I wanted to create this thread so that people can share safety tips for iNatting in public environments (any environments where there are or may be strangers) I think we sometimes take safety for granted, and to make sure that everyone stays safe while observing, I think it is worth it to have a discussion on good safety practices while out in public.
I may edit this initial post if I have any other thoughts, but here are a couple of things I would like to share:
Stay Alert: When you are looking down, especially at a phone or other device, you look distracted and vulnerable. When a person wants to steal from/mug/attack someone, they go for someone who isnāt aware and paying attention to their surroundings. Besides attackers, itās good to know where you are, especially in relation to roads and train tracks. Try to upload observations when you get home, and try not to stay on your phone for longer than you need.
Let someone know where you are: I always do this. Whether I am out in the day, or at night, I always tell/text someone I know, letting them know where I am going and what Iām up to. If Iām out somewhere for more than an hour, I like to keep that person updated if I have internet/data. That way, people donāt worry, and someone besides myself knows of my whereabouts.
These are the two biggest safety tips for me, at least, but I am probably missing something. Please add anything you do while iNatting in public environments, and stay safe!
This is exactly what I do. Even in places I feel safe in, itās always nice to have a friend along with me. Despite me being the ānature-expertā, they often spot things I miss. A friend is also a must-have in an unfamiliar place
Thatās the key thing, be aware of whatās going on around you at all times. I think it was in Jeff Thompsonās book āDead or Aliveā where he talked about how criminals will use the 4 Dās to get what they want - Dialogue, Deception, Distraction and ultimately, Destruction.
Edit:
While the 4Dās are a useful framework for understanding criminal behavior, real-world situations can be far more complex and may not always fit into predefined categories. So further reading that might be worth your time can be found here: Violence: It ISNāT What You Think It Is and Why is Avoidance Best? More on the author of the content found at those links can be found here.
This is half the reason why we hike in a group. Bunch of little old ladies, intent on botanising and birding and bugging. Many pairs of eyes is good for seeing more variety, and someone is always on meerkat patrol - I see you over there!
I have a hard (maple) pointy stick I walk with in public areas. Yup. I will use it as defense. So far, its biggest use has been warning public-fed Canada Geese to back off from me. A couple smacks on the ground in front of me had proven sufficient and eventually they learned the sight of the stick is enough. (Yes, they approach if I do not have the stick in hand!)
A human? Yes I will I defend myself as well as I can with it.
Situational awareness is the broad term for being aware and ready to take action in response to something in the environment, good or bad. For iNatting that includes not only being alert to the good things like organisms to photo but possible hazards including other humans, a rattlesnake in the grass, driving or walking in traffic, etc. We often get complacent when out and about so itās good to cultivate alertness in ourselves for any situation.
However, you must also PRACTICE. As a safety professional, I dealt with a situation where people evacuated a building that was filling with smoke, but did NOT pull the fire alarm because āthat was only for emergencies.ā So, when was the last time you practiced yelling for help, blowing a whistle, or pulling the pin on that emergency alarm? Practice will help you to overcome a lifetime of conditioning to be quietā¦
As a professional botanist I have experienced the reverse situation far more often: people thinking Iām a threat of some kind. To counter this, I often wear a safety vest (orange and yellow). That transforms me from āweirdo with a cameraā to āgeneric professionalā, and the response from strangers is dramatically different!
This is a good idea. I have had people see me as a threat before as well, whether that be iNatting in a bush near people or just walking along a public trail with a camera. If anyone else has ideas/tips on how to avoid this, feel free to send it here as well!
A blaze orange safety/hunting vest is a good idea, not only to make yourself look less like someone doing no good but also when iNatting during hunting season.
I realized something of this nature a few weeks ago as well.
I was alone in the middle of a nature trail with just my phone and a camera and couldāve been robbed or something lol, didnāt even think of it.
Cause a lot of these types of places donāt have security cameras so u gotta take that into consideration.
Another option is to go iNatting to a country thatās actually safe. Nobody is going to mug or rob you in most of Europe outside of downtowns of big cities at night (where you would be very unlikely to go iNatting anyway). If you want to go even further, you can always go to Japan, where you can just leave a camera or a phone on the ground and pick it up a few hours later.
Not everybody lives in areas where it is safe. Some people are more likely to be targets or perceived as threats than others (on account of race, gender, perceived socio-economic background, etc.). I think it is reasonable to give some thought to possible risks if one intends to be out alone doing activities that some might see as suspicious.
Of course the sad fact is that safety precautions probably would have done little to prevent the tragic event that inspired this thread. Based on the news reports, it seems to have been in a well-frequented area not particularly known for crime and likely had nothing do do with the activity that the victim was engaged in.
I was expecting this to be about wildlife safety and safe hiking and observing stuff safely on rocks, but its sadly mostly about people. It really is like this that we are our own worst enemy, i Guess.
I am extremely lucky I live in a corner of the world when I never, not even once felt threatened* by another human, even though I have been more or less kindly told to get lost, I have never felt that they would hurt me (that said, I am a large adult man. Experiences might vary).
The closest I came to feeling unsafe is when I was walking my parentsā dog in the forest around my parents house (and also botanizing) and an illegal hunter came to test (or ātestā?) his gun. He recognised my parentsā dog and asked me to go away, but it was still unconfortable as he did not wait that much before he started shooting (not at me, at a target).
I would point out something though: If you go to an area you are not familiar with; check if there was conflct in the area recently. It happens, for example in Croatia and Bosnia, that people still (unintentionally) find landmines, which is not usually somethig one thinks about when one goes vacationing on the Adriatic coast. It is also best there to ask locals where it is safe (maps are OK to know where the mines are, but a bit worse at telling you where there are none.) and/or stick to beaten paths there.
(And even here in Slovenia, in SoÄa valley and Kras you can still find WW1 ammunition, and while it is āsafeā** if not messed with, it happens that people find those and take them as souvenirs and fiddle with them to subideal consequences)
*I have been made uncofortable lots of times. But not unsafe. Many people think I am going number two when I look at the flowers, which is ā¦ awkward.
**i.e. it will not explode if you accidentally step on it or pick it up before you know what it is. A lot of it has been cleared in recent fires.
I can see it now. Me along a roadside in a blaze orange safety vest with reflective strips. After I get creamed, the driver looks bewildered and says, āI didnāt see him.ā And is 100% telling the truth.
My experience is that free-range dogs are more problematic. The ones that will leave their yard to come at me even if I am on the opposite side of the street. I think I can safely say this is the biggest reason I am not a ādog person.ā