In general, I don’t like generalizations (clever, huh?) and I really dislike all-encompassing statements about animal behavior. Anyone who has spent a good amount of time in the woods or watched the critters at a bird feeder or even had domestic pets can tell you that animals of the same species can have very different personalities and moods.

Simply watching gray squirrels at our bird feeder every day is a good example. We have four or five of these greedy pests that take turns terrorizing the birds and making little pigs of themselves, until I temporarily chase them away. When I open the sliding door to the deck, I’m only about 10 or 12 feet from the squirrels. One squirrel will flee immediately upon seeing me, often jumping through the air directly onto the ground from the deck. The next squirrel will ignore my hand clapping and broom thumping tantrums and keep eating seeds or just stare at me in amusement. One day I had an empty coffee can in my hand that I use to haul seed to the feeder. After several failed attempts to scare off an obstinate rodent, I threw the plastic can in frustration. To my amazement, the projectile connected with the ducking squirrel with a satisfying “thud.” His reaction was to stop in his tracks and stare at me. 

Given this observation of small animals and their differing attitudes toward my presence, it’s no surprise that larger animals exhibit similar, unpredictable behavior. 

My regular readers know of some of my adventures with bears, so I won’t rehash any accounts of their defiant behavior. I will relate that in the past month we had a large bear on our deck who fled at the first sound of my voice. He actually leaped off the deck railing to land 14 feet or so on the ground below. 

A slightly smaller bear made an appearance at our daughter’s wedding reception, attended by well over one hundred people and with music playing in the middle of the afternoon. He caused no problem, but certainly became a topic of conversation.

My cousin Phyllis recently told me how she, her sister Shirley and a friend watched two medium-size bears that discovered some unattended garbage bags, also in the middle of the afternoon. Even though the bears looked so similar they might have been siblings, one bear immediately fled upon the approach of a man, the other bear stood up to look over some brush and watched curiously, finally slowly walking away.

I’m often worried by the folks who would profess to describe animal behavior to the public. Traits of animals, especially predators, are often described as shy, elusive, apt to flee at the first sight of a human and (my favorite) “they are more afraid of you than you are of them.” Some of the stuff I read or hear on TV programs strikes me as not only inaccurate generalizations, but borderline irresponsible. 

Another disturbing trend I’ve noticed lately is the analysis of animal behavior by “experts” after an outright attack on a human or an otherwise unpleasant encounter. After a long career in law enforcement, I’m always cautious about people who are quick to blame the victim in any incident. Too often, after reading an account of a wildlife attack, we have to be told what the victim did wrong. 

Being human animals on this planet, we have to expect to have some interaction with other creatures from time to time. When things go wrong and there’s a conflict, it’s not always because a person acted inappropriately near the animal, or unknowingly walked too close to a deer carcass, or their dog barked  at the critter, or any of a dozen other reasons the experts might cite as the victim’s fault. 

You may have heard of a few of these encounters that made the news recently:

Near Muncy, a woman walked outside her back door to have a cigarette; she was attacked and severely mauled by a black bear. (2018)

In Brookville, a nurse was attacked after work and mauled by a coyote. (2018)

In San Diego County, Calif., a 4-year-old boy who was with about a dozen other people was attacked by a mountain lion and suffered head injuries. His father drove off the cat by throwing stones and sticks. (2019)

In New Hampshire, an 80-year-old woman was attacked and mauled by a bobcat while tending her flower garden. She whacked the cat a few times with her garden tool and it was eventually killed by a relative. (2017)

A similar attack occurred in Hart Co., Georgia when a woman was attacked twice by a bobcat- she choked it to death to keep it off her grandchild. (2018) 

For what it’s worth, here’s my take regarding wild, toothy critters with meat-eating habits. Don’t assume what the animal’s intentions or reaction toward you might be. Enjoy your time outdoors and realize you’ll probably never have a problem with wildlife, but it wouldn’t hurt to always be aware of your surroundings, and it wouldn’t be paranoid to have pepper spray, a walking stick, or firearm handy, depending on your circumstances. If a coyote is trying to attach its teeth to your leg, don’t waste time trying to analyze the animal’s behavioral issues. Experts will figure it out for you later.