Field Safety Part II: Dangerous Flora and Fauna

While Part I of this post focuses on the hazards of climate and weather, including extreme heat and cold, the second part will focus on dangerous plants and animals encountered in the field.

Dangerous Wildlife

Dangerous wildlife is not as common in the United States as it once was, as humans have driven grizzlies and bison from their former habitats. But in some places, there are still wild animals that can kill you.

Venomous snakes are common across the United States. The most iconic may be the rattlesnake. There are many different species of rattlesnake, which can be found from coast to coast. If you do fieldwork long enough, you will probably startle a rattlesnake at some point and provoke it into shaking its tail. All species of rattlesnake are highly venomous and their bites are potentially fatal to humans. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake, found only in the Southeast, is the most venomous snake in North America. The Southeast is also home to the copperhead, water moccasin (cottonmouth), and coral snake, all of which are venomous. Of the three, the copperhead is the most innocuous, as its bite is seldom fatal to humans. A bite from a water moccasin or coral snake is much more likely to be fatal if left untreated.

In the event of a venomous snake bite, go immediately to the hospital. If possible, take a picture of the snake so the hospital staff can identify the species and know which type of antivenin to administer. If you have a long drive to the hospital, you may want to tie a tourniquet around the bitten limb to prevent the venom from circulating around your body. The lack of circulation may cause you to lose the limb, but most would prefer that to death. Trying to “suck out the poison” through the wound will achieve nothing.

Snakes are not the only venomous animals in the field. Certain spiders or scorpions can also bite or sting you with potentially harmful (but seldom fatal) venom. The most common venomous spiders in the United States are the black widow and brown recluse. Their bites may hurt like hell but they probably won’t kill you. The same can be said for the tarantula, which has very weak venom, but its bite still hurts because its fangs (chelicerae) are so big. The most venomous scorpion in North America is the bark scorpion, whose sting is incredibly painful, but seldom results in death for adult humans.

Venom is not the only means by which a wild animal can harm or kill you. Some fauna apply trauma more directly—sometimes in an attempt to prey on you, or sometimes in an attempt to defend themselves from you.

The American alligator is one such animal. They occasionally kill and eat people, though they are not as likely to do so as Hollywood would have us believe. They are not as aggressive as the crocodiles of Africa or Australia, and are generally timid around humans. They will probably not pursue you on dry land. But if you wade or swim in water where alligators live, they may see you as an easy meal, and consequently kill and eat you. What you should take away from this is that, if you are doing fieldwork in gator country, stay on land (or in a boat), and refrain from swimming in ponds, canals, or bayous.

The mountain lion is another animal that occasionally stalks and eats humans, though not very often. They are common in the Western states, and though the eastern subspecies of cougar is almost extinct, young western cougars have been found wandering far to the east (as far as Connecticut) in search of mates.

The bear is a creature that is often maligned by pop culture as being more dangerous than it is, but make no mistake—all bears still have the potential to be dangerous to humans. There are three species of bear in the United States. The polar bear can be found in northern Alaska. It actively hunts humans and is very aggressive. You will not survive a polar bear attack, but you will almost certainly not have to worry about that, unless you are one of the few archaeologists who does fieldwork in the Arctic. The grizzly bear (a subspecies of the brown bear) can be found throughout Alaska, and in some small pockets of the lower 48 states, such as Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Grizzlies occasionally prey on humans as well, but most field technicians in the United States do not work in places where grizzlies live. The only other subspecies of brown bear found in North America is the Kodiak bear, which lives on Kodiak Island in Alaska.

The vast majority of field techs in the United States don’t need to worry about polar bears, grizzlies, or Kodiak bears. For most of us, the only bear we will encounter in the field is the American black bear. The American black bear is much smaller and more timid than the grizzly, Kodiak, or polar bear, and it seldom attacks humans for any reason. When they do attack, their attacks are typically not motivated by predation. Black bears feed mostly on bugs and vegetation, and raid dumpsters when they get a chance. When humans approach them, they usually flee.

In short, the black bear is basically an over-sized raccoon, but keep in mind that even a raccoon would be dangerous if it weighed 300 lb. Black bears are unpredictable, and capable of immense violence when the mood strikes them, which could be at any time. I know a man who was attacked by a black bear that ate his leg while he was still alive (we once had a contest to see who had the highest tolerance for pain, and he won). So respect the black bear, and try not to surprise and provoke it, because it can still kill and eat you if it wants to do so.

In general, large carnivores are not as dangerous to humans as large herbivores are. Mountain lions and alligators don’t often prey on people, and black bears don’t really see humans as food; if they attack at all, it is usually because they think they are defending themselves against a threat. But large herbivores such as moose, bison, and elk can be highly aggressive and territorial, especially when in rut.

Bison were once common across the Great Plains, but today they live wild in only a few pockets of the United States, such as Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, or Custer State Park in South Dakota. Most field archaeologists will not encounter a wild bison. However, many ranchers now raise captive bison for beef, so it is still fully plausible for the average archaeologist to survey land where bison are present. I have personally surveyed a couple of bison ranches myself, and the bison that lived there were decidedly unfriendly. If a bison starts snorting at you and approaches you, get away from it. It doesn’t want you to pet it. It’s thinking about trampling you to death.

Moose and elk still live wild in the northern parts of the United States. Moose, in particular, are very dangerous during their mating season. It is very plausible for archaeologists to encounter an angry moose in the north woods of Maine, Michigan, or Minnesota.

In the South, invasive feral hogs are common, and their range is growing. They generally do not attack humans unless threatened, but when they do attack, they can gore and kill people with their tusks.

The animals I’ve discussed above all pose realistic threats to field archaeologists, but the average archaeologist won’t encounter them every day. Keep in mind that even something as small and ubiquitous as a wasp or bee can be fatal to some. A wasp sting may be a minor annoyance to most, but it can kill someone with an allergy. And allergies can onset at any time in life. I was stung by bees and wasps many times when I was young, with no ill effects, but shortly before I turned 32, a wasp sting put me into anaphylaxis and nearly killed me.

If you have a life-threatening allergy of any kind, you should carry a pair of EpiPens (or some other brand of epinephrin injection device) into the field with you. Unfortunately, EpiPens are not meant for excursions into temperatures exceeding 86˚ F, while fieldwork often requires that we spend eight hours a day in temperatures up to 100˚ or more.

In my opinion, the most dangerous animal that most archaeologists will encounter almost every day in the field is the humble tick. The tick’s bite is not life threatening or even painful on its own, but it can transmit any number of debilitating diseases. The most infamous of these is Lyme disease, which is conveyed by the bite of the deer tick. But ticks can infect you with far more than Lyme disease, and every species of hard tick in the United States is a disease vector. In case you think these diseases are not so bad, untreated Lyme disease can lead to arthritis and permanent neurological damage. Alpha gal allergy, which can be caused by the bite of the lone star tick, is a permanent allergy to red meat (meaning you can’t eat steak or cheeseburgers anymore).

Here is a list of some of the tick species in the United States and the diseases they carry:

Deer Tick or Black-Legged Tick (Ixodes scapularis)

• Lyme disease
• Anaplasmosis
• Babesiosis
• Powassan virus
• Ehrlichiosis
• B. miyamotoi disease

Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

• Ehrlichiosis
• Heartland virus disease
• Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)
• Bourbon virus disease
• Tularemia
• Alpha gal allergy

American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis)

• Tularemia
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Groundhog Tick (Ixodes cookei)

• Powassan virus

Gulf Coast Tick (Amblyomma maculatum)

• Spotted fever

Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni)

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Colorado tick fever virus
• Tularemia

 Western Black-Legged Tick (Ixodes pacificus)

• Lyme disease
• Anaplasmosis
• B. miyamotoi disease

Soft Tick (Ornithodoros)

• Tick-borne relapsing fever

Ticks are not born with the pathogens that cause these diseases. After hatching, the larvae can become infected with these pathogens when they feed on the blood of infected vertebrates. Then, after growing into nymphs, they can spread these viruses or bacteria when they bite new hosts (including people). Field archaeologists are always walking around in dense thickets or brush where tick nymphs and adults are waiting to latch onto passing animals, and we frequently find ticks crawling on us by the end of the day. Unfortunately, tick nymphs are so small that they can bite you, feed for a while, and be on their way before you even realize they’re attached to you. You can be infected with Lyme disease or some other pathology without knowing you’ve even been bitten by a tick.

If you are bit by a tick, remove it with tweezers, trying to keep the mouthparts intact (rather than letting the mouthparts break off and remain in your skin). Keep the tick’s body in case you need to identify it later, or in case you need to prove you were bitten while at work.

Dangerous Livestock

Domesticated livestock can be as dangerous as the wild herbivores I’ve discussed above, and they are much more common. Every field archaeologist will have to survey a field full of cattle at some point.

Cows are generally as docile and easy-going as any large mammal can be, but many ranchers and farmers will graze bulls alongside their cattle, at least for part of the year. Bulls are not very nice. A bull attack will probably be fatal for you, if you fail to find shelter before it gores or tramples you. And there is often no shelter on the open range.

Even female cows can be unfriendly during calving season (springtime), because they are protective of their newborn calves. If you get too close to a calf, a female cow may charge you. I’ve been charged by a cow during calving season. If that happens, don’t run. In general, don’t turn your back on any livestock that might charge you (especially goats). If a cow charges you while you have your back turned to it, turn to face it and stand your ground. If a bull charges you, standing your ground isn’t going to work.

Even horses can be dangerous to the uninitiated. Horses are not known to be as violent or aggressive as bulls, but a kick from a horse can still be life-threatening. Field archaeologists who are unfamiliar with livestock can absent-mindedly stand behind a horse and take a hoof to the head if something provokes the animal. Even an attempt to feed a horse can result in broken fingers if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Dangerous Plants

Most of the plants you will encounter won’t be able to kill you, unless they’re poisonous and you decide to eat them. I’m not going to discuss the various poisonous plants and mushrooms that you might encounter in the field, because that’s an entirely avoidable hazard. Just don’t eat strange plants you find in the wild.

However, even if you don’t eat them, many plants can still cause irritations or minor injuries.

One of the most infamous is poison ivy. Poison ivy, like its cousins, poison oak and poison sumac, produces an oil known as urushiol, to which many people are allergic. If you are allergic to poison ivy, the urushiol will cause severe itching after coming into contact with your skin. If you accidentally come into contact with poison ivy, you can spare yourself a future of skin irritation by washing away the oil before your skin reacts to it. Tecnu is specifically designed to wash the urushiol from your skin, but ordinary dish soap can be effective as well. Keep in mind that the itching is not caused directly by the plant; it’s caused by your immune system, as it reacts to something it perceives to be a threat. You don’t really build up an immunity to poison ivy because your immune system is the problem; that’s what an allergy is. Even if you’re not allergic now, you can become allergic after repeated exposure.

Figure 1. Poison ivy

Poison ivy is a part of life for field archaeologists, especially if you work east of the Mississippi. You can’t avoid it, even in winter, when all the plants around you seem dead. The leaves of the poison ivy plant may be senescent, but the roots and vines contain urushiol as well, and you can dig up the roots while shovel testing and rub the urushiol all over your hands while screening the soil. If all the leaves are dead, you may not even realize that there is poison ivy in the vicinity, unless you see the telltale red, hairy vines growing on nearby trees. This is yet another reason to wear gloves while working.

Poison ivy is ubiquitous in the eastern half of the United States, but it won’t cause any severe harm. For most, it’s a mild annoyance. Other plants pose a more severe threat.

Giant hogweed and wild parsnip are two invasive weeds currently spreading across the eastern half of the United States. Both produce a sap that will severely burn your skin if it comes into contact with your skin under direct sunlight. Both are extremely harmful, but hogweed is more so. A giant hogweed burn will be painful for several months, and your skin will remain sensitive to sunlight for years to come. This burn is not caused by an allergy. Everyone is vulnerable to giant hogweed and wild parsnip.

Not all plants rely on saps or oils to induce pain in humans. The many species of cactus plant in the United States have sharp spikes that can easily impale clothing and skin. Many other trees, shrubs, and vines—such as the hawthorn, locust, bois d’arc, mesquite, brier, and bramble—have sharp thorns that can also puncture skin (or your eyes, if you are particularly unlucky). As of the time of this writing, I have had the tip of a hawthorn tree’s thorn imbedded in my right leg for over a year.

Figure 2. Prickly pear cactus in west Texas

All the plants I’ve described above can be painful or irritating, but they seldom induce fatalities in human beings. However, dead trees and branches can fall on people and kill them. A dead tree that has been weakened by rot or fire, or perhaps made unstable by the erosion of the soil beneath it, can be at high risk of falling over. If you are beneath a large tree when it falls, it will kill you. Even healthy trees will have dead branches hanging precariously in their canopies, ready to fall on an unsuspecting head at any moment. These dead branches are known to foresters as “widow-makers.” A walk through any forest may reveal dead trees or branches in unstable positions, and field archaeologists should be wary of them at all times.

Figure 3. Dead tree leaning into the branches of a live sycamore. As this dead tree continues to decompose, it will become more unstable, until it falls to the ground.

I wish I had advice on how to treat the victim of a falling tree, but the truth is that if a large tree falls on you, it will probably be fatal. As I’ve been taught by wildland firefighters, the only safe tree is “no tree.”

Updated on April 9, 2023