You’re hiking in the woods.
Suddenly, you feel something
extremely itchy.
You scratch it,
and find a rash
like a red bull’s eye on your body.
Looking closely,
you see a small hole.
And it’s painful.
If you don’t act quickly,
your life could be in danger.
There are about 850 tick species
in the United States.
In 2018,
the CDC reported almost 50,000
cases of tick-borne diseases.
Ticks are parasites that feed on your blood.
They wait on tall pieces of grass,
and when you come by,
they latch onto you
and start feasting.
Most likely, you won't feel the bite.
And a tick's body is small and relatively flat,
so it's easy for you to miss seeing it.
Hours could pass before you notice
that something has attached itself to you.
The problem is, before they bite you,
ticks could have fed on an animal
that's infected with Lyme disease,
or other diseases.
And once it starts feeding on you,
the tick’s saliva can transmit
diseases to you.
If you're going into an area
that's likely to be infested with ticks,
it's a good idea
to wear light-colored clothing.
Then it'll be easier to see
if there's a tick on you,
as they often look like a little bit of dirt.
Also, wear long sleeves, pants,
and tuck your pants
into your socks or boots.
On top of that,
you can spray your clothing
with an insect repellent containing DEET.
And always wear work gloves
if you’ll be working in your yard.
If you're on a hike, or gardening,
look for tick bites every two or three hours.
It generally takes four hours
for a tick bite to make you sick.
Since tick bites are painless,
and not filled with fluid
like other insect bites,
you'll need to search for them.
Ticks usually bite the back of the neck,
the scalp, and any exposed parts
of your arms and legs.
These insects will stay latched onto
you until they finish feeding,
which can take from a few hours to days.
And ticks can also make animals sick too.
So make sure you check
your outdoor pets regularly,
especially if they're scratching.
If you do find a tick on you, don't panic.
The best way to remove a tick
is to use a pair of tweezers.
Grasp the tick where it's attached to your skin,
then pull the tick straight out.
Make sure to pull slowly and firmly.
And don't jerk or twist the tick,
as its mouthparts are like
barbed wires digging into you.
And if you squeeze its body,
the little sucker may vomit its infected
blood into your bloodstream.
Who wants to be walking around with infected
tick vomit in their body?
After you remove the bug,
wash the area with soap and water.
Once you get the tick off,
save it in a plastic bag.
If you start to get a rash
that looks like a bull’s eye,
you might have Lyme disease.
But ticks can carry various diseases,
including Rocky Mountain spotted fever
and the Powassan virus.
So saving the tick will help the doctors
identify the bacteria or virus that the tick
has transmitted to you.
Tick bites can be serious,
so watch out for a rash,
chills, fever, joint pain,
or any red streaks or yellow fluid
oozing from the bite.
A tick bit Jennifer Sloane.
When she went to the emergency room,
she had a fever of over 40 °C (104 °F)
and flu-like symptoms.
Luckily, she told her doctors that
she had removed a tick a few weeks earlier,
which helped them treat her properly.
She was suffering from meningitis,
a liver problem, and sepsis,
a dangerous infection in her bloodstream,
and received three blood transfusions.
She was in the hospital for 11 days.
You don't need to be nervous about
going outside though.
You can check for a tick infestation
on your property by dragging a white,
rough-textured cloth through areas
where ticks might be.
If the cloth collects lots of ticks,
you have an infestation.
A good rule of thumb is that the neater
your yard appears,
the less likely it is to be infested with ticks.
And if you treat your property with a pesticide,
focus on shrubs, tall grass, and overgrown
areas you can't reach with a lawnmower.
You'll probably want to get your pets
treated as well.
Now you're ready to take on these tiny creatures.
You have every inch of your
skin covered in clothing,
and you can confidently return to the woods.
But wait, there's something much bigger
lurking amongst the trees.
This creature could squeeze you to death
in a matter of seconds.
Want to know how to stop it?
Then keep watching.
Hearing someone scream “snake!”
can cause people to panic.
And when you’re in the shallow, murky rivers
of South America,
home to the deadly anaconda,
you realize this is
not a garden snake coming towards you.
It's a green anaconda.
These are not small snakes.
It's often said that
green anacondas can grow up to
9 m in length (30 ft,)
and they can weigh as much as
225 kg (550 lb).
Anacondas' prey ranges
from 10% of their body weight
all the way up to 146%.
So, humans are fair game.
What should you do
if you are attacked by this deadly beast?
It only takes seconds for an anaconda
to wrap around its prey,
and squeeze it to death.
And no matter how strong you are,
the snake can create up to
62,053 KPas (9,000 psi) of pressure.
Anacondas have a legendary status
as man eaters.
So if you're going into anaconda territory,
here's some tips to help you survive.
If an anaconda is nearby,
watch its face.
An anaconda shows
its predatory behaviour
by flicking its tongue.
And if it bites you,
do not yank yourself away,
or try to forcefully pull yourself
out of its mouth.
An anaconda’s inner teeth
curve backwards to hold onto its prey.
So if you try to pull out
of the snake's mouth right away,
it can cause serious injuries.
Getting out in this situation will be
much easier if you have someone
else to help you.
Ask them to slowly open
the anaconda’s mouth.
As they do that,
push your hand,
or whatever body part is being bitten,
further inside the snake’s mouth.
This will get it off the snake's fangs.
Then, you can get out of the snake's mouth
without causing even more injuries.
You might feel safer if you wear clothing
that's harder for these snakes
to bite through.
This includes thick gloves,
sturdy shoes,
and thick clothing.
But what if you set out
to become snake bait?
Paul Rosolie, a naturalist,
agreed to be swallowed whole
by an anaconda for a TV special.
They thought the snake
might regurgitate him.
And if nececessary, they could cut him free.
He wore a special carbon fiber suit
designed to withstand the snake's fangs,
constriction powers, and digestion,
so he would survive the ordeal.
The suit was doused in pig blood
to make it more appealing.
But when Paul approached the anaconda,
the snake was afraid
and tried to escape.
So, Rosolie provoked the snake.
It eventually attacked,
swallowed him head first,
and began squeezing.
He was inside the snake for an hour.
Then, Rosolie was worried
that the anaconda
was going to break his arm.
He cried out in fear and pain,
and asked the crew to rescue him.
They did.
If an anaconda grips
the middle of your body,
do not exhale.
It's like a signal to the snake.
Every time you exhale,
the snake will squeeze tighter.
That could prevent you
from getting your breath back.
Anacondas like shallow, murky rivers.
So, stay on land,
or get yourself to land as fast as possible
when anacondas are around.
They're great swimmers,
but they're not fast slitherers on land.
Run towards land,
and keep running until you get
as far away as possible.
You couldn't get away fast enough.
An anaconda put the bite on you,
and it has no intention of letting you go.
Remember, its weakest spots are its tail
and its eyes.
Go on the offense.
Open wide,
and bite the snake’s tail
as hard as you can.
It will cause the anaconda
tremendous pain,
and hopefully the snake will let go.
Use your fingers as aggressively
as you can,
and poke its eyes.
Eyes are a crucial organ
that these huge snakes will try to preserve.
The truth is,
a human is not an anaconda's ideal prey.
Its average meal
weighs around 18 kg (40 lb).
But if this next forest creature
gets hungry enough,
you could start to look pretty tasty.
But you better start running now
because this guy can chase you at speeds
of up to 48 km/h (30 mph).
That's faster than Usain Bolt.
How are you supposed to escape that?
Stay tuned to find out.
You're enjoying a walk
with your dog in the forest.
Suddenly, your dog senses something
and starts barking at some bushes.
All you can see is a snout
and two big tusks.
Your dog keeps on barking,
the bushes move,
and a big beast charges out.
What are you going to do?
Wild boars look a bit like domestic pigs,
but they have longer legs and dark hair.
And some of them can weigh up to
136 kg (300 lb) or more.
They prefer to live in deciduous forests,
but recently,
they've also started invading cities,
and trashing urban areas in Europe
while scrounging for food.
And if you get in the way of their food,
they could come after you instead.
A wild boar's diet is about 90% vegetation
and 10% animal matter.
And although it's very unlikely,
they will eat a human if they're very hungry
and have no other choice.
Although they rarely attack humans,
they kill up to 7 people each year.
Here's how to survive
if a wild boar attacks you.
If you like walking your dogs in bushy,
rural areas, stay alert.
Barking can upset a wild boar
and cause an attack.
In 2020, a man in Montgomery, Texas
woke up around 4 a.m.
because his two dogs were barking.
When the man went to see
what was going on,
his spotlights revealed a wild hog.
An invisible fence protected the dogs
when the wild hog tried to attack them.
Then the animal charged him,
so the man ran behind this house to hide.
The hog thought he went inside,
began slamming the house’s back door,
and broke the hinges off.
The man shot the hog in the heart
with his crossbow.
If you see a wild boar approaching
from a distance,
try not to disrupt it
and just run away.
If the boar is at a medium distance,
back away slowly,
and don't make any sudden moves.
But if you have already provoked a boar,
and it's nearby,
running away might not work.
Some boars can run
up to 48 km/h (30 mph).
That's faster than Usain Bolt.
Try to get up a tree or a large boulder.
Wild boars have “climbed” out of pig traps
with walls up to 1.8 m (6 ft) high.
So, climbing up at least 2 m (6.5 ft)
should keep you safe.
Then, try to stay still,
and wait for the boar to go away.
Climb down quietly and, if possible,
go in the opposite direction to the boar.
If you can't escape
and have to do battle,
stand your ground
and fight with all your strength
and anything within reach.
If you have a gun or weapon,
aim to kill the boar
because it won't give you a second chance.
If you don’t have a weapon,
grab anything you can,
including rocks, a tree branch,
or your camping gear.
It's crucial to stay on your feet.
If you fall,
you risk the boar's tusks
stabbing your gut, arms, head, or neck.
If the beast lunges at you,
try sidestepping to avoid its sharp tusks.
Wild boar attacks
may only last for a minute,
so keep fighting until the mauling stops.
If you manage to hurt the boar,
don't attack it again.
It might even fight harder
if it thinks its life is in danger.
And if the boar backs off,
don’t wait to see if it comes back.
Leave the area immediately.
Wild boars can trample you,
knock you to the ground,
bite you, stab you with their tusks,
and transmit diseases
including tuberculosis,
hepatitis E, and more.
So avoid confrontation at all costs.
Even a small scratch is enough reason
to consult your doctor.
Good job,
you managed to survive some of the worst
creatures that forests have to offer.
Maybe you should just stay out of the woods
for a while and cool off with a refreshing swim.
But don't get too comfortable
because there are plenty of other dangerous
critters lurking beneath the surface.
Want to know how to survive
the deadliest water creatures?
Then we've got just the video for you,
right here on How to Survive.