I have an idea in mind for a new and horrific story (horrific even for me) and I would like some input.
Firstly, what do you think is the best way to go about 1) finding, and 2) approaching a trauma doctor about getting some input and advice on animal wounds and their long-term effects?
Secondly, what comments do you have about the long-term physical and mental/emotional effects of being partly eaten? To put some bounds on the subject, let's say that the character was severely mauled, but not so severely that they could not recover enough for limited work, and let's also say that the intent of the attack was to eat the character, not to defend territory, defend young or any of the other more common reasons for animal attacks. The intent was to eat the character, pure and simple.
Comments?
Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Perhaps trauma doctors aren't the only way to go, at least not entirely. Park Wardens and Rangers might be another option. They need to know about the particulars of animal behaviour and probably have a story or two of when things have gone particularly bad.
As for the second part, I'm not sure. Being attacked by an animal can be a traumatic experience even if they don't actually have you on the menu. A lot depends on the character involved as well as the animal.
Actually, for curiosity's sake, what kind of animal are you thinking of? Lion, bear, wolf, duck?
Posted by Minister (Member # 2213) on :
I can't help with the trauma doc thing, but maybe you could check into historical accounts from the settling of the American frontier. I gather that during lean winters there were instances of wolf packs attacking lone humans. There ought to be diaries or accounts written by survivors. More recently, there were a string of attacks by mountain lions in the west, I think on bikers. I don't remember seeing much detail on the recovery of the survivors, but there may be something out there.
Posted by Void (Member # 2567) on :
An interesting, if morbid topic. Strikes me as almost Ray Bradbury-ish. Why don't you see if you can find true accounts about shark attacks? You might even be able to contact some victims, if they are willing to discuss it. The true accounts might also lead you to professionals who have treated the victims.
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :
The novel Jurassic Park gave us a pretty good impression of what it was like to be hunted by an animal that wanted to eat you.
As to locating people who specialize in that particular issue, I'd go to coastal areas where shark attacks are common.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Thanks.
quote:Actually, for curiosity's sake, what kind of animal are you thinking of? Lion, bear, wolf, duck?
A dead badger running on Linux?
Well, actually, i was thinking land animal, along the lines of a wolverine, or perhaps a (fortunately extinct) short-faced bear. The former, actually, would be better as the person is more likely to survive the attack.
I guess I'll look to mountain men or trappers stories from 1800s.
I wanted to talk to a doctor because I wanted to make the bites, immediate traumatic effects of the bites and the long-term effects more realistic. I get fed up with these fantasy novels where the hero takes incredible punishment one day and shrugs it off the next.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Mike, see if you can find a copy of LORD GRIZZLY by Frederick Feikema Manfred. It's a true story about Hugh Glass, a trapper who survived an attack by a bear and crawled back to civilization after his trapping buddies (among them Kit Carson) left him, thinking he was dead.
They made a movie, MAN IN THE WILDERNESS, based on the story, starring Richard Harris as "Zach Bass," but the book is better.
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
Living off the Oregon coast, we hear reports regularly of people being chomped by great white sharks. Most reports are that they feel something hit them hard and don't realize they've just lost an appendage at first. (the cold water is a factor to aid the numbing effect - the waters off oregon remain a constant temperature of, I think, 70 degrees? 75? something in the 70's.)
I heard this weekend about a guy who shot a grizzly bear and found the bodies of two adults in its stomachs. I'm not sure a bear would stop at one bite
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Thanks, guys.
Kathleen, I saw that movie. Arghh! I hated Richard Harris. Talk about a one-trick pony! That man could only project one emotion on-screen: noble suffering. Okay for about 10 minutes, and then what do you do with the rest of the movie? :suffer:repeat:suffer:repeat:close-up on suffering: repeat:suffer more intensely:repeat: ad nauseum
Hopefully the book is better. I'll read it to see.
Elan, shark bites are just too... surgical for what I want to do. I need something really messy and awful. Something that doesn't leave you wondering so much that the person survived, but that the animal did so much damage.
I think I'll do a wolverine. Maybe a were-wolverine. A were-wolverine whose human side is a gentle contemplative person. That would horrify the wolverine, for sure. Can you imagine how helpless a true predator like a wolverine would feel as it slowly changed into a kinder-gentler being? What would the other wolverines think?! And what would they do if they caught it in its human form?
[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited May 31, 2005).]
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Thanks, Robyn!
Posted by Lanius (Member # 2482) on :
I came across a cool book a while back called "Carcajou" by Rutherford G. Montgomery. It is a fictional story centered around a wolverine and has some pretty good insight (accurate? don't know) into wolverine behavior. Relentless, fierce, and smelly (they are mustelids, the family that includes skunks, badgers, ferrets, polecats, etc.).
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
"Pogo, I just want you to know, if they had cooked you, I would not have et any." -- Churchy La Femme
Posted by Josh Leone (Member # 2365) on :
For articles I often have to seek guidence from experts. The best way to ask is, just ask. Don't be evasive or try to weedle the info out. The phrase "I'm a writer and I'm researching -------" is, for many experts, the same as saying "Tell me every detail you legally can, even if it is something so minute as to be useless in anything save a textbook on the subject."
Experts have spent a lot of time and energy in becoming experts. Most love the chance to share their knowledge.
btw most land animals tend to worry their food - kind of gnawing at it, ripping out bits. Meat, even we fragile humans, is pretty tough stuff, connected very well to the bones. This is why land preditors generally don't settle down to eat until the animal is either dead, or so badly damaged that escape under its own power would not be possible. And if an animal, even a big one, was willing to go after a healthy human for food alone, that animal would have to be near mad with hunger. Such an animal would not let up short of being injured or killed. Glass only survived because the bear wasn't after food. Once Glass was down, the bear's job was done.
Josh
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
good point, Josh
guess i'll have to kill the were-wolverine off
Posted by Tim Coyne (Member # 2622) on :
Try contacting Jessica Speart. (she has a web site and will answer e-mail) She is a novelist that I met with a series depicting a Fish and Wildlife Ranger, the kind that deal with deadly trade and big stakes issues. She travels with these guys in their natural habitat and gets an earful of stories on stakeouts in the wilds. She meets and hears of all types of characters. I remember alligators, for sure - they want you for food, now or later. She probably has some sources for trauma treatment and stories. And as a researcher, I agree - just ask. Every one with a story wants to tell it or help. Loved the idea of a badger on Linux. And the wolverine dealing violently, as he should, with the aberrant cuddly side. Quite disturbing. In a good way!
Posted by Lanius (Member # 2482) on :
There are actually a number of accounts of perfectly healthy bears, pumas, tigers (and I'm sure other predators) preying or attempting to prey on humans -- tigers are particularly infamous for this. There was a guy who had written a book about incidents of bear predation on humans, with one goal of dispelling the myth that only weak, injured, ill, or starved predators attack humans. I wish I could remember the title or author. Now, what triggers a predator to expand his diet in that direction, I don't know.
And most predators would back off a meal if the expense (risk of injury) outweighed the potential gain (food). I can recall at least one newspaper account of a grandfather beating off a black bear with a flashlight that had taken his grandaughter out of a camper. Which is why you don't play dead for black bears -- they are looking for easy meals and can be fought/frightened off. Grizzly bears -- forget about it, just pray they aren't hungry.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Insects.
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
YOU!?! Write something HORRIFIC?!? NO!!!
So, I'm thinking:
One cannibal says to another cannibal: "I HATE my mother-in-law! I HATE my mother-in-law!" Says the other cannibal: "Then just eat the noodles."
*I think I just found my next Rewrite Challenge topic!*
[This message has been edited by djvdakota (edited June 01, 2005).]
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
I remember reading CARCAJOU years ago. My husband read it too, long before we met.
I wonder how it would stand up to the test of time.
Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :
I read a book when we were vacationing in the Pacific Northwest that was a collection of 15 bear mauling survivor stories. I think. It also had a written account of that bear suit guy. That makes some of you think of Super Mario 3, does it not?
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
My cousin's husband is a bush pilot in Alaska. If you want to see some photos of Coastal Mountain Bears next to a human for some perspective on size, check out the hunting photo gallery on his website: http://www.alaskabushsports.com (warning: these are mostly dead bears, so if hunting photos affend thee, avert your gaze.)
The Coastal Mountain Bears are bigger than grizzlies. They are enormous. I wouldn't want to meet one, not even in my dreams.
I did the initial web design on this site, by the way.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Thanks, guys!
Those bears are HUGE! Nice site!
Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :
Why do the Coastal Bears have to pay more? (reading it as a menu )
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Are Coastal Mountain Bears the ones that used to be called "Kodiak" bears? Or are those something else entirely?
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