IT'S GOING TO STING ME!

Well, no. It probably won't if you sit still. Wasps and such have notoriously poor vision. Rood, a Vermont naturalist, takes pains to soothe the jittery urbanite who's embarked on an outdoor binge that the long-legged beasties, the creepers and crawlers and the eyes peering out of the evergreen bush have no evil designs on the critter homo sapiens. Of course this won't help you if you encounter a skunk in the garage or a shark in the ocean. For less apocalyptic meetings, Rood has some suggestions on salves and other first-aid procedures from sulphur ointment for ticks and chiggers to a simple pair of pliers for the removal of porcupine quills from the snout of your unfortunate dog. Generally however he overrelies on his if-you-don't-bother-it, it-won't-bother-you philosophy to cover most contingencies including bears. Rood has it on the authority of a game warden that ""Every case I've heard about a she-bear with cubs attacking somebody, that somebody always had a gun."" If you find all this somewhat less reassuring than intended, plan to do your fraternizing with coyotes, bears and barracudas at the zoo.