There seems to be a great deal of paranoia these days about animals. Most of this is centered at “scary” bears, cougars or wolves. There are people running around out there in the woods frightened out of their minds, packing heat, nervously flinching and jerking toward random noises that are typical of the forests and mountains. Many of these people take on a hard core survivalist philosophy. There is nothing wrong with wanting to survive. But is it misdirected?

People feel the need to defend themselves, which is their right. And the 2nd amendment also gives them that right. There are things out there that can harm us, and maybe kill us.

But what are those things? Let’s take a look at them.

Odds of dying by a grizzly in Yellowstone: 1 in 3 million
Odds of dying by a cougar attack in California: 1 in 32 million
Odds of dying via attack by any animal not a dog or pet: 1 in 4,200,000
Odds of dying by accidental firearm discharge: 1 in 5134
Odds of dying by firearm assault: 1 in 324
Odds of dying from heart disease: 1 in 5

When you look at the odds, it appears the real dangers are what we eat as well as assault via gunfire and accidental gunfire. In fact, the person who feels “safer” from packing heat in a national park is actually increasing his/her risk of dying just by having the gun. He/she then doubles down on that by eating an extra large cheeseburger with fries and mayo. In fact, if you want to be a true survivalist, ditch the red meat, as this recent study indicates.

When you break down the chances and take a good, hard look at reality, you see we openly welcome things that can hurt us, and shun the things that really are at incredible odds.

Surprised?