niccolo wrote:
I regularly trail run and mountain bike in an area with large, not always well controlled, dogs, plus wild coyotes and mountain lions. Recently I had two experiences that made me think about safety. In the first, a German shepherd repeatedly charged at me with bared teeth, though didn't make contact, until finally an owner thankfully showed up. In the second, a large coyote ran up a path toward me until it was surprisingly close, within 20 ft, and I was preparing for contact, and then it casually deviated around me a little and just kept going. I'm thinking carrying a fairly compact pepper spray (or mace?) product is probably warranted. Any recommendations?
Just a word of caution, from my experience. I used a concentrated pepper spray to break up a dog fight and the only effect it had was choking me out of the house for the better part of a week. They couldn't see or breathe but they were no less motivated to kill each other. A highly motivated dog (or presumably other animals) may not be affected like you'd hope. That said, I doubt you'd encounter the level of motivation these two dogs had. Also, there's no human on the planet that's going to walk through a burst of that stuff. It was utterly paralyzing.
Edit: as someone wisely mentioned above, it's critical to remember that if a defensive tool is going to be used effectively, it has to be immediately accessible at all times. And that basically means having it in your hand and being alert before the encounter occurs. That's going to be a substantial logistical challenge on a bike.
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