5 ms·

The Dutch woods are not very big and not very far from the cities. You could get lost but you can always hear the highways and there is cell coverage everywhere

by tiku 7y ago

The Dutch woods are not very big and not very far from the cities. You could get lost but you can always hear the highways and there is cell coverage everywhere. And the most scary thing you could come across is a wild boar, there are no dangerous animals. There were 2 or 3 wolf sightings the past 2 years, but they stay away from noise. Anyway I think Dutch kids are balsy enough to scare any wolf away. (Or a human predator, if they would even roam the woods..) I've always enjoyed "droppings" as they are called. There were no cell phones when I did it as a kid..I can't remember if we had a compass or not.. Oh and its not exclusive for scouting, it's also done on birthdays, I guess it happens more in places where there are woods nearby, so more towards Germany and Belgium.

ar-jan 7y ago
Of course in a proper dropping you're not allowed to have a cell phone. There's got to be some challenge in it.
- oska 7y ago
  I approve the provision of a cell phone for that age group (early teens). Provided it's a dumb phone with only call service available in case they really need to call for help. I'm much more dubious about giving them GPS. It's a lot of fun figuring out where you are on a map and GPS takes that fun away.
  - namenotrequired 7y ago
    We always received an envelope with a dumb “emergency phone” and were expected to hand it back in closed afterwards unless we had used it to call them.
  - ar-jan 7y ago
    Yeah, a phone for emergencies is sensible. I mean they don't get to take their smartphone with GPS.
scurvy 7y ago
Are Euro wild boars not dangerous? So much for that Black Forest Ham premium! Boars definitely attack people in the US, and the wounds can be bad to the lower body and gut. Lots of blood loss isn't uncommon.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  They are, they are found in France, Germany, Belgium and Poland in the wild. Haven't seen or heard from any in NL but there is a good chance we have some here as well. Don't get between mommy and the cute little ones.
  - Scarblac 7y ago
    There are lots in the Netherlands, around the Veluwe they are a bit of a plague animal, ploughing up gardens et cetera. But groups of kids on a dropping are very noisy, they don't get to see any.
- gambiting 7y ago
  We have them in Poland and from my own childhood spent around Polish forest I remember the rule being - if it's a single boar, you have good chances trying to scare it away, but if it's a mother with the young......make for the nearest tree and climb like your life depended on it(because she will attack you).
  - scurvy 7y ago
    OK, that's my experience as well. Thanks!
- merijnv 7y ago
  > Are Euro wild boars not dangerous? They are, if you run into them and they feel threatened (especially mothers with babes). But it's super rare to run into them, as they avoid people. A group of teens out at night staying quiet enough to stumble across one seems infinitesimally small. Which is probably why I don't ever remember ever hearing of anyone attacked by boars...
jacquesm 7y ago
Back when I was a kid, at the ripe old age of 12, we did this at the Hoge Veluwe, and I can assure you that there were no highways in hearing distance and we didn't have cellphones yet. It was also a pretty good experience, if a little cold.
- ragebol 7y ago
  The Hoge Veluwe might be one of a few, if not the only place in the Netherlands where you d find a road of some sort when you walk straight ahead for a few kilometers. I live near Eindhoven and I can't imagine a place where that wouldn't happen.
- tiku 7y ago
  I guess it depends on the winds, but it was mainly my point that it's not really far from the main roads..
- photonios 7y ago
  The Hoge Veluwe might be one of the few places where this can happen. And even then, the Hoge Veluwe is 55 sqkm. Worst case scenario you walk for a few hours to reach one of the edges. Just keep walking in the same direction. Hoge Veluwe, one of the few things I miss from my home town. Such a great place to hang out as a kid.
  - tom_mellior 7y ago
    > Just keep walking in the same direction. AFAIK this is surprisingly difficult, many (most? all?) people end up walking in circles when placed in a forest without any clues for orientation. Edit: Some random sources: https://www.livescience.com/33431-why-humans-walk-circles.html https://www.livescience.com/33431-why-humans-walk-circles.ht..., https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/08/why-we-walk-circles https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/08/why-we-walk-circles, https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(09)01479-1 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(09)... "participants repeatedly walked in circles when they could not see the sun ... participants walked in often surprisingly small circles (diameter < 20 m), though rarely in a systematic direction"
teekert 7y ago
We did it in gymnastics camp, no cell phones, no compass. But indeed, it is difficult to not run into a road within an hour or so usually.
cylinder 7y ago
Just curious, does this density across all of the country lead to a desire amongst Dutch people to find true wilderness every once and a while? For example travelling to remote national parks in the US or Australia/NZ? Or does it lead to people preferring built environments and feeling anxious in true wilderness?
- mpol 7y ago
  To both answers I would think no :) The Netherlands is very much a designed and architected country, there is no true wilderness here anymore. We don't seem to miss it, most people don't even talk about it as something they miss. We can go days and weeks out to the countryside, and call it a good holiday. There are people who like to travel to the true wilderness, like Australia or Canada or backpacking in Scotland, but I don't see any connection to the density of our country. And being anxious in true wilderness, well, it really is dangerous, right? :) So you should be anxious. But in this context, I can imagine we do like safety. When traveling through Australia, always stay on the road for example. Going into the desert off-road is a big no-no to us.
  - cylinder 7y ago
    Great info, thanks. The Netherlands is truly amazing with the types of infrastructure which have been built for safety and health. I am pro-safety, one of the reasons I left the US! Would love to explore the Netherlands.

by tiku 7y ago

ar-jan 7y ago

Of course in a proper dropping you're not allowed to have a cell phone. There's got to be some challenge in it.

oska 7y ago
I approve the provision of a cell phone for that age group (early teens). Provided it's a dumb phone with only call service available in case they really need to call for help. I'm much more dubious about giving them GPS. It's a lot of fun figuring out where you are on a map and GPS takes that fun away.
- namenotrequired 7y ago
  We always received an envelope with a dumb “emergency phone” and were expected to hand it back in closed afterwards unless we had used it to call them.
- ar-jan 7y ago
  Yeah, a phone for emergencies is sensible. I mean they don't get to take their smartphone with GPS.

scurvy 7y ago

Are Euro wild boars not dangerous? So much for that Black Forest Ham premium! Boars definitely attack people in the US, and the wounds can be bad to the lower body and gut. Lots of blood loss isn't uncommon.

jacquesm 7y ago
They are, they are found in France, Germany, Belgium and Poland in the wild. Haven't seen or heard from any in NL but there is a good chance we have some here as well. Don't get between mommy and the cute little ones.
- Scarblac 7y ago
  There are lots in the Netherlands, around the Veluwe they are a bit of a plague animal, ploughing up gardens et cetera. But groups of kids on a dropping are very noisy, they don't get to see any.
gambiting 7y ago
We have them in Poland and from my own childhood spent around Polish forest I remember the rule being - if it's a single boar, you have good chances trying to scare it away, but if it's a mother with the young......make for the nearest tree and climb like your life depended on it(because she will attack you).
- scurvy 7y ago
  OK, that's my experience as well. Thanks!
merijnv 7y ago
> Are Euro wild boars not dangerous? They are, if you run into them and they feel threatened (especially mothers with babes). But it's super rare to run into them, as they avoid people. A group of teens out at night staying quiet enough to stumble across one seems infinitesimally small. Which is probably why I don't ever remember ever hearing of anyone attacked by boars...

jacquesm 7y ago

Back when I was a kid, at the ripe old age of 12, we did this at the Hoge Veluwe, and I can assure you that there were no highways in hearing distance and we didn't have cellphones yet. It was also a pretty good experience, if a little cold.

ragebol 7y ago
The Hoge Veluwe might be one of a few, if not the only place in the Netherlands where you d find a road of some sort when you walk straight ahead for a few kilometers. I live near Eindhoven and I can't imagine a place where that wouldn't happen.
tiku 7y ago
I guess it depends on the winds, but it was mainly my point that it's not really far from the main roads..
photonios 7y ago
The Hoge Veluwe might be one of the few places where this can happen. And even then, the Hoge Veluwe is 55 sqkm. Worst case scenario you walk for a few hours to reach one of the edges. Just keep walking in the same direction. Hoge Veluwe, one of the few things I miss from my home town. Such a great place to hang out as a kid.
- tom_mellior 7y ago
  > Just keep walking in the same direction. AFAIK this is surprisingly difficult, many (most? all?) people end up walking in circles when placed in a forest without any clues for orientation. Edit: Some random sources: https://www.livescience.com/33431-why-humans-walk-circles.html https://www.livescience.com/33431-why-humans-walk-circles.ht..., https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/08/why-we-walk-circles https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/08/why-we-walk-circles, https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(09)01479-1 https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(09)... "participants repeatedly walked in circles when they could not see the sun ... participants walked in often surprisingly small circles (diameter < 20 m), though rarely in a systematic direction"

teekert 7y ago

We did it in gymnastics camp, no cell phones, no compass. But indeed, it is difficult to not run into a road within an hour or so usually.

cylinder 7y ago

Just curious, does this density across all of the country lead to a desire amongst Dutch people to find true wilderness every once and a while? For example travelling to remote national parks in the US or Australia/NZ? Or does it lead to people preferring built environments and feeling anxious in true wilderness?

mpol 7y ago
To both answers I would think no :) The Netherlands is very much a designed and architected country, there is no true wilderness here anymore. We don't seem to miss it, most people don't even talk about it as something they miss. We can go days and weeks out to the countryside, and call it a good holiday. There are people who like to travel to the true wilderness, like Australia or Canada or backpacking in Scotland, but I don't see any connection to the density of our country. And being anxious in true wilderness, well, it really is dangerous, right? :) So you should be anxious. But in this context, I can imagine we do like safety. When traveling through Australia, always stay on the road for example. Going into the desert off-road is a big no-no to us.
- cylinder 7y ago
  Great info, thanks. The Netherlands is truly amazing with the types of infrastructure which have been built for safety and health. I am pro-safety, one of the reasons I left the US! Would love to explore the Netherlands.