Rules of survival that don't really work

Our life is unpredictable, and every person inany moment can be in an emergency situation. For example, during a mushroom picking trip, you can get lost and walk for a long time between tall trees without hearing a single human voice. There are also cases when, during a foray into nature, a person lags behind the group and finds himself alone in the wild. What should be done in such cases? Determine north and south by moss at the foot of trees? Try to find food so as not to die of hunger? Most of the "rules of survival" that are known to people from TV programs and school programs are myths that in no way can save a person in emergency situations. Let's look at the most famous of them and find out why they cannot be trusted.

Many of the "rules of survival" we hear about on TV are myths.

Content

• 1 Sucking venom out of a snake bite wound
• 2 Turning dead at the sight of a predator
• 3 Finding food in the wild
• 4 Determination of north and south by moss on trees
• 5 Lighting a fire with sticks

Sucking out venom from a snakebite wound

According to the World Health Organization,About 5.4 million people are bitten by venomous snakes every year, with up to 138,000 such cases usually ending in death. At school life safety lessons and all kinds of TV shows, they say that in such cases it is necessary to suck the poison out of the wound. It is believed that in this way it is possible to stop the spread of deadly toxins through the body of the victim. But you can only suck out the poison if there is no damage in the mouth of the rescuer, because otherwise the murderous substances can hit him too.

In no case should you suck poison out of a wound - not only is it dangerous, it is also pointless

Suck snake venom out of a woundit is impossible, even if a person has a completely healthy oral cavity. It has long been proven that this way of saving people does not bring any benefit and, on the contrary, can aggravate the situation. Snake venom spreads through the body of the victim so rapidly that it is impossible to suck it out, especially minutes after the bite. If a tourniquet is applied to a limb, then the poison is concentrated in one place and this can cost a person a whole part of the body.

Snake venom spreads through the human body at lightning speed

The most correct solution for a snake bite is -seek medical attention. At the same time, it is important to remain calm, although it is very difficult in such situations. You should also avoid drinking caffeinated drinks (tea also has it) and especially alcohol.

Related article: What snakes spit poison and what happens after that?

Turning dead at the sight of a predator

In the wild, you can come across not onlysnakes - wolves, bears and other large predators are even more dangerous. Some sources say that in this case it is better to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead. This advice is explained by the fact that animals usually lose interest in immobilized objects and leave.

Running away from a bear is a bad idea because they can go up to 60 kilometers per hour.

But the reality is completely different.If a person suddenly falls to the ground, the animals are even more likely to come closer to understand what is happening. What will happen next is impossible to predict. Perhaps, having sniffed the body, the predator will really leave. Or maybe he will try to bite a person, get scared from screaming and just tear him apart.

In some cases, even wolves can easily get away.

The best thing a person can do when meeting withwild animal - without making sudden movements, slowly move away, without turning your back on the predator. It is highly likely that the beast will allow this, because not all of them want to attack someone.

Black bears have become more friendly. This is a sign of a dangerous disease.

Finding food in the wild

Many people are arranged in such a way that they always really wanteat. Because of this, once in the wild, a person first of all looks for food: he tries to find berries, mushrooms, or even catch some animal to cook on a fire. However, in emergency situations, first of all, you need to think about a roof over your head and water. Indeed, without food, a person can live for a whole week or even more, but without water - a maximum of a couple of days.

Once in the wild, the first thing to do is look for water.

Just finding a source of water is not enough.After that, you need to make sure that it is not poisoned with chemicals - if there are traces of animals and people nearby, everything should be fine. After that, it must be filtered from large contaminants with several layers of cloth. After that, the water must be boiled to destroy dangerous bacteria, because otherwise poisoning with vomiting may occur - dehydration is ensured.

Determining north and south by moss on trees

From school years we are told that moss is on the treesgrows from the north side - this is the easiest way to determine the cardinal points and find the path to civilization. However, in fact, moss grows where it is comfortable. If you walk through the park with a compass in your hands, you can see that moss grows even on the south side. Because of this myth, thousands of people have clearly lost their way in the world.

Moss on trees grows not only on the north side

In clear weather, the cardinal directions can be determined bySun: at 7 am it is in the east, at 13:00 - in the south, and closer to 19.00 - in the west. At night, you can determine where the south is and where the north is by the stars. First you need to find the constellation Ursa Major and determine its two extreme stars. You need to mentally connect them and stretch a line to the first bright star - this is the North Star. She is in the north.

How to find the polar star

Lighting a fire with sticks

In television programs, we are shown thatfire can be made by rubbing two sticks over moss or dry branches. In real life, this trick is unlikely to work, because in the wild most materials are wet. And on TV, all this works only because the presenters use pre-prepared ideally dry sticks, moss, brushwood, and so on.

Making fire by friction is not the most efficient option.

Is it possible to make fire in the forest in a different way? Yes.To do this, you can use glasses - a fire can be kindled using them to concentrate sunlight at one point. Also, as a lens, you can use a piece of ice, a piece of glass and other transparent objects. But this method is not universal, because the ease of making fire depends on the place of stay, weather conditions and other factors.

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Perhaps you know other myths about survival in the wild - if so, feel free to write in the comments. Also read our article on how to survive a plane crash, here is the link.