Creepy Crawlies
CREEPY CRAWLIES ARE ALL THOSE STINGING and biting creatures that give most
of us the shivers. This group includes snakes, lizards, spiders, scorpions,
ants, bees, ticks, and leeches. It is important to know something about
these creatures and how to travel safely through their world.
As nasty as creatures like the tarantula may seem, creepy crawlies
abide by the same guidelines as their kin in the animal world: except in
the case of rare exceptions like leeches and ticks, they want nothing to do
with you and are not on the lookout for you. Solid pretrip research will tell
you what you need to watch out for.
The only ways you will get bitten or stung by creepy crawlies is if you
abruptly enter their space and scare them, if they enter your space and get
scared (usually in camp or at night), or if you provoke them. For that rea
son, slow, deliberate movement is essential at all times.
You are at much greater risk from creepy crawlies than from preda
tors and other dangerous animals, due to their numbers. I once spent
seven days alone in the jungle and although I encountered no snakes, I
saw lots of monstersized poisonous ants, a couple of spiders, and a poi
sonous frog.
The rule of thumb when it comes to creepy crawlies is to minimize
your exposure to them. In the desert, for example, where there are lots of
scorpions around, I build my bed up off the ground so that I won’t find one
in with me when I wake up.
Most creepy crawly encounters occur during the night when crea
tures such as scorpions, snakes, and spiders seek out warmth, and you rep
resent nothing more to them than a large mass of radiant energy. So as
ridiculous as it may seem, they really just want to snuggle up with you. It’s
only when you move quickly, accidentally or out of panic, that you get bit
ten. You could literally sleep through the night and not even realize that a
number of poisonous creatures had crossed your skin.
A man in Africa once had a black mamba (arguably the most aggres
sive and dangerous snake in the world) slither down into his sleeping
bag to get warm for the night. The man was nearly hysterical when he
realized this and was convinced the snake would bite him. His camping
mates decided that in one swift motion two of them would yank him out
(^262) | Survive!