Survival

Slithering snakes, flesh-tearing lions and roaring bears usually top people's lists of most feared creatures. But you might be surprised which animal's bite is most likely to result in your demise.

By Debra Ronca

If you're stranded in the wild and you're not carrying a hunting rifle, your best bet for bagging dinner is probably a snare or a trap. But how do you set one up?

By Amy Hunter

You may not be envious of MacGyver's mullet, but having a talent for surviving the elements with only a wristwatch, socks and a soda can is pretty cool.

By Debra Ronca & Chris Warren

Let's say your vacation tour group ditches you in the outback. Or your car slips off an icy road in the middle of nowhere. Will you have the tools to save your life?

By Charles W. Bryant

If you're the lone survivor of a plane crash on a deserted island or if your car breaks down on the way to grandma's, what scary medical conditions could come your way?

By Charles W. Bryant

It was hailed as the world's fastest, most luxurious ship, and proclaimed unsinkable. But on a moonless, frigid night, a brush with an iceberg resulted in disaster. Why did the Titanic sink? And was it doomed from the start?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus & Kathryn Whitbourne

Grizzlies are bit touchier than the average black bear. So, you'll really need to watch yourself if you encounter one on the trail. At what point should you curl up in a ball and play dead?

By Debra Ronca

Bears are burly -- so burly that it takes multiple gunshots to even slow one down. Shoot it once and you'll just make it mad. Do yourself a favor -- use bear spray instead.

By Charles W. Bryant

It's a pretty gross idea, sucking on venom. But is it as dangerous to your health as it seems? Turns out, your instincts are right.

By Debra Ronca

If you swallow these plants, you could wind up with stomach convulsions, blurred vision or amnesia. You could even die. What shouldn't you taste on your next hike?

By Amy Hunter & Clint Pumphrey

A Japanese hiker slipped, was knocked unconscious and then survived 24 days without food or water. That's not supposed to be possible. What survival instincts fuel us through dire straits?

By Charles W. Bryant

Toxic tree frogs, poisonous plants, malaria-carrying mosquitoes. You get the picture: The jungle is no place to get lost. How will you make it out of this lushness alive?

By Charles W. Bryant

Machete, knife, gun, mosquito net. They would all be plenty useful in the jungle. But there's one survival tool that beats out all the rest. What is it?

By Charles W. Bryant

You surface from a scuba dive to find that the boat ditched you. Are you a dead man? Between the sharks and the dehydration, we've got to admit -- it doesn't look good.

By Charles W. Bryant

A summer squall stirs up the ocean. When the boat bangs into a wave, you're bounced off the vessel and into the choppy water. What do you do now?

By Charles W. Bryant

Most likely, Leonardo DiCaprio won't be aboard to help you evacuate safely. So, it's best you have your own strategy in mind. What do you do when the ship goes down?

By Charles W. Bryant

The Bermuda Triangle is an area in the Atlantic Ocean that has baffled scientists due to the high number of ship and plane crashes in the area. Delve into the disasters and the lore of this mysterious location.

You're hoping by tomorrow the search and rescue teams will locate you. In the meantime, you set up shelter for night. But night never comes. Is your mind playing tricks on you?

By Cristen Conger

Does the thought of sucking down larvae trigger your gag reflex? Then you may not hack it in the wild. Insects are an excellent source of protein. Pry up a rock and you've got dinner.

By Cristen Conger

Skin a dead animal. Smash its leg bone into a blade. And use its tendons to tie that blade to a handle. Sound gruesome? That's how you'd make a knife in the wild.

By Cristen Conger

In the wilderness, one of these weapons will help you send out a distress signal, keep warm, build a shelter and not drown. The other is relatively worthless.

By Cristen Conger

The sun beats down and your skin burns. Your parched mouth begs for water, and you fear a sandstorm is on its way. You're stranded in the desert. How will you survive?

By Charles W. Bryant

If you eat hemlock you could die, and poison ivy isn't good for anyone. But dandelions make a nice salad. How do you tell the plants you can eat from the plants you can't?

By Charles W. Bryant

The Alaska Triangle is lesser known than the Bermuda Triangle, but more people go missing here than anywhere else in the United States. What's going on?

By Suzie Dundas

You might not look at a tarantula and think, "Yum." But if you were in a survival situation with only bugs to eat, how would you know which ones are safe?

By Charles W. Bryant