Protect yourself from wildlife

Serious attacks are rare. Most can be avoided by making noise, keeping food away from animals and giving them space. This page covers what to carry and what to do if you meet an animal up close.

Bear spray

• Bear spray is the best tool to stop a charging bear. It also works on cougars, wolves, coyotes and moose.
• Carry it in a holster on your belt or chest strap, not in your pack. You need it in seconds.
• Most cans spray about 6 to 9 m (20 to 30 ft) for 6 to 9 seconds. Read your can's label and check the expiry date.
• Practise taking off the safety clip. Use an inert practice can if you can get one.
• Spray when a charging bear is about 10 to 15 m away. Aim slightly down in front of it so it runs into the cloud. Adjust for wind.
• Bear spray is legal in Canada and the US for use on animals only. Carrying it to use on people is illegal in Canada. It cannot go on airplanes, and heat in a closed vehicle can make cans burst.

Avoid surprise encounters

• Make noise on trails, especially near streams, thick brush, berry patches and blind corners. Call out "hey bear" or talk loudly. Bells are not loud enough.
• Hike in groups and in daylight. Keep children close.
• Watch for signs: fresh scat, tracks, torn-up logs, dug ground, and animal carcasses. Leave the area if you find a carcass; a bear or cougar may be guarding it.
• Keep dogs leashed. Leave earbuds out so you can hear.

If you meet a bear

Learn to tell grizzly bears from black bears. Colour is not a reliable guide. Grizzlies have a shoulder hump, a dished face and short round ears; black bears have no hump, a straighter face profile and taller ears.

The bear has not seen you

Stay calm and back away quietly, keeping an eye on it. Make a wide detour or leave.

The bear has seen you

• Stay calm. Do not run. Running can make a bear chase you, and bears are faster than people.
• Pick up small children. Keep your group together.
• Talk in a calm, firm voice so it knows you are a person. Get your bear spray ready.
• Back away slowly. Give it a clear way to leave. Do not climb a tree.

Defensive attack: the bear is surprised, protecting cubs or food

• Most attacks by grizzly bears are defensive. The bear may huff, slap the ground, pop its jaws or bluff charge.
• Stand your ground and use bear spray.
• If the bear makes contact, play dead: lie flat on your stomach, hands laced behind your neck, legs apart, pack on. Stay still until the bear has left the area.
• If the attack continues for a long time, it may have become predatory. Fight back.

Predatory attack: the bear stalks you, follows you or comes into your tent

• Most attacks by black bears that cause injury are of this kind, but any bear can do it.
• Do not play dead. Fight back with everything you have: bear spray, rocks, sticks, a knife or your fists. Aim for the face.
• A bear entering a tent or camper at night is almost always predatory. Fight back.

Polar bears

Polar bears live along the coasts of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, northern Manitoba (Churchill), northern Ontario and Quebec, Labrador and northern Alaska, and sometimes reach Newfoundland's northern coast in spring. Treat any polar bear as predatory. Travel with a trained guide or bear monitor where they live, and follow local rules.

If you meet a cougar (mountain lion)

• Never run or turn your back. Pick up small children right away.
• Face the cougar, keep eye contact, and make yourself look big: raise your arms, open your jacket, stand on a rock.
• Back away slowly, giving it a way out.
• If it comes closer, act aggressively: shout, throw rocks and sticks, and use bear spray.
• If it attacks, fight back with anything you have. Focus on its face and eyes. Stay on your feet.

Wolves and coyotes

• Do not run. Stand tall, wave your arms and shout. Throw rocks or sticks. Use bear spray if it comes close.
• Back away slowly while facing the animal. Keep pets and children right beside you.
• If attacked, fight back and stay on your feet.
• A wolf or coyote that comes into a campground, follows people or shows no fear is dangerous. Report it right away.

Moose, elk and bison

These animals injure more people in many parks than bears do.

• Warning signs: ears laid back, hair on the neck raised, lip licking, stomping, a bison raising its tail, or the animal turning to face you.
• Moose: if a moose charges, run and get behind a tree, vehicle or building. Moose usually do not chase far. If knocked down, curl into a ball, protect your head, and stay still until it moves away.
• Elk: are most dangerous in the calving season (May and June), when cows defend calves, and the rut (September and October), when bulls fight. Stay in your vehicle or put a vehicle or building between you.
• Bison: look slow but run up to 55 km/h (35 mph). Never approach. Move away if one comes toward you.

Venomous snakes

Canada has few venomous snakes: the western rattlesnake in southern British Columbia, the prairie rattlesnake in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the eastern massasauga in Ontario. The US has many: rattlesnakes in nearly every state, copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins) and coral snakes. See wildlife by region.

• Watch where you put your hands and feet. Use a flashlight at night. Do not reach under rocks, logs or woodpiles.
• Wear boots and long pants in snake country.
• If you see a snake, stop and back away slowly. Give it at least 2 m (6 ft). Never try to catch or kill it; most bites happen that way.
• If bitten: call 911 and stay calm and still. Remove rings, watches and tight clothing. Keep the bitten limb still, at about the level of the heart. Get to hospital for antivenom.
• Do not cut the bite, suck it, use a tourniquet, apply ice or drink alcohol.

Alligators

American alligators live in fresh and brackish water across the US Southeast, from the Carolinas to Texas, and in nearly every lake and canal in Florida.

• Stay well back from the water's edge. Swim only in posted swimming areas, in daylight.
• Keep pets on a leash and away from the water. Alligators see dogs as prey.
• Never feed an alligator. It is illegal in Florida and teaches them to approach people.
• If an alligator grabs you, fight back hard, striking its eyes and snout.

Ticks

Blacklegged (deer) ticks carry Lyme disease in parts of southern Canada from Manitoba to Nova Scotia, southern British Columbia, and much of the US Northeast, upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Other ticks carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other illnesses.

• Wear light-coloured long pants tucked into socks. Use repellent with DEET or icaridin on skin, and permethrin-treated clothing.
• Check your whole body, children and pets every day, including the scalp, behind ears, armpits, waist and behind knees.
• Remove a tick with fine-tipped tweezers: grip it close to the skin and pull straight up with steady pressure. Clean the area.
• See a doctor if a rash, fever, headache or muscle aches appear within a month of a bite. Tell them about the tick.

Mosquitoes, wasps, scorpions and spiders

• Mosquitoes and blackflies: use repellent, long sleeves and head nets in the North and the boreal forest. Mosquitoes can carry West Nile virus.
• Wasps and bees: keep drinks covered and food put away. Anyone with a severe allergy should carry an epinephrine auto-injector.
• Scorpions and spiders: in the US Southwest, shake out boots, clothing and bedding before use. Seek care for a bark scorpion sting in a child or for severe pain.

Small animals and disease

• Rabies: bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes can carry rabies. Avoid any animal acting strangely, such as a nocturnal animal out in daytime and unafraid. Any bite or scratch needs a doctor. See animal bites and bats.
• Hantavirus: carried in deer mouse droppings. See cleaning safely.
• Plague: rare, but present in the fleas of ground squirrels and prairie dogs in the US Southwest and West. Do not touch rodents, alive or dead, and keep pets away from burrows.

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General safety information for campground hosts, workers and campers in Canada and the US, compiled by CampHostJobs from Parks Canada, the US National Park Service, provincial, territorial and state agencies, and public health sources, October 2026. It does not replace training or the rules where you are. Always follow your employer, park staff and local officials. In an emergency, call 911.