#the antlers i made a pattern from the old build a bear deer

[spartalabouche]

eveyvody look at my build a bear jackalope i made. she is small

[lailoken]

“The Lady of Norfolk: Our Lady of the Chalk

Twice in any twenty-four-hour period, it is possible to watch the Lady of Norfolk stepping from the sea. As the tide recedes, just to the East of Sheringham, She begins to appear, in the form of an outcrop of rocks, sometimes white and gleaming in the sunshine, but sometimes more subtle, and draped in seaweed. This small sliver of rock provides us with a little glimpse of Norfolk's Chalk reef, which is a rich and diverse marine habitat, our Lady's submerged treasury, from which she offers many magical gifts, and tells her wordless story of the ancient history of the landscape. For the physical aspect of this technically and unromantically given the chemical name of calcium carbonate, is made up of the solid remains of millions of creatures, whose lives and dramas unfolded long before the Ice Age, when most of the land was still beneath the sea. So, every piece of Chalk we casually pick holds within it something of these ancient memories.

Of course, the concept of a White Goddess of love, beauty, caring and nurturing, stepping from the sea, is found in other traditions worldwide. I have been fortunate enough to visit the birthplace of Aphrodite, in Cyprus, and to see the brilliant white rock which represents her emerging from the blue green of the Mediterranean, lapped all around with perfect white sea foam. She is indeed grand and dramatic, and tourists arrive constantly to see her and pay their respects. Our Lady of Norfolk is much quieter, less theatrical, and only ever whispers her secrets. However, there is nothing more lovely than watching her appear from a cold, grey North Sea, when only a few dog walkers or beachcombers are around, and far too distant to disturb our musings. The Lady of the Chalk, our White Lady, is Mother of the Flint, although precisely how the Flint forms within the Chalk remains a mystery, as so it should. It has been suggested that burrows within the Chalk become filled with dissolved silica, which is derived from the skeletons of sponges (Hart, 2000). These form nodules which become freed from their Mother over millions of years of erosion.

We see the Lady of Norfolk as a nurturer of crops and a nourisher of the creatures and the people of the land. This is reflected, in practical terms, in the process known as "marling", which was particularly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Chalk was dug from pits and spread onto the fields to enhance the soil structure and to neutralise acidity (Williamson, 1993). We may not need to spread physical Chalk on our own small areas of land, but we can certainly call on the Lady to bless our gardens and the places for wild fruits, nuts, herbs or craft materials, for on all levels, she can help make the conditions right for things to thrive. She can do this on the inside as well as in our environment, since Chalk tablets are taken by many people as an antacid, and many toothpastes contain finely ground Chalk.

The Lady of Norfolk is also associated with the white milk of fostering, for just as she is Mother of the Flint, she is also a Mother to us all. It is interesting that, at the Christian shrine at Walsingham, there was a vial of "Our Lady's Milk", brought to Norfolk from the Holy House at Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. This "milk" was long regarded as a precious relic, full of miraculous potential. Yet, what it appears to have been (and even modern Christian scholars agree on this point) is scrapings of Chalk from the walls of the place of the Nativity (Spencer, 1980). So, powdered Chalk, from a distant Holy Land, representing another White Lady, has been brought to a hallowed place within our own sacred, Chalk landscape (Wood, 2017). From a magical point of view, this adds many more layers of meaning and interest, and merits much thought and meditation.

Like a good Mother, the Lady of Norfolk is one who can hold together her magical family, just as the mortar, of which her physical being is a part, holds in place the Flints or the bricks of the buildings which shelter us. We might barely notice her in this aspect, but she is there, informing the subtle patterns which we create together, as she fosters cooperation and community.

The Lady may also be called upon to protect our communities and our own hearths and homes. This is enhanced by chalking protective symbols onto fenceposts, doorsteps and pathways. Various runes may be used for this purpose. Particularly popular is the bindrune known as the Helm of Awe, although "running eights" work especially well on doorsteps. Although it is sometimes tempting to create the more elaborate patterns from colourful, commercial chalk (which is usually made out of gypsum or talc), to invoke the Lady's protection to its full extent, it really needs to be worked with Chalk found locally.

Because it is physically possible to write with Chalk, the Lady can also be called upon to assist magically those of us who work with the craft of writing, while the practical uses of her gifts in numerous other crafts (for example, tailor's chalk for those who sew, checking the fit of joints in woodwork) provide a route to summoning her assistance in all the skills of the hand and the imagination. Thus, both the Lord and Lady of Norfolk have very strong associations with the practical crafts, which are so embedded in the magical work of the county.

Chalk carving is a craft which can certainly be said to have been associated with the Goddess in ancient times, and one controversial depiction of her was "discovered" in 1939, in Pit 15 of Grimes Graves, by the archaeologist A. Leslie Armstrong. She was sitting on a Flint plinth, with antler picks, and a Chalk vessel beneath it. There was a carved Chalk phallus on the floor and Flint nodules arranged, in a phallus shape, in a gallery not far away. This "Venus of Grimes Graves", or "Chalk Goddess", became an iconic figure, appearing on the official site guidebooks and attracting much academic speculation about her role as an Earth Goddess, reminiscent of other European, Palaeolithic "Venus" figures. She is indeed very well rounded, with large, pendulous breasts, and appears to be pregnant. It was also suggested that she might have been placed in the pit, to petition for a more abundant seam of unweathered floorstone in the next excavation. However, there have been many questions raised about the authenticity of the figurine. Armstrong, who had been implicated in other fraudulent finds, had been alone in the pit, prior to the discovery, having forbidden other colleagues from joining him. Then, when he brought his finds to the surface, his friend, Ethel Rudkin, angered him by making a copy of the figure from a discarded piece of Chalk, using a Flint knife, thus proving how easy it was to make a "goddess" of this kind (Russell, 2000).

For historians and archaeologists, the matter of whether or not the Chalk Goddess is real is obviously of importance. However, for magical practitioners, this need not necessarily be the case. Even if the figure was made by Armstrong or any other hoaxer, it has already developed a considerable aura of power and presence. This was evident from her appearance at the Unearthed exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre, in Norwich, when this Chalk Lady returned to the county, from the British Museum, where she currently resides, to take her place amongst a wealth of Japanese figures, known as dogu, and a collection of South East European figurines. She was placed in a large glass display cabinet, some distance from the other exhibits, in an area of dim lighting. Rounding the corner, and coming face to face with her, was a breath-taking experience. She exudes enchantment and significance, small and simple as she is in mundane terms. Of course, she could well have the ability to embody the Lady, however recently she was made. Magical practitioners are well aware of how quickly depictions of deities can become ensouled, and it must have delighted her to return to Norfolk, if only on a temporary visit.

The face of the Grimes Graves Goddess is very simple and plain, with no adornments. However, the Lady of Norfolk most definitely has an aspect as a horned goddess. Sometimes these are the antlers of a Deer, unusual in Does, of course, but an apt crown for a one of such quiet power.At other times, she appears to bear upon her head the points of the crescent Moon, reflecting the soft whiteness of her stone.

Although the Lady of Norfolk is a gentle and approachable deity, abuse of what she offers us met with retribution. Her gifts have been quarried and mined for centuries, and the city of Norwich still has many places where it is obvious that quantities of stone have been removed, leaving strange, scooped out forms in the hillside. Chalk mining was at its height during the industrial revolution when large quantities were required for quicklime, and an unmapped labyrinth of old mining tunnels extends for miles underneath the city. Occasionally, one of these tunnels collapses, opening up a vast chasm in someone's garden, bringing down part of a building, or stopping traffic, as famously happened in 1988, when a bus fell into a hole which opened up on Earlham Road, not far from the city centre.”

—

Of Chalk & Flint:

A Way of Norfolk Magic

by Val Thomas

[tipsycad147]

Bone Magick: Or Using Bones, Fangs, Feathers, Claws, and Shells in Animal Magick and Ancestor Work

By  RADIANA PIȚ

Bone magick: the usage of bones is helpful for necromancy and animal magick, as they help to build a bridge from the earthly plane, thus facilitating your communication with ancestors or spirit animals. It also allows you much easier to draw from their qualities and powers.

Bones, fangs, feathers, claws, and shells are potent tools for animal magick and ancestral communion, as I’ve mentioned in the articles dedicated to said subjects. However, I find it absolutely necessary to state in this article as well, that animal remains should be treated with respect, they should be ethically acquired and I do not encourage or endorse the harming of animals in any way shape or form. The bones I use in my craft are gathered and hand-picked by myself from the local woods and the river’s bank and all of them were already old and weathered by the time I came across them.

From my personal collection: bones, fangs, seashells, and a crab claw. These are mostly gathered from the woods of Arad in Transylvania, Romania, the beaches near Carnac, France, and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. These locations are of spiritual significance to me, which is why I believe they are very potent and work well especially in ancestor work. Photo by Radiana Piț | Instagram: @crowhag

On the same note, I do no encourage the use of human skulls or bones, especially since most of them are acquired as the result of grave robbery, something that I personally find unnecessary, disrespectful, and disgusting. Also, human bones may contain impure energies which will not serve anyone, unlike animal bones which are imbued with pure and natural energy. Human remains contain energetic imprints made by the intentions, will, and even reactions of those they belonged to. This makes them impure as opposed to animal remains which are attuned to the natural flow of things.

In animal magick, bones and skulls can work as effigies or fetishes that represent the genus of a spirit animal and they can be inhabited in order to facilitate communication or draw energy from the spirit animal during ritual. Photo by Radiana Piț | Instagram: @crowhag

Human spirits can be disruptive through those energetic prints, whereas the spirits of animals rarely disrupt the natural flow of things and they’ve most likely never broke through the flow, since it is their condition of existence. Unless your own will is to bind and control human spirits, working with human remains may be disruptive. For these reasons, this article is focused only on animal remains which are ethically acquired and re-purposed, and not on human remains or animal entrails.

Bones in Animal Magick and Ancestor Work

Animal remains such as bones, feathers, fangs, and even shells are used since the oldest of times and throughout many of the world’s cultures and traditions for divinatory and shamanic purposes. In animal magick, bones work as fetishes or effigies of your spirit animals. Fetishes or effigies are usually inanimate objects which can be either manufactured or occur naturally. They are representative of supernatural powers, such as spirits. Animal bones, which occur naturally, are representations of their respective spirit animals and when they inhabit them they become active.

Upon summoning or invocation, a spirit animal may inhabit such an effigy for communion or spellwork. It ties them to the earthly plane, thus facilitating your communication with them and allowing you to draw from their qualities and powers. Likewise, in ancestor work, the animal spirits inhabiting the bones will work as messengers or guardians during ancestral communion or ancestor work. This will help you especially if you don’t already have an established cult of the ancestors. Spirit animals will protect you from unpleasant spirits, they will guard your sacred space and help guide you towards ancestral spirits that will serve you.

To bind a spirit animal to an animal bone, you may decorate the bones with symbols or words that are relevant to the spirit animals you wish to call upon. They may also be primeval symbols of life and death, that together may reconcile the gap between the two by creating a space for the spirit animal to come into. Another common practice throughout the world is the reddening of bones. By making the bones red, one imbues them with Eros, lifeforce, and it mimics the vitality of blood that once covered them. Usually, the bones are reddened with a mixture of red ochre and red wine in which the bones are laid to rest for a few days until they are stained with red colour.

Drawing symbols or sigils unto the bones help bind the spirit animal to the earthly realm and consecrates the animal remains as a home for said spirit. Photo by Radiana Piț | Instagram: @crowhag

Bones in Ritual

Animal remains can be kept on your altar or sacred space, either on display or kept in bags or boxes, and depending on their size and provenance, you can even wear them. You can keep them in small glass vials or bags to carry them on you, or you can use them as ritual adornments in your jewellery.

Ritual Adornments: Fangs, shells, small bones, claws, or feathers can be used for protection, luck, for shamanic practice, or in order to draw from the qualities and abilities of the spirit animals that inhabit them. For example, a crow feather or claw may help balance your life and enforce your quest for knowledge of the greater mysteries, or fox fangs or bones may help you attain the wits you’d need in order to sail through a difficult situation. Likewise, they can be used during shamanic work for protection and guidance when travelling between worlds.

Ritual Tools: Various bones, fangs, antlers, and shells can be used to adorn ritual tools with, such as wands or daggers, or they may be used as object rituals in and of themselves. They may also be used as divination tools, by carving or painting Runes on them, or you may even create your unique divination system by assigning a different meaning to each particular bone, fang, or shell that belong to the same divination set. You can also use large bones as vessels for the candles you use in your work. You may also use feathers among the bristles of your broom to enforce its power of “flight”.

Smudging Rituals: Feathers are particularly potent for smudging rituals. You may use a feather from your spirit bird or make a wand that consists of multiple feathers, in order to spread the smoke throughout the space you are cleansing. Additionally, you may use a large bone or skull as a vessel in which you may burn the smudging herbs or incense.

Witch Bags: You can use bones, feathers, fangs, and shells of your choosing in your witch bags for various purposes, as well as for witch bags you create for the sole intention of working with spirit animals. You may carry this on you, or you may use it while meditating or sleeping in order to help you travel between worlds.

Ritual Arrangements: You may use animal remains to form a pattern on your altar or “work shrine”, which is only built for a given ceremony, in order to allow the energies of the spirit animals bound to the bones to flow throughout the altar.  You may also meditate on these patterns, as they facilitate communication with the spirit animals present within them.

My raven claw is both a ritual tool and ritual adornment which is representative of my birth totem, Corvus (Raven/Crow), and which alongside my traditional Ia (Romanian Blouse or Carpathian shirt) is part of my ceremonial attire. Photo by Radiana Piț | Instagram: @crowhag

Bones in Romanian Witchcraft

In old Romanian tradition, the bones and antlers of a deer were the most revered among animal bones. The antlers were kept in sacred places to honour the spirit of the deer, which in Romanian lore bears Death, the old goddess, on its horns. Likewise, I also keep the antlers of a deer in my sacred space to honour the spirit and the goddess.

But Romanian tradition also regards certain animal remains as very potent for ‘dark magic’. For example, the claw of a rooster or a crow is believed to represent the cross with its arms broken and bent down, which makes it symbolic of ‘dark magic’. While this is obviously a Christian influence, it actually reinforced the belief in its potency for ‘dark magic’, because for example the rooster’s first song is considered sacred and able to break spells, while the crow is highly revered as a funeral and solar bird whose killing is a blasphemy. So, whoever would have a rooster or crow claw would be looked at as someone who obtained it after committing a blasphemy against these sacred animals.

I personally don’t believe in ‘dark magic’. Magic is magic and the way it is used defines only the magician. Likewise, I believe that any animal remains obtained as a result of directly or intentionally harming or hurting an animal are indeed potent for dark feats. But old animal remains that you find, whether you actively sought them or not in places you’d know you’d find them, are released from the superstition of ‘dark magic’ as long as you honour them. And speaking of bones you find, some people like to actively seek only certain animal remains and dismiss others.

For me, whatever comes my path I believe it’s there for a reason and I don’t discriminate against them. For example, I have cow, bull, and goat skulls, and even though these are not as revered traditionally as deer antlers, they are still as potent and they still belong to a genus of spirit animals that I revere and work with, whether they chose me by crossing my path, or whether they were just there because the woods seem to have become a dumping place for farmers, or that they simply died there and my sensitivity for the animal world, physical or spiritual, didn’t allow me to simply pass by them. We resonate and that is what matters.

Ritual arrangement using canine bones, deer antlers, seashells, crab claw, and shark fang through which the energy of the spirit animals they belong to flows. This is a meditative arrangement, for it is only used to refresh the atmosphere and uplift my spirit. Photo by Radiana Piț | Instagram: @crowhag

I mostly use the bones that I have as ritual adornments, arrangements and tools during ancestral communion and animal magick work. I tend to use the same methods instinctively for different purposes. My magick is what a friend of mine endearingly calls ‘felt magick’, which means that I work primarily on instinct and intuition, and when my work happens to coincide with the ‘book’ or ‘special occasions’, it is just right and perfectly aligned in the great scheme of things.

In this case, what I mean by this is that I make ritual arrangements in the way I feel at that moment either to form a flow of energy generated by the spirit animals that the bones belong to in order to form a wall of protection during communion with the dead or the ancestors, or to commune with a certain spirit animal. I also burn incense in a vessel made from an occipital bone and spread the smoke with feathers so that the spirit animals they belong to enforce the cleansing ritual. I also purpose smaller bones for good luck and use them as charms that I wear in my earrings or necklaces.

Bone Magick and Spirit Animals or Totems

In order to truly benefit from the power of the bones you are using, you should learn more about the spirit animals they belong to, what deities are associated with them, and which are the messages they most commonly convey. For example, I have a raven claw that I wear as a symbol of my native totem, which is the Crow/Raven, during communions, magical work, or whenever I want to surround myself with its presence. When I don’t wear it, I keep it on the central place of my altar to honour my native spirit animal. The Crow/Raven is most commonly known as a funeral bird, it’s a great messenger between the dead and the living and during any type of work that I do, I fly on its protective and powerful wings. While the lore of animal magick is very important to take note of, the way you feel about the bones and their spirit animals is also very important.

Whenever you acquire animal remains, make sure you read the energies they bring. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to read bones, so trust your instincts when they tell you that some bones may serve you and others may not. This is important because there might be dormant or remnant energies tied to the bones that may not resonate with you, there may be pain and suffering that there is no way you would know of other than by reading them, or there may be certain spirit animals that would not like to serve you, and that is ok. But make sure you don’t bring bones into your sacred space before you attempt to read them.

And lastly, don’t forget to clean the bones you pick. Try to pick bones that have no smell or soft tissue on them and that have been out in the open for a while. I call them weathered bones because they are usually old by the time they reach this state. Once you’ve picked your weathered bones, simply soak them in warm water with biological washing powder, clean them with hydrogen peroxide, or simmer them in hot water, and then leave them in open air to dry for a few days.

www.Nettlesgarden.com – The Old Craft

https://www.nettlesgarden.com/2018/04/22/bone-magick-or-using-bones-fangs-feathers-claws-and-shells-in-animal-magick-and-ancestor-work/

[shtfandgo]

New Post has been published on SHTFandGO Survival and Emergency Supplier

New Post has been published on http://www.shtfandgo.com/2017/04/17/how-to-track-and-avoid-dangerous-animals/

How to Track and Avoid Dangerous Animals

By Jonathan Kilburn-April 16, 2017

One thing that puts a lot of people off from hiking is the unknown. Sometimes, that unknown becomes very commonplace. Most people, across the Continental United States, have seen a skunk, deer, moose, bear, or other animals in the wild.

In the Northeastern United States, seeing a deer on the side of the road is almost as common as the white lines themselves. When humans venture off into an animal’s territory, these commonplace sightings can become much more dangerous.

When I was a child, I would visit my grandparents in Wisconsin nearly every summer. My cousins and I would go into the woods, hike, find new plants, bird watch, or even shoot guns. My grandmother used to always tell us to, ‘stay in sight of the cabin. I never understood why I needed to stay close to the cabin until I was about 12 years old. There were two girls, down the road from my grandparent’s cabin, that were attacked by a bear. Luckily, both of them survived with minor injuries, thanks to a passing motorist.

While walking through the woods, or walking down the road in a rural area, is not inherently dangerous it can become dangerous if we do not know how to read the signs of nature. Animals are great at marking their territories. While humans have marked their own territories with fences, buildings, and cut grass humans have forgotten how to recognize the subtleties of animal markings and occasionally walk into situations that they do not know how to get themselves out of.

While this guide may be helpful to some readers, we wish to express that the tools may differ from one geographical location to another. It may also differ from state to state, even if these states do border each other. The United States has such a wide range of diverse ecosystems, and the animal markings in these ecosystems may vary from location to location.

However, the same rule applies, no matter what area you find yourself. We wish to share information closely associated with what can be considered dangerous animals, such as Moose, Bear, Mountain Lions, Coyotes, Etc.

Identifying the Animal:

Droppings:

Knowing what wildlife is local may help to determine what kind of animal would readily be present. Don’t expect to find a polar bear in Arizona or an armadillo in Maine. Knowing the local wildlife is the first step necessary to avoiding them.

One of the best ways to track animals is not to actually follow the animal itself, but follow what they leave behind. That’s right, dung. Dung, scat, or droppings, can tell us what kind of animal has recently been in that area.

Once a dropping is located, the size is going to tell you how large of an animal it came from. As an example, deer tend to leave very small, round droppings. While they are small, they leave a lot of them. A bear will leave a fairly large dropping, similar to a human. On the opposite end, a mouse may leave a dropping roughly the size of a grain of rice.

Once we have an idea of how large the animal is noticing what it may contain also helps a tracker to understand what kind of animal left the dropping. A large dropping, containing bits of fur, would be a good indicator of a predator. Perhaps a Mountain Lion or Coyote is nearby. Bear and coyote dropping also commonly contain nuts and berries.

If an animal eats something, evidence of their diet will be in their droppings.

After size, and contents, we want to look at moisture. If a dropping is moist, wet, and looks fresh it probably is fresh. Dry, white (with some exceptions), and brittle droppings are the sign of an older dropping.

Recent weather plays a large role in determining the age of a dropping. Wet weather can make a dropping appear to be fresh, when it may be old. Additionally, as the weather starts to warm, a dropping that is thawing may also appear fresher than it may be.

The last thing we want to notice is location. Fox will leave their droppings on prominent objects to mark their territories. Deer will leave their dropping wherever they are walking. Feline species will try to cover their droppings. Dangerous animals will either leave their droppings in a very obvious place or try to hide it. Anything in the middle is relatively safe. The only

The only exception is when it looks similar to human droppings or has no real shape at all. These are generally a sign of bear droppings or a sick animal. Bear droppings hold little shape near the end of the summer to early fall, when they feed heavily on berries.

Tracks:

*source – http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dfw/wildlife/wildlife-facts-pubs/tracks-guide.pdf

Everyone has watched some kind of movie where there is an amazing tracker that looks down at the ground and says something like, “a cat came through here 13 minutes ago” and everyone around them gasps in awe of their skills. While Hollywood has made tracking an exaggeration, the fundamentals are the same. The more practice you have, the more likely you will be to spot tracks.

Dangerous animal tracks will be easier to spot than other animals. They are generally larger, deeper, and farther apart. Feline (cat) species do not show claw marks while ursine (bear), canine (dog), lupine (wolf), and vulpine (fox) track show a clear outline of their claws. Hoofed animals will have between 2 to 4 indentations in the soil, depending on the species. In general, hoofed animals are to be avoided but not considered as dangerous as other species.

Aging tracks is a bit more difficult than aging droppings. Tracks, depending on the soil, will exhibit different aging patterns. Tracks in the soft soil will be well defined, while in the hard soil they may be difficult to spot. All animals need water to drink, so it is very common to see many well-defined tracks near a stream or pond.

As the water starts to dry up, during the end of spring, the tracks will also dry and crack. When the entire outline of a track is brittle it is generally an older track. When the majority of the outline is well defined, the track can be assumed to be fresher. Lastly, as the wind blows, anything that falls into a track may stay there. The more debris inside a track, or footprint, the easier it is to assume the track is older.

Markings:

Every animal will mark territory in its own way. Beavers obviously

*source – https://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/black-bear-sign/56-marking-trees-and-poles.html

need to chew wood to build their homes and will make it obvious their home is nearby. Bear and animals with antlers will also rub against trees, especially near a water source. The markings on trees may look the same, for someone unfamiliar with the different patterns between beaver, bear, moose, and deer. It is always better to be safe and avoid a questionable area altogether. If avoiding a questionable area is not an option, try to imagine an animal rubbing against a tree. A beaver poses little threat to humans and will chew a tree. A bear uses a tree as a back scratcher and may rub the bark off of a tree in one, or more, areas.

Generally, bear marks on a tree are superficial unless the tree was starting to degrade. Deer and moose rub their antlers on trees, especially during molting/shedding season. They use this as a way to put their scent on the tree and rub their antlers off. While some antlered animals don’t shed their antlers they do molt. Elk, especially, have a thin layer over their antlers that peels off. Try to imagine an antlered animal rubbing against a tree. If an animal was rubbing antlers against a tree you will notice hoof marks near the base of the tree, if not an antler itself!

Deer have a natural way of marking where they have been through their resting periods. They lay down on leaves or grass, making the ground, and anything on top of it, flat. They also will urinate nearby, killing much of the surrounding grass. Moose, elk, etc are not much different. If it looks out of place, it probably is.

It’s best to avoid these animal bed, not just because of the animal but the parasites that may be close by. If you see dry, flat, dead grass it was probably a deer, elk, or moose.

Any time an animal walks it will naturally move the soil or vegetation surrounding them. Broken sticks, scattered leaves, holes in the ground, all of these are common indicators an animal has been nearby. While a deer bed will leave the area flat when deer and moose search for food they tend to turn the soil over to find bugs to eat.

Omnivores may also disrupt vegetation when they eat by remove berries, nuts, or leaves from the plant. Most animals are opportunistic eaters. The easier a food is to obtain the more likely a dangerous animal is nearby.

Avoidance:

Now that we know what we are looking for, to spot an animal, we now know how to avoid certain areas. Common sense is at play here. If someone sees any of these signs of a dangerous animal, though droppings, rubbings, overturned ground, and tracks they know to avoid those areas. Seeing each of those once is not necessarily bad. Animals move, they come and go.

The likelihood of being in an area with a dangerous animal is very slim. They will try to avoid human contact first. If a hiker sees similar droppings more than once they should change direction for a while. If they see

If they see three different signs of a dangerous animal (eg. Droppings, tracks, disrupted vegetation) they should quickly change direction. When someone is hiking and oblivious to these signs they are much more likely to encounter a dangerous animal.

Staying alert will always help someone avoid dangerous animals. Exhaustion, in survival situations, allows out mind to not see common signs of danger.

Practicing the skill of spotting indicators of animal activity will help hikers to train themselves to notice even the smallest changes. When a hiker can spot small indicators they are more likely to notice larger indicators, even when exhausted.

Keep your eyes moving. Watch the ground as you walk, but take some time to stop and scan your environment. Just because you haven’t seen any indicators of animal activity doesn’t mean they are not there.

It’s a good practice to stop every hundred steps, or so, just to look around. Not only does this allow you to see the beauty of nature, it will give you a chance to spot marked trees, animal presence, and indicators of animal activity farther away.

When you can stop and scan the area you may notice that you find indicators of animal activity may be parallel to you.

Conclusion:

While animal attacks may be rare they do happen. Thankfully, we have been given all the tools we need to avoid some of these most dangerous animals. Recognizing, and avoiding, animals may not be a natural skill but it is a necessary one for every hiker, hunter, and survivalist.

The only way to learn these skills is to practice them. So, get out there and enjoy nature!

Original Article Here