Marmots are more vulnerable when they are far from protective burrows, and they perceive greater risks in areas with limited peripheral visibility. Bushbuck, however, seek dense wood areas for safety from large carnivores.

These animals believe if their local landscapes are modified,  says Daniel Blumstein in The Nature Of Fear: Survival Lessons From the Wild, then their risk assessments also change.

And I’m with the marmots.

For 30 years Blumstein has studied the nature of fear in the wild, and t how we can learn about fear from animals,  make selective and reasoned choices about fear so we can be healthier and more productive.

His book has inspired me to think about being safer, and to undertake a  program I call the Bedlam Farm Safety Program for older men.

My daughter Emma was pleased and astonished. “Why, Dad,” she said, “that’s unusually practical of you.” I can tell she misses me.

Lots of people run away from fear or deny it.

I have learned to face fear head-on, to pick and choose my worries and try to deal with them head-on.

For example, doctors tell me the greatest health threat people my age and older are falling.

Falls are one of the leading causes of serious injury for older people, and even death

We can’t be afraid of everything all the time, as our alarm-crazy society encourages us do. We have to make reasonable, thoughtful, even scientific choices are the things we fear, and also learn how to get ahead of fear by being safer.

An airplane could fall on me out of the sky, but I can’t do anything about that, so there is little point in worrying about it. Anyone call fall anywhere, and it turns out there is a lot I can do about it.

So I studied the data, did some research, and made some changes I believe will make me safer, and thus also less fearful.

Older people talk all the time about the dangers of falling, but few people actually take the modest steps that can often prevent fall. Just ask hospital orthopedists.

My research told me that most falls by older people occur on porches and steps used to get out of the house in the winter. The second-largest cause of falls are bathroom falls – people fall in the shower. Lots of p Bathtubs often get slippery from soap and water residue. People break knees, wrists, hips, and shoulders. Those can take a long time to heal and require a lot of rehab.

I’d undertaken four projects on the farm. One is a battery-powered, eco-friend battery snowblower. Older men with heart disease are prone to overdo shoveling, and sometimes trigger attacks. My ion-battery-powered snowblower is light, easy to use, and nice to the heart if the snow is wet and heavy.

The second item was Merrill ice grip pull on shoes, which have worked beautifully at gripping snow and ice and keeping me from slipping. These shoes have heavy rubber snow tire treads.

The third was a guard rail put up by our wood craftsman Jeff McQuerry(below)

The fourth safety item is a rubber no-slide bathmat for the bathtub, perhaps the single most dangerous place for older people. The mat is raised, so the water drains out, and is rubber, so the suction cups adhere strongly to the tub.

This signifies a new way of thinking for me, and I have the marmot and other animals to thank for it. I can’t be afraid of everything all the time, as our society suggests, but I can sort through some of the risks and dangers and take steps to modify or prevent them.

That may keep me healthy, and it also gives me less to fear.