When Man is the Prey: True Stories of Animals Attacking Humans

by Michael J. Tougias (Editor)

Since we humans have evolved into the dominant species on this planet, we sometimes fail to recognize--and respect--the ever-present threat posed by the animals we love or fear, hunt or fight to protect. Many of nature's most lethal residents have combative skills that have been honed by millions of years of adaptive survival, and it takes only a second for an otherwise evolved individual to become a helpless victim. WHEN MAN IS THE PREY is a one-of-a-kind collection of real-life encounters between man and beast that explores the uneasy relationship that humanity has with its native habitat. From bears, boars, and black dogs to swimming with sharks and dancing with wolves, the stories in WHEN MAN IS THE PREY offer a fascinating, frightening, and enlightening look at the natural world and its many creatures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

397 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2007

About the author

Adventure is the theme that runs through most of my books, from outdoors titles (The Connecticut River from Source to Sea, Exploring the Hidden Charles) to fiction (Until I Have No Country) to nonfiction sea rescues (Overboard! A Storm Too Soon, Rescue of the Bounty).
One of my current adventures is waiting to see if Disney will begin filming a movie-length version of the Coast Guard rescue book The Finest Hours. Another adventure for me is publishing a funny family memoir with my daughter, called The Cringe Chronicles (Mortifying Misadventures with my Dad).
My friends have been asking if I'll write a sequel to There's a Porcupine in my Outhouse (2003 Outdoor Book of the Year) but I think they just want me to revise their characters so they don't look so dumb!

Reviews

[Samir Dhond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accidentally came across this book. I took it up because I have never read anything like this before. I was curious. I found the book insightful. It has true stories of animal attack on Humans. Most of these, I thought, were accidents but to read those was something else. If you are the kind of person who likes to read about animals and related stories then this book is for you. It would be a book you might not get to read that often. I think we need to protect wild animals. They would attack only if we, humans interfere with their surroundings or habitat.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit rough as the accounts are from several authors, this book is nonetheless a very interesting read on when animals turn man eater. The book does an excellent job covering the gamete from land animals to sea creatures. This book focuses exclusively on animals attacking humans, mostly as a food source, with a few accounts of unprovoked attacks by other animals like deer.
It does not have any accounts of winged creatures like eagles, condors, or vultures, or the given fact that insects like flies, cockroaches, and beetles also consume deceased humans, but other than that, a very well rounded book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda got mixed feelings. As far as content goes, pretty good book. A mix of stories from multiple sources. Some better than others. For starters, I've already read about several of the stories, so some portions of the book were already familiar to me. And some of the writers annoyed me. With that said, the book will probably be more enjoyable to most people. My reasons for disliking portions was more due to personal feelings than poor writing. I did enjoy the rest of the book. Should be a good read for most.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

On an animal attack / survival reading spree at the moment. Good read, can learn from the vignettes.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

Decent stories but the reason I bought the book was to read about the Tsavo lions but the story ended halfway through the ordeal without even telling how it ended.

[Betsyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bear and shark stories were the most interesting

[Cody Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!! the book when man becomes pray is about story of people being attacked by animals such as the bear deer crocs and multiple others. the bear is probably the most savage and disturbing because the attacks were so brutal such as one story a group of teens went camping and a grizzly bear ripped through there tent and took a young girl and her friends recall hearing her screams for a long time screaming "my arms hes eating my arms!! help me!! hes eating me help!!" after that it was silence they ended up finding less than half the body..#savageasf #noarms #ifeelsosorry.
2 good things about the book is how it makes u wanna know how everything ends every story brought you into a different world of craziness and death or a moment of extreme survival and to show you how they deal with every moment and look back on everything thinking should they have died? should they have made it? it makes you wonder if all of this could happen to you in a matter of moments this book makes you realize everything is important every second you have means a lot because it could be taken away in a matter of moments.
one thing i didnt like about the book is the title it gives away alot of everything actually the whole book so you kinda guess what its gonna be about but it will surprise you.
i would not recommend people to read this book if u love mountain climbing swimming where there are crocs around or if u plan on making any fishing plans soon but if your wondering about attacks from the past and how people lived or died its a great book to read

[Charlie Easterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first section, on bear attacks, is quite well done and interesting to those who might enjoy this topic. It features largely first-person stories of survival while still maintaining a level of respect and understanding towards the animals themselves. All bets are off in later sections however, which mainly involves entries along the lines of "One of my houseboys was eaten by a lion today, quite sad. He was, after all, the best worker among my houseboys. I must remember to pick up another next time I'm in town." Not only are the writers dull and the tone casually racist, but they also lose all sense of respect or understanding in terms of the animals. Very disappointing.

[Dylan Fryer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very entertaining to read because it tells real story's about animal attacks, and the information that it gives could possibly help you in an animal attack. This could only help you in a animal attack because you could avoid what the people did and you could possibly survive. This book has very intriguing story's because it does talk about what when and where each story happened. This book did not always have a lot of detail because it never really went talked about what the animal looked like in description.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Man Is The Prey: True Stories of Animals Attacking Humans edited by Michael Tougias (2007 Tekno Books) (591.65). Bears, boars, dogs, sharks, wolves, and insects: they are all here terrifying us in this thought-provoking volume. My rating: 7/10, finished 2008. I purchased a PB copy in like new condition from McKay's Books for $1.50 on 1/10/20. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. It is very action packed as an animal attack book should be. This is a good read for anyone who is an outdoorsman.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, in parts, is extremely graphic. I loved it. It's amazing how much documented and undocumented evidence there is when animals attack!

[Beka · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book filled with many true stories of animal attacks.

[Patrick Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a series of stories about man being attacked by wild animals. Most of the stories are pretty interesting. Most of the the time people make foolish decisions, putting themselves at risk.

[Rock Angel]

Sometimes I do ask out loud what-eez-wrong-weef-me that I pick up titles like zeese