Mother Nature Is Not Trying to Kill You: A Bushcraft Survival Guide

by Rob Nelson

Living With Mother Nature—and Other Things Learned in the Wild

Prepare for all the worst case scenarios mother earth throws at you with Mother Nature is Not Trying to Kill You—the only survival kit you need to overcome wildlife, natural disasters, and everything else outdoors.

Survive the unexpected. Statistically, you’re more likely to die from a vending machine than a shark. But, Rob Nelson knows many shark survivors. His college girlfriend was attacked by a crocodile and his roommate, a grizzly bear. His wife was sucked by a wave down a blowhole, he was left stranded at sea after a storm sank his sailboat, and the list goes on and on. To Rob, these “improbable” altercations are “random acts of nature,” and he’s learned how to survive them.

On knots, poisonous plants, and natural disasters. Featuring 52 challenges you can encounter in the wilderness, this survival guide is your year-long crash course for ultimate disaster management. Whether you’re preparing for a moose attack or a nuclear fallout, Mother Nature is Not Trying to Kill You enables you to confront the natural world with skill and confidence.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Survival, Biology, Audiobook

212 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2020

Reviews

[Sylvan Banes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bullet points of all the things I didn’t know about the wilderness and wild animals!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will learn more in this book about the dangers of animals and plants than you ever thought you might need to know.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good overview of some things you might want to know if you're someone who likes to adventure - or if, like me, you randomly daydream about being cornered by an angry hippo and have to think your way out of it.

It's not the most detailed, but I don't think it's supposed to be - this is just all the basic stuff you should be aware of before you think about heading off into adventure. You should definitely do some more research, but this gives you a good idea of where to start.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially a long bullet-pointed list of some quick tips for how to survive potentially dangerous encounters with various wildlife, finished off with a couple of very short notes on gear and some general tips on how to enjoy your forays into nature more.

That's it, plain and simple. It's hard to really "like" a book like this. I mean, would one say that one "likes" an encyclopedia? That's really the closest thing to what this book is in the end, just very specific to one general area.

Still, if you're curious about some quick tips on how to handle an encounter with, say, a polar bear(?), here's your chance!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

...But It Can

This was a really fun and intriguing read.

Filled with fun tidbits of nature and animal life, this book has survival guides for almost all of life's dangerous creatures.

I am thankful that only bats, bears, and moose are really the concerns where I live. Some of these animals were really scary - box jellyfish for example.

The chapter on bats was quite daunting, as I had an incident a few years back with a bat, and can attest to them being dangerous - to handle, to eat, to touch (neither of which happened to me, but all the same, take caution).

A fun companion read to An Immense World. But unlike that book, this book might keep you up and make you agoraphobic.

4.6/5

[Steve Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and entertaining manual of how to avoid some of the perils of nature. The author is an adrenalin junkie turned naturalist whose numerous thrilling outdoor adventures and studies led to the development of this handbook of nature's most dangerous perils. He details numerous hazards in the natural world, how to avoid them, what to do if you encounter them, and how to react to a negative encounter. He covers everything from hippos to snakes, from poison frogs to mushrooms, from insects to bears, from spiders to sharks. Lots of interesting trivia in each chapter. His writing style is conversation, so it doesn't seem like a lecture but is still very informative. Perfect length book as the avoidance and reaction sections are pretty redundant for each threat. Entertaining read

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love wildlife and the great outdoors this book is for you, exciting and filled with wonderful facts about potentially dangerous animals. Nature sometimes can be unpredictable, and this book is the perfect simple guide to understanding wildlife and what to do if you ever have a close encounter with a wild animal. A captivating and enjoyable mixture of science, adventure and storytelling about nature. It’s essential reading for everyone who wants to understand nature, wildlife and wants to be prepared for a “just in case” situation.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Mother Nature Is Not Trying to Kill You is an unexpectedly fascinating read, even if much of the information feels more curious than practical for my own life (and hopefully remains that way). While I appreciated the knowledge and the underlying intent to inform and entertain, I found myself wishing the material had been organized or conveyed differently. The author’s stylistic choices didn’t always resonate with me. That said, the information itself was compelling, and I’m glad I read it—if only to marvel at the wild, sometimes terrifying ingenuity of nature.

[Andrew Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few good stories, but mostly the book equivalent of a Youtube video of Most Dangerous Such and Such. Mildy interesting, not useful unless your in some exotic places, and if that were the case, you would probably be consulting somethng more authorative. Any practical outdoor prep advice is saved to the last tiny section of the book

[Roderick Vonhogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that teaches you a lot about the various animals that could kill you if you encounter them (but most of them probably won't). Learned quite a bit and the book corrected a number of widespread misconceptions about some animals and about what to do in unexpected encounters or when you are attacked.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fairly simple start toward a survival guide for outdoor enthusiasts. I mainly wanted to read it for the parts on animals, which were very well noted and rather concise (though honestly, I was hoping for more). In any case, I think this is a great book for beginning adventurers!

[Jenna Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

These two are obviously pretty passionate, unfortunately I will not be joining a mushroom identifying group anytime soon. 3.5 stars, I was ready for it to be over but it was still interesting. Work audiobook #4 ✔️

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and quirky and overall a fun read.

[Peter Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting information on many creatures we are afraid of and how to avoid harm

[Nisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for Christmas in 2021, started reading it, and promptly forgot about it for a year. Fun facts and good illustrations.

[Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book summary
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[Katie Starling · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Interesting facts about animals/plants/insects that can be deadly. Nothing mind blowing.

[Lori Coyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook free on Libby, read well. Useful information about dangerous animals.

[Kyla Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more of a fun national geographic episode on dangerous animals and plants, than it was on camping ...

[syd nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

thanks captain obvious

[Rohit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Wonderful. A wild adventure in a book. Too good information. Eye opener. Loved it.

[Iza · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were fun facts that I got to learn about different animals, but overall the book was pretty repetitive. Wouldn’t recommend it if you were truly trying to learn something about Mother Nature.

[Katarína Dóczéová · Rating 3 out of 5]

Základ na prežitie najmä čo sa stretnutia s divou zverou týka.

[Mukund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kurz und mit tollen Anekdoten und Informationen .

[Gustavo Obregón · Rating 4 out of 5]

...if the world does not come to an end and the possibility of returning to the wild is back on the table, now that I know what to do in situations dealing with mother nature, my next assignments are as follows:

1. Find a stranded dead whale and cut it open without having its bowels explode. (This is for scientific purposes of course. A dead hippo also seems as an option)

2. When one day I finally go to the Kruger African National Park in South Africa, I'll make an african male elephant understand that I do not represent any sort of threat, I just want a closer encounter known as a selfie.

3. Put into practice the six key knots shown in Part II, I felt ashamed that I was once a Boy Scout and now I only know how to tie my shoes.

I always start a new year with a new book and #MotherNatureIsNotTryingToKillYou was such a great choice for me, it makes you long for future days to be adventurous again, if you love the wild you will love this book. Order it on amazon.

[Elwin Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I really liked it!" - 4 out of 5 star rating.

Very well done and super fun survival book. The author initiates with an absolutely incredible reader hook, possibly one of the all time best. Let's just say it involves a boating nightmare and the survival aftermath. I was instantly hooked after this and the author established credibility in the survival topic from the very start. Very well done!

Moving forward, he covers all sorts of very interesting and fun to think about survival/high-risk scenarios. Everything from piranha, electric eels, sharks, jellyfish, bees, bears, wolves, moose, poison frogs, poisonous plants, and more.

The biggest downfall of this book is the cliff drop ending. He was going so strong and then all of the sudden finished it abruptly. I almost wonder if the author either hit a deadline or got fatigued and decided to just quickly end it.

As disappointing as this was, I still had so much fun I have no issues giving this a 4 out of 5 star rating.

[Andres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the survival guide I was expecting.
The message of the book is: Avoid the sharks, avoid the alligators, don't fight with the bear. The only suggestion the author forgot to mention is not to jump out of an airplane without a parachute and not to shoot yourself in the head.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audiobook version. Very boring.