Most mail carriers and meter readers carry pepper spray, but the formula they use for dogs is a little milder than the mixture for bear and humans, Fox (company) also offers a compound that is a concentrated stream instead of a spray. It’s more immediately effective to the eyes, but you’d better have a good aim.
All you have to do is watch Judge Judy to see that there is an endless supply of stupid dog owners. Most are delusional as to the nature of their dogs. Denial is another word that comes to mind. They figure since Snookums isn’t aggressive toward them, he’s not to other people either. One of the biggest pay outs from homeowners insurance is for dog attacks. Now most insurance companies won’t insure for Pit Bulls, Rottweilers or Chows.
I was bitten by a Australian Shepherd in Alabama. It wasn’t bad really, ripped the lower pant leg and left a couple of superficial tooth marks. When the dog came back for a second round I landed a perfect kick under the jaw and heard the teeth clack loudly. Then a teenage girl who owned the dog came up the trail and said “oh my God, she’s never done that before.” lol. I was actually cool about it.
I’ve had some other scary encounters with dogs. One time I was walking on a section of the Florida Trail, a section that follows along a rural dirt road, and I walked past a rundown old house trailer with a Confederate flag and lots of junk in the front yard. I also saw 2 Pit Bulls. When the dogs came into view I got to the other side of the dirt road because most dogs have only a certain territory where they’ll be aggressive. But these dogs kept coming, growling. Thank God there was a 4′ high chain link fence that I was able to jump over to safety. I always carry a 3 oz canister of Fox pepper spray on my pack shoulder strap, but I don’t ever want to find out how well it works.
Speaking of feral animals, I worked for years in the horse business as a farrier and every so often someone would call me who had adopted one of the “wild” horses BLM sells off for $1 after a roundup. I finally started refusing to work on them because even if you have the best horse trainer in the world, only about 5% of the BLM horses will ever be broke enough to trust. They lack the early imprinting that horses need to become docile. If startled these “wild” horses will kick your head off. But so many people live a Disney fantasy. Whenever BLM tries to euthanize the horses they can’t find homes for the animal rights people create an uproar. I don’t think a lot of them realize just how destructive feral horses are to an arid or semi arid environment.
Bottom line is whenever humans have contact with nature, nature suffers. I heard on NPR recently that feral cats kill BILLIONS of birds worldwide every year.
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