A Texas Survival Kit
(Page 3 of 3)
You don't have to be sunburned to develop heatstroke, a condition in which your body overheats so fast or so steadily that you dehydrate and your sweat glands can't work fast enough to keep you safely cool. An afternoon of gardening or a midday game of Frisbee may induce exertional heatstroke, but the condition can also build up over a few days—say, in a house with a defunct air conditioner. Heatstroke isn't a Hollywood-worthy medical situation—its main symptoms include dizziness, confusion, weak or rapid pulse, flushing, headache, and dry skin—but it is life-threatening. It is difficult to self-diagnose, so hope your companions are paying attention.
If you think you are suffering from heatstroke:
1. Play it cool. Get inside, or at least into a shaded area. Sprinkle water on yourself or tie a wet bandanna around your head or neck.
2. Drink lots of cool water or sports beverages such as Gatorade.
3. Loosen or remove exterior clothing and fan yourself to help lower your body temperature.
Charged by a Raging Bull
Tooling around the back roads, you and your honey-pie find a little pasture that's perfect for a romantic picnic, with only a few live oaks obscuring a 360-degree view of verdant October Texas. You scale the barbed wire, spread a cloth under a tree, and set out a loaf of bread and a jug of wine—when suddenly a snort alerts you to the presence of a large and highly displeased bull. There's nowhere to hide. A bull can knock over even a sizable tree trunk. Two years ago when a two-ton Charolais charged his uncle, Lyle Lovett ended up with a shattered leg because, fine Texan that he is, he did the right thing: He used a distraction to draw the animal's attention away from the older man to himself. Only trouble was the distraction was himself, and he didn't manage to get his right leg over the fence quite fast enough.
If you too have a close encounter of the bovine kind:
1. Stay calm. Rise slowly and stand very still. With luck, the beast will lose interest and look away, at which point you can sprint for the fence.
2. If the bull starts tossing his head or pawing the ground, distract him. Wave a T-shirt, hat, or other item; when the animal charges, throw it in one direction and run like hell in another.
Surprised by a Deer in the Road
For Texas deer, November is the cruelest month; more collisions between bucks and Buicks occur then than at any other time of the year. Deer are more active in general in mid- to late fall, during the mating and hunting seasons. In 2000 the Department of Public Safety reported that 15 people in Texas died and some 1,500 were injured when their cars hit deer (the animals rarely survive).
To avoid rack and ruin, carry comprehensive auto insurance; basic collision does not cover a car-deer encounter. While driving, be especially alert at dawn and dusk, when deer (and other wild animals) are most likely to be out and about.
And if you see the flash of your headlights reflected in a deer's eyes:
1. Don't swerve! Brake and hold the car steady. The DPS says that more drivers and passengers are hurt or killed by trying to avoid a deer than by hitting one head-on.
2. If you hit the deer, call 911. Report the collision and any human injuries. If the animal isn't dead, the law enforcement official who comes to the scene will dispatch it.
3. Don't carve it up and take it home. It's illegal to keep roadkill venison; a highway clean-up crew will remove the carcass later.
Stuck Outside in a Lightning Storm
"If you're caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron." That's the tongue-in-cheek advice of Dallas native Lee Trevino, who in 1975 was struck by lightning near Chicago during the Western Open. But seriously now: If you can, bolt for home. During a storm, anyone who stays outside is at risk—in August an Aldine student was injured as he sat on a bench in front of the high school—and remember that the weather conditions that produce lightning may occur up to ten miles from the site of actual thunderheads. If your hair stands on end the way it did when you played with a Van de Graaff generator in science class, you're in immediate danger.
If that happens:
1. Get indoors if possible. It's the safest place.
2. Otherwise, think small. Lightning arcing groundward will hit the closest tall object, so never take shelter under a tree. Squat down and tuck in your head; that way, if you're struck, the electricity may pass through you with minimal damage.
3. Make a break for your car if it's close by, but be aware that there's a chance—albeit a slim one—that lightning could hit the car and electrify its metal parts.
Menaced by a Mountain Lion
People are so fascinated with the state's only remaining big cat that they report sightings all over the place, from the Panhandle to East Texas. But our largest native predator (it can weigh as much as 170 pounds) is really a shy pussycat that hangs out mainly in Big Bend, the site of Texas's only mountain lion attacks over the past century (four total, none of them fatal). Unless it's truly ravenous, the mountain lion would rather avoid humans altogether, so apply an ounce of pounce prevention. When in cougar country (not counting the University of Houston), don't hike alone and don't let children wander away from you; kids are the victims in about two thirds of all attacks.
But if you're exploring Big Bend, say, and you turn a corner of the trail and find yourself face-to-face with a snarling lion:
1. Don't run! The cat will instinctively give chase.
2. Make noise. Yell, sing, bang your walking stick on the ground—this may scare it away.
3. Make eye contact. Mountain lions prefer to jump on their victims from above or behind. If they lose the element of surprise, they often abandon their pursuit.
4. Try to make yourself look larger: Gather your fellow hikers into a group; lift your backpack up over your head; spread out your shirt or jacket; pick up children. The cat wants a small target.
5. If attacked, fight back. Even a token effort to hit a lion can encourage it to find less troublesome prey.
Attacked by a Shark
It's a beautiful day on the Gulf of Mexico, and you and your friend Sandy are frolicking in the waters of Galveston Bay. Sandy dives down, tickling you as she swims past. You surface and look around for her, only to feel her nudge your hip as she glides by again. But wait: There's Sandy, in her eye-catching red bikini, a few yards toward shore. So what just bumped you?
Three shark attacks off the Texas coast this summer left that many young people injured and thousands of nervous vacationers deciding to merely watch and wade. The culprit in each attack—two off Galveston, one near Freeport—was likely a bull shark, a common gray monster that can be more than ten feet long. Short of depriving yourself of the pleasures of sun, sand, and surf, is there anything you can do to prevent or foil a shark attack? Yes, but bear in mind that, Jaws notwithstanding, swimmers and surf fishermen rarely see a dorsal fin slicing menacingly toward them. Most sharks stay completely submerged, sometimes in as little as three feet of water.
If a shark joins you while you're swimming:
1. Don't panic. Splashing and screaming will only heighten the shark's interest. And don't turn your back or try to swim away. That's like waving a red cape at a bull (shark).
2. If the shark lunges at you, try to hit it in the eyes or gills or on the nose. These areas are particularly sensitive, and besides, no shark is used to its prey fighting back. Your going on the offensive should discourage a bite or, if the shark has already chomped down, persuade it to release you.
3. If you are injured—and the shark has vamoosed—place your hand directly on the wound and apply pressure to slow the bleeding. Move slowly toward shore and yell for help. Lie down and use towels or blankets to wrap your wound, and continue to apply direct pressure until paramedics arrive.
Sprayed by a Skunk
What does Bambi's friend Flower have in common with the natural gas that fuels your stove? Both contain mercaptan, a sulfuric compound with a serious stench. It is added to odorless gas so humans will know when there's a leak, but for skunks it's an all-natural built-in defense system. Most people who spot a skunk have enough scents—er, sense—to stay well away, but few dogs are noted for their caution and judgment.
If you or Fido tangles with a skunk:
1. Flush eyes thoroughly with water.
2. Strip off exterior clothing (if applicable) and throw it away or burn it.
3. Generously apply Skunk Shampoo (Mix 1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid in a large bowl (it will foam up; be prepared). Use it while it's still bubbling. This concoction interacts with chemicals called thiols in the mercaptan to help remove the stink. Be sure to keep it out of your eyes.) to hair (or coat) and repeat as needed.
4. If all else fails, shave your head—or the dog.
Infected by an Armadillo
Sometimes referred to as "possum on the half shell" because it so often ends up as roadkill, the armadillo has pronounced myopia, a penchant for digging, a slow waddle, and a long tail that, as many a country boy knows, makes an easy handle for pulling the silly critter out of its hidey-hole. Or maybe it's the country boy who's the silly critter: Some 15 percent of Texas's armadillos carry the bacteria that cause Hansen's disease, a.k.a. leprosy. But don't panic. "Today it's a very treatable disease," says Dr. M. Patricia Joyce, a former Texas resident who is an infectious disease specialist at the National Hansen's Disease Programs, in Baton Rouge. Texas reports many of the nation's cases—probably because the armadillo is our official state mascot. "Texans play with them," Joyce notes. "At the annual festival in Victoria, two-hundred-odd people race them."
If you forget to don gloves before making friends with 'dillos at a petting zoo, try this advice:
1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. 
