FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Mark Beregszaszi]

I am feeling so happy and unhappy at the same time about not living in Australia..

So many great minerals there... So many animals that can kill you with one bite or sting...

Here in Hungary only two species of venomous snakes live, they are rare and even if you get bitten it is supposed to be like a few bee stings. Their venom is dangerous for little kids only.

[cascaillou]

common mineral hunting risks:

-venomous snakes, scorpions, and wasp/hornet swarms
-sunstoke/dehydration
-not bringing adequate equipment, clothing or not minding the weather when trekking high in the mountains, cliff-climbing or spelunking
-breaking a leg from a stupid slip while isolated in the mountain or deep down a mine (never go alone and always tell someone who's not coming about where exactly you're going and when you should be back at the latest!)
-cliff or underground gallery collapsing on your head (especially in the beginning of spring due to thaw), even a single small pebble falling from a cliff can seriously injure you from hitting your head.
-falling into a mine shaft (sometimes a shaft can be hidden under a few rotten wood boards, or hidden by dense vegetation)
-cliff-climbing/spelunking fall
-not minding the weather and go spelunking and getting caught by underground water flow from a storm and eventually drowning
-your friend destabilize a large rock while climbing a steep slope while you're a few meters below, and the rock hurtle down right to you (btw, never throw a rock into a slope, there might be someone down there, out of your sight)
-breaking a large rock with the sledge hammer, and the rock ends up falling on your leg
-sledge-hammering your finger or your wrist
-deep cuts from sharp rocks/crystal splinters (notably when escavating a crystal pocket)
-getting a tiny rock shrapnel into your eye from a sledge hammer hit on hard rock
-spelunking specific risk of suffocation from toxic gasses (CO2 and H2S), let alone firedamp in coal mines
-finding yourself out of light deep down a mine
-getting lost in some huge underground maze
-travelling some not-so-secure part of the world hunting for stones and getting into troubles with bad guys
-mishandling of explosives is also a reccurent problem among miners

Truly, we are heroes :-)

[Matt_Zukowski]

When I was in college, I was visiting a friend who took me out to prospect for fluorescent minerals. We waited until night, and with a couple of beers in us, started to go over waste piles at a mine. We both saw a nice xtal, and started reaching for it, when something didn't look right, and so we stopped short of grabbing it. We learned that night that scorpions also fluoresce.

[Arizona]

When I lived in Sierra Vista we used to do some caving. One cave on the east side of fort Huachuca had a small cavern before you would get on your hands and knees and climb through the corrugated tube that marked the entrance of the cave. There were six of us that day. As we all were getting our gear together I decided to sit on a rock ledge and wait. Before I could lower my ass down my brother gave me a shove sending my melon to the hard rock ceiling of the cavern. I was pissed ! I started to speak up when he pointed to the juvenile rattler coiled up in the exact spot I was going to sit on. Ummm..... Thank you.

[cascaillou]

concerning snakes, it is true that most venomous species are also fearful and usually get away as soon as they feel vibrations from your footsteps coming, however, in the hot part of the day, they are drowsy and resting. In which case there's a risk that neither you or the snake notice each other until you put your feet on it, or sit on it.
By the way, when trekking, if you wanna have a rest, before sitting on a rocks or on the ground, it's not a bad idea to hit repeatedly the rock/ground with a stick to create vibrations (so to wake up any unseen drowsy snakes)

Besides that, your best protection against snakes is appropriate trekking clothing. If you're wearing trekking shoes that cover your ankles, trekking socks, and a long legged trekking trouser then there's much less risk that a snake bite would actually reach your skin than if you're wearing a short and flip-flops. Anyway, it is common sense that short and flip-flops are not appropriate for mountain trekkin, due to fast changing weather (can get cold) and risk of slipping (twisting your ankle), but many tourists still don't get it.