4 ms·

> One woman in Cape Breton was killed by Coywolves when she was out for a walk in a wooded area Yes, this did occur and it was a tragedy. But worth keeping thi

by mabbo 7y ago

> One woman in Cape Breton was killed by Coywolves when she was out for a walk in a wooded area Yes, this did occur and it was a tragedy. But worth keeping things in perspective: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_attack Three fatal attacks recorded in the last 100 years. And so few non-fatal attacks that the wikipedia page can list nearly all of them. Even the attack you mention, Taylor Mitchell, it sounds as though this was one particular pair of animals that were far more aggressive than typical. Coyotes are generally big cowards. They're successful in the anthropocene because they stay out of sight and mind. Coywolves are more dangerous, perhaps, but we should keep things in perspective about how dangerous we're talking about. If they were ten times more deadly than coyotes, they'd still be a orders of magnitude less dangerous than sharks, bees, and lightning. (All of which are unfathomably less dangerous than drunk drivers).

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> we should keep things in perspective about how dangerous we're talking about. If they were ten times more deadly than coyotes, they'd still be a orders of magnitude less dangerous than sharks, bees, and lightning. Sharks are an illustrative example. They're pretty dangerous if you encounter them. But doing that is fully optional; no one's ever run into a shark by accident. If you live near wolves, you can run into them even though you didn't want to. Realistically, your risk from sharks is exactly zero unless you're going out of your way to inflate it. It's not honest to claim that sharks are more dangerous than coywolves -- and once you've realized that, you realize that you need to adjust risk estimates based on what you're exposed to.
- dylan604 7y ago
  > no one's ever run into a shark by accident. What do you mean by that? I'm pretty sure that the swimmers/surfers that have been bitten by a shark were not actually looking for a shark. Swimming at the surface of the water unaware of exactly what's lurking in the water below them is the same thing to me as a hiker walking through the woods suddenly coming upon any wild animal.
  - prawn 7y ago
    Not sure it's a point worth making personally, but I suspect they mean that you encounter bees by leaving the house, something almost everybody does daily. Deer if you drive outside a city. But you will only encounter a shark if you specifically enter the ocean and almost only if you go deeper than a foot or so of water. I live in Australia where almost everyone lives near the coast, and we regularly swim at beaches where sharks are sighted. Shark-spotting planes, helicopters and drones are a daily thing through summer.
    - raverbashing 7y ago
      > only if you go deeper than a foot or so of water So, basically what any adult does when they go on the sea? Though it seems sharks are especially attracted to surfboards , making the surfers a notable target.
js2 7y ago
> they'd still be a orders of magnitude less dangerous than sharks, bees, and lightning. And well, dogs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_t... BTW, since we just adopted a very sweet chocolate lab mix who according to wisdom panel has 25% American Staffordshire Terrier in him, I'll also share this article pointing out that breed is a poor predictor of bite risk: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-... Gratuitous pic of our new family member: https://ibb.co/thq4sRG https://ibb.co/thq4sRG
- gengelbro 7y ago
  Did you read the list of fatal dog attacks? I toolk a cursory look came to exactly the opposite conclusion as the second avma.org link did, which seemed to be engaged in mental gymnastics.
HarryHirsch 7y ago
The deer is a remarkably deadly animal. More people lose their lives in deer-involved car crashes than through dog attacks. Coyotes are the only thing that kill deer in the semi-urban Eastern US.
- slowhand09 7y ago
  I would attribute that more to cars than deer. If oppossums and groundhogs were deer-sized and agile enough to dart in front of vehicles, would we track groundhog-related fatalities?

by mabbo 7y ago

thaumasiotes 7y ago

> we should keep things in perspective about how dangerous we're talking about. If they were ten times more deadly than coyotes, they'd still be a orders of magnitude less dangerous than sharks, bees, and lightning. Sharks are an illustrative example. They're pretty dangerous if you encounter them. But doing that is fully optional; no one's ever run into a shark by accident. If you live near wolves, you can run into them even though you didn't want to. Realistically, your risk from sharks is exactly zero unless you're going out of your way to inflate it. It's not honest to claim that sharks are more dangerous than coywolves -- and once you've realized that, you realize that you need to adjust risk estimates based on what you're exposed to.

dylan604 7y ago
> no one's ever run into a shark by accident. What do you mean by that? I'm pretty sure that the swimmers/surfers that have been bitten by a shark were not actually looking for a shark. Swimming at the surface of the water unaware of exactly what's lurking in the water below them is the same thing to me as a hiker walking through the woods suddenly coming upon any wild animal.
- prawn 7y ago
  Not sure it's a point worth making personally, but I suspect they mean that you encounter bees by leaving the house, something almost everybody does daily. Deer if you drive outside a city. But you will only encounter a shark if you specifically enter the ocean and almost only if you go deeper than a foot or so of water. I live in Australia where almost everyone lives near the coast, and we regularly swim at beaches where sharks are sighted. Shark-spotting planes, helicopters and drones are a daily thing through summer.
  - raverbashing 7y ago
    > only if you go deeper than a foot or so of water So, basically what any adult does when they go on the sea? Though it seems sharks are especially attracted to surfboards , making the surfers a notable target.

js2 7y ago

> they'd still be a orders of magnitude less dangerous than sharks, bees, and lightning. And well, dogs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_t... BTW, since we just adopted a very sweet chocolate lab mix who according to wisdom panel has 25% American Staffordshire Terrier in him, I'll also share this article pointing out that breed is a poor predictor of bite risk: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-... Gratuitous pic of our new family member: https://ibb.co/thq4sRG https://ibb.co/thq4sRG

gengelbro 7y ago
Did you read the list of fatal dog attacks? I toolk a cursory look came to exactly the opposite conclusion as the second avma.org link did, which seemed to be engaged in mental gymnastics.

HarryHirsch 7y ago

The deer is a remarkably deadly animal. More people lose their lives in deer-involved car crashes than through dog attacks. Coyotes are the only thing that kill deer in the semi-urban Eastern US.

slowhand09 7y ago
I would attribute that more to cars than deer. If oppossums and groundhogs were deer-sized and agile enough to dart in front of vehicles, would we track groundhog-related fatalities?