Dear Ernie: Fresh water: 1. Dig a pit in the ground and put a container at the bottom of the pit. place a piece of plastic over the hole and allow it to sag in the middle. anchor the edges of the plastic so it won't collapse all the way into the hole. I suggest using the earth you just dug. When this is not safe is when you are in a combat zone that has been contaminated by a chemical agent. Pray to God this won't ever happen to you. 2. If you are in a cold region like I am, melt snow down to water. Be careful that the snow is not discolored or in an urban area like I am where the air pollutants solidify into the snow. If at all possible use freshly fallen snow or dig under the upper layer. It is best that you use heat to melt the snow which may help purify the water. DO NOT put snow directly into your mouth if outdoors, it can take away your body heat to melt the snow and cause hypothermia. Wild animals: Most wild animals don't care to bother with humans unless they are a predatory snake. When they will bother is when they are looking for food, when they have young to protect or are raving mad. this is just a generalization, experience is the best teacher. I was camping on Mt. Horeb Wisconsin with my dog, Ralph in a camp site. I wanted to get going quickly the next morning and didn't want to bother to put up my Frontiersman tent, so I slept under the stars next to my van. In the middle of the night a raccoon came into camp (even with all my food put away) Ralph jumped up and snarled at the racoon. The racoon then sat up on its haunches ready to take on this 90 pound Golden Retriever. Ralph is a real buddy but I have seen him take on a muskrat and kill it but I didn't want him tangling with a racoon. I stood up and shouted out GET! and the animal took off. That was the first time I saw a racoon that aggresssive. Ernie wrote: > �� Part 1.1������ Type: Plain Text (text/plain) > ������������� Encoding: quoted-printable _______ To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Eat the hay & spit out the sticks! - A#1's mule" RTKB&G4JC! http://rangernet.org Autoresponder: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
