Afraid of The Woods? 

My problem is with mosquitoes, ticks with Lyme disease, and rattlesnakes. (I've had close calls with rattlesnakes) In Brazil, leafcutter ants took out an entire bush near our tent overnight. They were huge and red, but harmless. When we went into a city, I saw a tiny black ant crawl on my leg. It bit my knee. It was incredibly painful for three days. Oh, above Yosemite Valley, I went into the wilderness there. I was taking photos of clear blue rapids... There was a swarm of flies coming towards me. I didn't think much of it, until they started biting me. I've never had any problems with coyotes, deer, elk, mountain lions, skunks, sharks, etc... And I have great pictures. I guess my problem is with the venomous creatures.

I go into the forest at night to be alone. it's one of my favorite places. I understand there are other animals out there, but since they leave me alone i feel like i'm alone. it is peaceful and very enjoyable. it is definitely something that gets easier as you do it more and more. the first couple times i was a little nervous because of wildlife living there, but you get used to it real quick. edit: the woods i'm talking about are in Maine, USA, where i have lived my whole life.

I went on my first solo night hike into camp a few months ago. It was only a few miles, but I am very afraid of the woods, usually. I surprised myself with how calm I was. I live in Chicago and camp mostly in the Midwest. My headlamp lit up so many possum and raccoon that I got over my fear of seeing them in the dark. Mostly! I even saw a deer at night for the first time. I'm going to go out solo more and this was a great help. Thanks!

Great video! Sometimes the little things are the most annoying - ticks, mosquitoes... I live in forest and do sleep out in summer sometimes but with my partner - he has enough inner beast to protect both of us! Round here the only worry would be wild boar and snakes - but they won't bother two sleeping humans. (I agree about the owls - I love to hear the screech owls.) What is wonderful is going to sleep either in moonlight or pitch black, and being woken up by the sunrise. Fantastic!

I agree 100% When I was very new to backpacking I went to the Smokies for a 3 day 3 night solo trip. It was the first time I had gone backpacking in an area that had any sizeable black bear population. I was very afraid of being attacked by a black bear most of the time. The fear was the worst part of the trip. About 75% of the time I literally was thinking that a bear was just gonna jump out and tackle me and rip me to shreds. I was concerned this fear was gonna always stay with me and make it not pleasurable for me to go out in the woods. After that trip, I learned more about bears. I learned how uncommon an attack is. I learned how to avoid bear encounters. I continued going out. The fear subsided each trip. As far as the unleashing the beast part, I've had an experience with that and now just carry that mindset with me on reserve so to speak. If you do get extremely unlucky and get confronted by a wild animal, you want to be able to tap into that inner beast. The animal will sense this. It will most definitely realize that you are a strong human and it will become the one in fear and run away. I think if you just simply deal with all of your food in a responsible way all of the time, animals simply won't come around you. Don't eat in your tent and hang your food appropriately from a tree a good ways from your shelter.

Just came across this video (2 years too late) and it made me smile... Here is the million dollar question... why do we all feel safe and secure in our hammock on a wilderness campsite, with only a tiny 2 foot high mesh fence between ourselves and the dark forest, but step outside of that boundary and suddenly the night sounds become terrifying monsters :) And I'm loving all the talk of bears!!!! Here in Europe the most dangerous creature that we are likely to encounter is a rabbit with a bad attitude... Oh, and Homo Sapiens, which in all honesty I find the most terrifying... Great channel, subscribed and looking forward to seeing your other videos.

I love being in the woods most of the time. Even at night. Critters don't really bother me. And even though I enjoy watching lightning, especially in the desert, I get nervous during thunderstorms. Wind, heavy rain, and lightning can ruin a day. Another great video;)

I can confirm that "beast mode" works incredibly well with aggressive dogs like you guys said in the comments. I've had 3-4 aggressive dogs that had attacked a few people in my neighborhood circle me and test me out. For me that image of my "beast form" is fearless, calm, collected and intelligent "caveman version" of myself. When those dogs where gathering around me I instinctively went into that, calmly assessing the situation, my heartbeat raising with what felt like adrenaline instead of fear because I'd need to move fast and efficiently, looked at what "tools" I could use around me, my keys, rocks, sticks, and getting ready to literally rip those dogs apart with my hands if it came to that. Without me having to do anything other than take a few certain steps towards my destination the dogs could certainly feel they'd have to work really hard for me and it would not go down well, and that alone was enough for them to keep a distance. They still barked and were aggressive but they stayed closer to each other and kept a safe distance from me. A slightly related question to this video, I don't know where else to post it, but do you have any experiences with snakes and walking barefoot in the woods? We have a lot of vipers in my area and I was wondering what your experiences have been with snakes. The biggest concern with snakes is accidentally stepping on them but my gut feeling says that the snake doesn't want to be stepped on and will tend to move before that happens, yet the fear of other people around me combined with our primal fears of snakes (we turned them into fire breathing dragons and the literal Devil after all) is causing me some concern. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with it, as most people will just say "wear high ankle boots and look down where you're stepping" but you have a much better approach of "walk barefoot and look ahead" :P

The woods were, are and will always be a soothing and wonderful place to come to. Especially, when the stress of modern life takes overhand. I am very happy to live in a suburban area that is surrounded by so many forests and fields. All the best to you Kenton

I 'll share a humorous story. I was camping up along the Lolo Trail in Idaho right next to a lake, and during the night I kept hearing splashing noises and felt the thumping of several large animals nearby ( I was sleeping on a rock outcropping). As the noises got closer I freaked out, grabbed my flashlight and jumped out of my sleeping bag screaming. What I heard next was the sound of thundering hooves and small trees being crushed in a stampede. As my light swept the forest I saw the tail end of a small herd of elk running at break neck speed down the hill headed for the Montana border.

I am not so afraid of the animals around here in Germany, but the hunters mistaken me for a deer ;) The most dangerous animal you could encounter would be a wild pig. Most people are afraid of the wolfs, which came back a few years ago. But they are not very big and pretty scared of humans. For me everytime I enter the forrest, I can feel my senses spreading. Once I walked a bit inside, i stop. Close my eyes, calm my breathing, and start to listen in every direction. Then I try to smell and feel the wind. This is like my ritual when walking through the forrest. After that I´m calm and there is no fear.

There’s a reason there’s NO dislikes on this video (I think this is the first video I’ve ever seen without any!) you are very genuine and just straightforward. I’m getting over fear of the woods so I can get to my hunting spot sooner in the mornings, thank you for the insight.

I have a few stories to share about this topic. One I might have already shared in the channel before, but here it goes... 1 - in my college city, there were woods around the campus were I loved to roam around alone. except when there were some big spider webs with big emerald spiders on them. Rationally, and as a biology student, I knew they were harmless, but was still really scared, to the point that the fear was crippling my enjoyment of the woods. So I though about it, and being a very "visceral" kinda guy, decided to let one bite me. I bravely took one big off of a web with my bare hands, and the spider just tried to flee. I messed with it, teasing it to bite me. No dice. So, still in need of a visceral experience, I decided to eat it. Whole, raw and maybe even alive, to destroy my fear. Couldn't muster up enough courage to do it alive, being more coward than most animals, but after I stoned it, up it went. Tasty actually. Couldn't feel any harm afterwards, and the fear never came back. 2 - Another story, later when I was working in the Amazon rainforest, I was always temped by the night to roam in the woods. Bear in mind that it was REALLY THE AMAZON. Big snakes, spiders, bobcats (our "onças pintadas") were routinely sighted in the area. But venturing near the installations for short moments was safe. I remember the darkness, the silence, the sounds, and when using my headlamp, the eyes of so many spiders and other criters on the ground watching me... fearing me. Miss those days.

Thank you! Outdoors is VERY PEACEFUL - CALMING 🙏👍🙏

very intereting ,so true that human are generally afraid of the unknow or unfamiliar , my first overnights in solo out in naturein a national park with wolves i didnt sleep at all always on alert mode , the first time i feel confortable was with a fire to give heat a bit of light and it is known that wild animals dont come too close of a fire .but it was not in a national park that time because fire are forbidden inside the park .i love the idea of the inner beast and the heritage of our ancestors hunting skills to give us confidence , great advice , thanks. may the force be with you my friend!

Thank you Kenton once again. I've been extraordinarily busy the past couple months with work, studying and such so I haven't been able to keep up with your videos. Now things have calmed down I am more able to spend time watching your content and spending time outdoors, especially with the weather warming up where I live. I have always been drawn to the idea of just leaving everything behind and living far away in the northern woods, its unfortunate because doing that is so hard with all the regulations and rules. Where I live you can't even build a fire without a little thing saying you can, and that's how the world is now. Every little thing you do you need a little card or certificate saying you can do that, I HATE IT. as a kid I lived in the woods. My parents owned a large piece of land FULL of wilderness, that is where I spent most of my time. I lived by my own rules, I still do, and I want everyone to do the same. School was the shittiest, I only went to spend time with my friends, my grades were never good but I am doing okay in life, I'm making good enough income, and that's also how the world is - Money. I remember being in middle school and high school, I remember getting a kick out of playing pranks on everyone and doing stupid crap with my friends. Sneaking into certain areas of the school that were off limits, getting into trouble. To me that's all school was about, that still is. Of course without little rules and regulations the world would be full of anarchy and we would destroy ourselves, but seriously all these little signs saying you cant go here, or you cant do this unless your certified, or you must take a course to do this, that also brings us to destroy ourselves, I don't hate the government, I don't hate my country. I am a patriot but the way the entire world is right now, everyone knows it is only a matter of time before civilization falls. When it does what will people even do? the minds of our children are being poisoned by all this crap, and if you hurt someones feelings there is uproar. Some kids who live in huge cities might never even get to spend time in the wilderness, some kids will never spend a night outside. Hell I don't think a city dweller could even catch a fish. Anyway I am ranting but it is really unfortunate how humans went from "Will I get to eat today" to "Will I get a like on my latest selfie today." Nobody has to work for anything, and by work I don't mean getting a job and making money, I mean learning to fend for yourself and learning to hunt, fish, grow food, build shelter, and expand territory. This is how the world works today: Grow up, learn to walk -> Time to go to school Go to school -> Time to make money Wanna make money? Okay -> Get a 9-5 job all week and drink and play video games on the weekend Drink and play video games on the weekend, oh no not making much money -> Work more Work more -> Retire and live miserably in an old folks home Live miserably in an old folks home -> Die having no impact on the world Anyway I wanted to thank you for your uplifting and inspiring videos, they really help me to know that there are some people out here in this place called earth who still actually have a brain that belongs to themselves, and its very nice to see all these other people in the comments sharing the events of their lives and past days as well. With much love and respect -Tissie

This man is living the dream

Nice!

Just 2 weeks ago the chaga video inspired me to go out and try to find some chaga. I was not even sure if it grows in my area, but it looked familiar to me. I walked along a trail I know and before long I was out for hours bouncing birch tree to birch tree. I was hanging on my last thread of hope when finally I found a patch of chaga growing on a dead tree. I sawed off a little chunk and started on my way back. It soon occurred to me that I was a lot farther off the path then I thought, and it was getting darker and darker. I was completely disoriented with my directions and very lost. This is the first time I ever felt "afraid of the woods". I was never in any real danger because I knew the wooded area was surrounded by long roads on all sides. But after a small worry attack, I found the trail again and eventually made it out. I came out of this wondering how the heck does Kenton manage the night so easily 😄

👍, I use this too - acknowledging the inner beast. I noticed that animals, dogs particularly, feel it somehow

I love the wilderness, so needless to say I'm quite at home being in the woods alone (i.e hiking, bird-watching, etc.) But your advice has made me want to go back to the wilderness even more to try it out for myself.

I’m a 45 year old man, and I’m scared of the forest at night, specifically when no one is around you and it gets so dark you can’t even see your hand. I carry my gun on my hip when I hunt, but what scares me is not knowing what is in there. There’s been over a thousand hunters missing, they go missing in strange ways. There’s certain areas like the Bermuda Triangle that’s unexplained. Some say there’s forest Native American cursed for us to go crazy and can’t find our selves out. Some say possible abductions. There’s a good documentary called The Missing 411 The Hunted. Maybe I believe things like this cuz when I was 19 years old myself and two friends saw something we were in shock, it wasn’t normal. If you tell people they’ll say you were just high and you imagined it. It’s hard to say that when the 3 of us saw it. We asked each other if we seen that? I also felt I was cursed to see what I saw cuz my grandma use to tell me about these things and I just thought she was old fashioned and people like her would see something but think or imagine something that it wasn’t. I never thought she was crazy I guess I just didn’t really took it serious. I believe! I’m not embarrassed

So inspiring , goes to show , knowledge is power , kudos Kenton , you are a true inspiration !!

Fear is an excellent tool, it's hard to know when to ignore it. However, what you said about familiarity couldn't be more true. Once the source of fear is understood, it simply becomes caution.

Really enjoyed this video. I used to have a strong fear of the dark in nature. But I eventually discovered that it was not the wild animals I feared but instead the wild animals in my mind instead. I had several encounters with bears over the years including a mama with 2 cubs but in all of them the bear just watched me while I kept on hiking and it felt like as long as I respected it the bear would respect me. Each time I did not feel any fear. It was these encounters that helped me realize I did not fear nature but instead I was just afraid of the bear that lived in my mind.

On one of a few canoe trips this past summer, my daughter and I had an encounter with a white tail deer at night, it stomped and blew for a while almost directly in the camp area, my daughter said it shook her tent. We apparently had set up camp in its regular travel route. We didn't make it to the next official camp site and had to bush camp along the river edge. Camping along a water way is almost guaranteed to cause a beaver to slap its warning, repeatedly, this also happened the night with the deer. Yes, we are apex and all creatures know this, yet we have also a built in "fear" which is in place for a reason. Logic over rules this and conditioning as you point out is the answer. I am still enjoying the podcast.

Thank you for this.. very powerful and so true. I am scared of the dark.. and I think.. "come get me I am ready.." or sometimes I just pull the blanket over my head and all good. haha!

I'M a distant loon!🤣 Good to see you guys salting the earth again!

I have agoraphobia(my house is my only safe place and i dont leave the house without a bicycle) im extra scared of the woods beacuse of blair witch movie, and i had a lot of dogs attack me, so before this trauma i couldve went outside into the woods at 3AM but now after dog incidents im afraid of going into the forest at 12PM, i have been traumatised so much that i when im out i always make sure that i get home 2 hours before dark, one night my friend refused to walk with me home and i was too relaxed that i thought he would walk with me home, so he just left me, it was 10PM and i was standing there looking at the road with one dim light( i had to pass this road to get to my home) i was trying 20 minutes to break this large stick from the tree next to me. Finally i passed my heart was pumping so fast. And then i saw 2 big dogs on the road looking at me, we were 30 meters apart. I was so scared i started walking back. But instead of the dogs to attack me they ran in fear. Those were some big dogs they could probably destroy me. But they were scared. So i speedwalked to my home before the 20 of them come to attack me(there were Alot of dogs in the woods next to there) i didnt leave my home for 20 days. Please help, how can i get rid of this dog phobia Edit: only one dog attacked me 3 times but the dogs from the forest are scared, also this dog that attacked me is not from the forest he is an adopted dog, beacuse of him im scared of every singld dog i see, before his attacks i would pet every single dog i see, my life is ruined.

Considering I was a boyscout in my youth, is educated as a natureguide and been working in the forest for 10+ years. It's not much that scares me in the northern hemisphere. The things that makes me nervous are the things that don't live here usually. Like sharks, crocs, tigers and that portuguese man-of-war (ya know, the jellyfish). Otherwise the forest is safer than your average town with all the traffic and crazy people. The most common injury you can get in the woods are a sprung ankle or broken bone, which you 9 out of 10 times caused by being reckless yourself. Otherwise I have the worst of luck seeing the cool stuff. My co-workers once saw an elk cubb so newly born it still had blood on the fur. But I was gone to get the car and saw nothing. Another time an elk came crashing through the forest and ran right between my co-workers when they had lunchbreak. Yet again I was somewhere else. We've seen bear three times I think and I one time I was actually there. It was maybe 200 meters away in the powerline and I and my co-workers was sitting on an hilltop. This is a picture from one of the times I wasn't there, picture was taken by one of my co-workers. instagram.com/p/BoBe_oBnYq3zDfWXMDE9AFvCdoQMmsJ5o0BdYc0/?igshid=9musmx1htox4

Would love to go explore those snowy woods! Love from Florida

Dude! Can I just say... I found your website first and I’ve now watched almost all of your videos (up until recently I haven’t really had access to RU-vid) You are the nicest, coolest dude I’ve ever not met! We share so much in common and your videos are so inspireing! My partner, my self and my baby are moving into our bus in a few months and taking on a really non conventional lifestyle and your videos prepared me perfectly for making the most and embracing nature, living with less. I can’t find you on Instagram but we are @thefolkfamilybus I look forward to more of your videos and I will recommend you to everyone! Stay real! Stay well! From Kitty (Australia )

Very good video. I love being out in the woods. It's a lot less scary than a city! I do get startled by loud or sudden noises. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a dear jumped up a few feet in front of me. I had no idea it was there and had apparently startled it. Such quick, high jumps as it ran away and disappeared! Hawks have been screaming at me every day as I'm collecting maple sap. Definitely loud but not too scary-it's what they do. Yesterday I kept hearing a little different almost conversational sounding squawking high up in the trees. I kept looking up and spotted a bulky mess of twigs and stuff near the top of a tree about ten feet from one of the ones we had tapped. By then I was closer to their nest and didn't hear the "conversation" any more. I did see one hawk fly in, light on the nest, disappear briefly and fly off again. Not sure, but I think the "conversation" had to do with building the nest which I'm sure is new. We don't need to fear nature but we do need to respect it! Skunks! Storms! Temperature extremes. You name it. Nature can make us uncomfortable if we're not prepared for what we meet out there and knowledge (and using what we know) is a big part of being prepared. Being prepared can make a huge difference in our experience.

Lots of people in the comment section are worried about lymes. Im worried too. I once talked to a lady who couldnt go to church because the ceiling fans gave her seizures due to lymes. Looking at your replies, it seems like it isnt that bad... Could you do a video on it please! I think we would all like one! Cover misconceptions, prevention, treatment, etc. Thanks!

now this was a good video

Oh, and talking about peoples' inner beast was GREAT! I go deep into the woods to bring that out. I work in video games and design and write heroic fantasy. So, I need to experience adrenaline rushes and danger every once in a while.

Very nice! I will surley try your strategy The problem is that I live in eastern europe, were we still have a lot of shepards... with big dogs that will actually bite you really bad ( once there were 2 dogs that just charged my car while I was driving. They tried somehow to bite my doors --I never said that they were smart).

I have been stocked by a cougar that was one of the most scared I have been.

I think if people understand human nature, they also understand animal nature. A bully will tend to attack the meek or vulnerable. An extremely fearful person will attack just like a cornered (thus very fearful) animal will (even a tiny squirrel will bite you in an attempt to save it's own life) . Fear is an instinctual response and animals can smell it (so to speak) just like people can notice it in others. Humans are clearly the greatest predators on earth and animals evolved to be wary of such a threat (for the most part they try to avoid us). Animals have the same fight or flight response as we humans do, so I think we should treat potentially threatening circumstances the same, be it human of animal. Just like you said Kenton, don't let them smell fear on you, but also don't go so far to be aggressive which will insight fear in them, where their instincts compels them to attack (self preservation instinct). When I was about 12 years old I got in between a big black bear and her cubs (I was walking on a trail with thick brush on each side where the bears were). I was startled from a loud thump (maybe 20 feet away) and then I noticed a big black bear standing up and staring at me from 50 feet away. Then I heard the cubs crying from the other side of the trail, but I never took my eyes off of the imminent threat (mother bear). I must have been in instinctual mode, because I wasn't doing anything until I saw how the bear would react first. The bear eventually dropped down and took a wide circle to her cubs and then I got the hell out of there. Had I just blindly ran away might not have ended so well. I have ran into a few bears, cougars, coyotes, moose and the only instances where they didn't run away instantly was mother bear with cubs and 1 moose was a little too fearless for comfort. I think we tend to assume all animals have the same temperament, even though we know most humans are safe and a few are abnormally aggressive/dangerous. Animals are the same as humans regarding instincts (we are way more instinctual than most people would like to admit). The bottom line is that there are some dangerous animals in the woods and in society. If a person lives in a city (high concentration of people, thus part of the instinctual animal world), they have nothing to fear placing themselves in the woods (much lower concentration of animals, thus less likely to come across a rogue animal that might want to harm them). People can learn a lot about themselves by watching raw animal instincts in the wild, because we evolved from the same innate instincts. We have cognitive processes which can override some of our instincts, but those aren't strong in all people and I doubt anyone can override all of them, nor should we want to, because they are much of who we are. We just need to learn how to override the nasty ones, just like that very rare wild bear that is hell bend on eating you. Most will run away due to their natural fear of humans. Logically the pitch blackness of the forest is safer than the bright city light at night. As always, great advise Kenton.

I’m a deer hunter and for some reason I just can’t get over running into a mountain lion or pack of coyotes or somethin. Almost got smoked by a deer I spooked up a couple hours before light as well. All gets me and I don’t know why

My fear is snakes. The only snakes I've come across on my property are garter snakes, although I've been in the woods and seen some larger snakes. Something about them just freaks me out. I'm trying to accept them but it's a slow process.

I had no idea some people fear the woods? Interesting... Only thing I fear in the woods around here is city folk during hunting season Haha. Seriously though, I never really thought of that being a thing. I guess fear of the unknown and movies like Friday the 13th probably don't help people who only know city life. I agree with mr. Rewild, find a friend/relative who know the woods and just go. Go every chance you can.

Thanks for the help Kenton. Do you recieve each animal in the woods differently? If so, how?

Hey Kenton! Nice to know you were at the teaching drum. Always dreamt to go there, since I first heard about it more than a decade ago. Still do, but after I met your channel I'm in doubt if should go there or you your RewildU. Both would be great, I think, but they're kinda way far from my reality and I don't know how to bridge that (my reality being of a middle to low class teacher/biologist living in Brazil, with family and relationship and jobs ties here and not much money... although maybe I could or will be able to afford going with part of my savings). I sometimes dream too about building a similar course here in Brazil, maybe in similar lines but perhaps broadening the scope to a few other ideas, like making it side by side with a regular school for young kids or a community service ong of some sort. Hey, btw, how to best contact you guys about the rewildU and the monk training?

Kenton, I am not afraid of the predators, but I am terrified of a tiny tick. My biggest fear is getting Lyme disease. Here in southeast Pennsylvania we have the highest rate of Lymes disease in the country. How do I overcome this fear? This is relatively recent. I never even thought about it until all of the awareness campaigns, which is a good thing. I’m ok in the winter, but spring will be here soon and I want to get out in the woods more often, and especially in the nice weather.

Here in the northeastern US about the only things that worry me in the woods are other people (but not all that much) and deer ticks. In other parts of the country I'd be wary - but not afraid - of venomous snakes. I think camping in grizzly country would make me pretty nervous.

While camping alone in nature outdoors I discovered some masculine qualities about myself that I never knew! I especially realized I can be calm and feel powerful when danger is around. Nature is truly a great teacher. Got a question though...any advice on finding a girlfriend to go on epic long journey nature outdoor adventures? It would make for a truly romantic relationship.

Hello friend. For some reason during the day, my biggest fear is if a dog is not a leash because I walk with my 2 dogs. 1 is on a leash and the other is for obvious reasons. And i get worried that mia, the one not on the leash, will get in a fight with another dog. But other than that, I'm completing goals of going farther on my own. Without my brother. Lol.

We don't have big predators or real poisonous snakes here. We have an adder, (viper), that could maybe kill a small child, but those come real rare. I lack a fear of animals, (other then spiders for some crazy reason), what can be dangerous on itself. As a child, my parents took me to a safari park. They had to hold me down to keep me from going to pet the lions, they had to save me from a huge ape, that I came to close to, and it grabbed me, they had to drag me from inbetween the legs of an elephant.. They never took me to a safari park again. My exhusband and me had an animal rescue. He had all kinds of poisonous snakes, among other animals, when I got to meet him. There are people that hold dangerous snakes behind chickenwire here, and things alike, or they just did not look after them. If the police found one, the snakes, lizards, monitors, etc., were taken to him. Over the time we were together, we had more and more, since I was helping him with all my heart. We had all kinds of exotic animals, that should not be living in captivity. People just buy them, when they are babies, and then they grow too big or too dangerous, and they want them gone. Zoo's have a problem taking them all in. People really should think and inform themselfs, before buying an animal. He had to lock the tanks with the poisonous snakes, and keep the keys away from me, for I am kind of slow in reacting compared to snakes, and had no fear of those either. I wanted to pet/befriend the cobras. I was fascinated by those. Snakes, it seems never get to know you, and would bite even after you've taken care of them for years. He forbid me to go near any of the poisonous snakes. I did feed one anyways, one day though. He forgot to feed it for a while, when he was living with his new girlfriend. We were looking for new homes for all the animals, since I could not look after them all by myself, and his new girlfriend did not want them in the house. (My heart broke a thousand times..) We only had that one desert snake left, also poisonous, a Cerastes Cerastes. Very cute: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerastes_cerastes I told him several times, it had no water and no food for long, he kept telling me it could last without for long. It did not find water nor food in the desert every day either. He would look after it "tomorrow". Though I could just not see it hungry and thirsty. And that tank was not locked anymore. It is not as poisonous. And I guess over the years he thought I got the message. lol... It all went well, I had seen him do it so very often. You can see a mouse sit in a snake for a while, and of course he came to take care of it that day. I went like "oh oh", when he went upstairs. When he saw the water, and the bump in the snake, he went out of his mind. He took it out of the house, and to a friend of his, that same day. (No, we don't hate eachother, we just didn't make a good couple, and are better as friends. ;) ) I have been bitten by lots of animals, strangled by snakes, and what not. For some reason I forget those things, and still have this feeling "they won't hurt me". I feel most at home in the woods, it is the city that makes me feel unsafe. People are the most unpredictable. Maybe you can teach how to respond to certain animals, for those that live in an area where they live, like what do you do if you find yourself in front of a momma bear. Just an idea. Much love! Have a beautiful day!

We love the wood day or dark. Spent many nights walking out after a long hunt. However I am never without a Sidearm. I have been surrounded by wolves once and have seen a Cougar take down a deer one. I rather them big Apex predators not be giving the opportunity to get close enough to cause death or harm to me. I be more scared to swim on the Ocean. No, not for me at all.

I have slept outside before. The area I slept in(according to my monkey mind) was filling with rabid wolves. The way I finally got to sleep was this; I decided that if I was to face a rabid wolf It would be prudent to get some sleep so that I was “prepared for combat”. After making that decision I was much more relaxed. I then focused on the sensation of my breath until I fell asleep.

I’ve always been scared of the woods

I hear you mentioning Wisconsin in your videos and you got a fellow Wisconsinite here! What region if you don’t mind me asking?

when I go camping alone I am not afraid of the wildlife but I am afraid of people. There is no easy way to justify why but the feeling of not knowing who I can hear or not knowing where they are makes my heart race. I am 17 years old and have been camping for a while with family but have taken it upon myself to start camping alone. In the uk the wildlife is very tame which puts me at ease when camping but unidentifiable noises put me on a primal level of fear. The thought of laying in my hammock and hearing distant voices puts me off camping. I wish I could overcome this somehow but I haven’t yet done so. Have you got any tips to overcome my fear? Many thanks.

I'm a trail runner and as fall is taking place... i had to turn around twice due to fear of wild animal encounter... today i seen a freshly killed hair in the middle of the trail a was running.... i guess it was just dropped by an animal scared of the bear bell 🔔 i have on me.... i could keep going instead of 1h40 min run i was only able to do 35min... 😔

Hi Kenton! The thing I fear the most about going in the woods is ticks, especially because I like going barefoot but I can't do it because of that. I wanted to ask you what is your opinion on preventing onself from ticks, especially when going barefoot (I remember you used to walk around barefoot a lot). Is it a mechanism similar to the surrender to mosquitos? And what about the diseases caused by tick bites? Thank you!

Interesting thank you, when in the bush and only at night I fear the dark. i feel the woods are closing in on me, ( I am claustrophobic) i also fear the black bear up here in Ontario and carry bear spray which is only good if it is ex number of feet away. I also carry bear bangers by tru flare. I find it hard to sleep in my tent at night , yet I keep going. i feel it is the fear of the unknown. and the fear of whatever is out there at night will come upon me when least expected . i feel they are watching from the hill above the camp and will come when the fire is out. Hmmmm

Yes i have a fear of the night

I'm not really afraid of what I can see. I'm more afraid of the ants and ticks or other insects and bugs. Where I go always has tonnes of fire ants and a few ticks so I can never really lay down anywhere to relax. Fire ant bites are far more annoying than painful.

A friend was out hunting and fell asleep....Waking to find a big, cute, little Skunk curled up on his tummy.....Skunks get a bad rap because of their flatulence issues.....Like a first date... They'er actually, really sweet things..... Until they fart...🤣🤣🤣

Have to re-read my old living in Alaska notes but if memory serves me a black bear isn't known for false charging. Grizz will try it but not sure about the black bears. Hmm maybe that monk was lucky.

Wisconsin is where ive been born and raised, Goodman. The forests are beautiful but i fear wolves because they are rapidly growing in numbers up here so i need something like my buck knife to make myself a tiny bit less scared and a pistol to make myselr feel less unprotected. I hate fear.

Hello

I'm scared of boars in my area because they are so big and can attack you. Any tips on that?

Once, on fire towers, I went out to the equipment shed to turn off the gen set, which placed me in darkness till back inside to turn on a 12 volt light. On the sidewalk before I got to the tower's ladder hoop I always had to duck under it occurred to me I could not see the tree line. All around. And after standing waiting and waiting for my eyes to adjust - they had been adjusted all along. No moon and a ton of cloud. That was cool. As I've said, I craved seeing the critters more than anything. I physically ached at times longing for my next sighting. I drew them to me. They were all my babies. I wanted to hug them and give them the boot at the same time, except for the bull moose and whitetail doe and female peregrine. They were different. They sought me. They were messengers. They knew things and I later found out the why. :)

Every time I start to fear nature, I break sticks and eat grass to establish my dominance.

Can you check out my shelter building video new

Offtopic: you can filter that hum-sound with an equalizer in your video editing program. Just find the "sweatspot" and turn that frequency down. OR you can extract the audio and do it with a audio program, when the video editor can't do it. Or if you need further help contact me. Can't watch the video because of that. I know it's my problem and it drives me crazy.