In novels and movies, there is such a description, when you accidentally encounter a wild animal approaching, if you stay calm and pretend to be dead, the wild animal will ignore you and walk away. Will this happen in reality?
First, it depends on the motivation of the wildlife.
Wild animals attack people, generally in two cases. The first is to be hungry and see you as food; the second is to feel threatened, such as when you have encroached on its territory or threatened its cubs.
In the first case, I'm sorry, when you hold your head and pretend to die, you save the effort of a hungry predator.
In the second case, it is possible to succeed. However, some animals will be curious, such as brown bears that mostly come forward to smell you, use huge bear paws to tease you, and even bite you. Remember: a bear's sense of smell is two thousand times more sensitive than yours, and it is perfectly clear whether you are dead or alive, and the only thing you can do is pray that it has just eaten.
In one example, an American couple spent the summer in an Alaskan cottage where the wife came home from the river that day without seeing her husband, and later found a seriously injured husband in a pile of debris, who had been bitten off one of his arms, scratched his face, lost an eye, and yes, pretended to die to save his life, but at a cost enough.
Second, it depends on which animal.
Facing large herbivores such as elephants, bison, buffalo, moose, etc., pretending to be dead has a certain effect, and once it is confirmed that you are not a threat, the large herbivores will return to calm and walk away. In this regard, there have been many reports abroad, such as a female tourist in Yellowstone Park pretending to be dead to avoid a bison attack, and an old Colorado man pretending to be dead to avoid a mad moose, at the cost of a broken wrist.
If it's polar bears and wolves, pretending to be dead will never work. Polar bears are used to eating carrion, whether you are really dead or pretending to be dead, in its eyes it is just a pile of fresh and warm meat. Wolves are greedy animals, and they can never give up any meat in their hands.
If it is a crocodile, pretending to be dead is equivalent to home delivery. Remember, never pretend to be dead in the water.
If you are a lion, a tiger and a leopard, it is strongly recommended not to pretend to be dead, because these cats have the habit of storing food, even if they are not hungry at the time, they will hide you somewhere, you have to endure the severe pain of fangs biting your skull or limbs, you can not make any sound and movement, to be honest, it is better to live than to die at that moment.
Finally, you may have heard of people who fought with beasts of prey, but you have not seen a few people who pretended to be successful, why? According to the "survivor bias", those who pretend to be dead are hung.
At the end of the day, the old adage says it best: "The only thing wild animals can predict is that they are unpredictable." ”
So, in the face of wild animals that are ready to attack you, which method should you take to protect yourself?
Many people who have been dealing with large predators for many years, such as zoologists, animal protectors, and hunting masters, will tell you that if you encounter predators approaching, never pretend to be dead.
All you need to do is stay calm, threaten and intimidate them with confident body language and attitude, and you must not run away, bend over, panic, and avoid acting like prey. The best strategy is to keep an eye on them, calmly retreat in the direction you're coming from, and never turn your back on the predator.
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If you've done all this and it's not going to be spared, shout out loud, use a stone, a stick, or whatever weapon you can find, punch and kick and bite with your teeth, and fight for your life.