healthy respect for her......and the boy scout motto "be prepared". And simply deal with each situation as it presents itself IF it's outside of your control. Can you control where you store your food? Sure. (not in the bottom of your sleeping bag......but in a tree 50 yards away) Can you look for obvious bear or cougar sign before you choose a location to camp? Sure. Can you control which way a bear walks in the woods? No........you get my drift. Also a important rule of thumb is that if your attacked at night by a predator in your camp site? You fight like heck. They are in your camp site......they are invading your space and they know EXACTLY what you are.......and obviously have no fear. This is a predatory style of attack........not protecting young or defending territory or food. You ARE Food!! So fight for all your worth. Some people safeguard themselves with pepper spray or a firearm while in the back country.......I generally pack both. And when you go to bed make sure your pepper spray is close at hand and not at the bottom of your pack. This isn't paranoia, it's being prepared JUST IN CASE that one in a million encounter happens. But don't let the fear of the dark ruin your outdoor experience.......that would be tragic. I don't care who you are.......when it's your time it's your time! Be bold and live your life to the fullest and met it head on!

They are in "Dyer" need of attention...