The Trouble with Metal Detecting.

Intro: 

Hi! Welcome to the metal detecting show Episode number 28. My name is Ciaran and I have been metal detecting for nearly 30 years. This week I talk to you about the dangers of metal detecting.  So, let's get On with the Show. 

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Hey before we start I want to Thank you for listening to the show and I hope you enjoy the show this week. If you want to give me feedback or interact with the show, please reach out to me on twitter @detectingthe or Instagram @themetaldetectingpodcast or If you want to pop me an email to ciaran@themetaldetectingshow.com  

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Ok firstly on to my adventures in metal detecting I got out for a quick bash before work today I hit my local harbour wash beach and focused on only the rock solid bangers of signals this meant that I was covering a lot of ground while ignoring any signal that may have any irony grunt to it, I did this by profile switching check out my previous episodes where I talk about the benfits of profile switching. 

I Wasn’t expecting to find much but if you follow my instagram account @themetaldetectingpodcast you will see my finds round up. 

To be honest I was just glad to be out there I didn’t care how wet and cold I got.

I still hit my beach and I had to very careful with the time because the high tide has a potential to trap me on the beach with no where to go for several hours.  so on this beach I tend to hunt as the tide is going out but because of that I thought I would do a quick round up of the potential dangers a metal detectorist can face while hunting.

I have broken it into a few categories but starting with wildlife and livestock, in Ireland the only potential dangerous wildlife is finding some auld fella after fallng into a bush on his way home from the pub and social presure would require that you take him home to his doting mammy or derilict wife because you never know when you might need the same favor returned. also whether you know it or not st patrick drove all the snakes out of the island of ireland, but seriously in Ireland we have no wildlife that can potentially cause too much damage to you however the rest of the world like australia for example where everything is trying to kill you, all have potential wildlife to cause severe damage to your person or life. 

The UK has a few adders that can potentially bite you the US has bears that can potentially eat you so make some time to learn about the local wildlife that potentially could cause you harm be that in the water when scuba diving or snorkling or walking the fields.

Livestock on the other hand is a totally diffent story and as you can imagine ireland being the best producer of beef in the world fact!!!  

I have had some experience with wrangling cows about and thats not just in the local night club. 

Did you know Cattle are responsible for over 100 deaths a year in the US that’s over 25 times the number of deaths caused by sharks in the US. 

One quick way of dealing with cattle is to make sure there is noting behind you that could crush you when the cow comes over being nosey try to put something between you so as to not crush you but if that’s not possible make yourself as big as possible with your shovel and detector in the air this will stop the cow while they investigate what your doing giving you time to move off. 

Remember they are just being nosey and the vast majority are super gentle but stupid. Don’t feel bad if you have to flake a cow with your shovel or hand as they are unlikley to get hurt due to their size but if you happen to come face to face with an angry bull well if a bull looks to be about to charge then in all likley hood they will and in that situation the worst thing you can do is run which you should only do as a last resort but what you need to do is scream and shout, again making yourself as big a possible but it if the bull cant be detered then its time to run but run in a zig zag fashion this will give you the extra feet to get you over the field boundary. 

Cattle and all livestock are generally only nosey and noting to be afraid of but be cautious around them. 

Next up is insects I think everyone know to stay away from bee’s wasps and hornets but there is one insect out there that is a scurge to all detectorists and that is the mighty tick. 

A bite from these little insects can cause lymes desease. Lymes desease is a life changing desease that starts with flu like sympoms and a round bullseye skin lesion around the tick bite but a point to note this doesn’t occur till 7 - 10 days later, so make sure to keep an eye on any tick bites you may have had as you don’t want to miss the first stage, as recovery is almost guaranteed at this stage however secondary symptoms occur if the first stage is left untreated, these sympoms include bells plausey, a slow heart rate and mennigitus like symptoms with brain fog, fatigue and general achiness. 

There is a specific way of removing a tick which I will cover in this weeks tech time out but how do you get it well the tick lives in long grass of a field or pasture so dont wander in the fields in shorts no matter how tempting it is. 

Another disease to be aware of that could potentially sit in the wildlife section is weils disease or leptospira this desease is caused and transmitted in rats urine. 

symptoms of weils desease include flu like sympotoms with rapid heart rate, decreased urination, weight loss, nausea and swollen joints. 

How do you get weils disease well a lot of people think you can get it from eating food with uncleaned hands and there is an element of truth to this but the most common way people get weils disease is from cuts in your skin coming into contact with a body of water where there may be rats, another infection path is with people swimming in rivers and the bacteria entering via the eye socket hpuke!!!

To prevent this possible infection always clean and cover any fresh cuts you get while out detecting and always wear gloves with hand sanitastion before you eat anything especially if near a river or an infestation of rats.

Moving away from rats and ticks. The weather can be as debilatating be it cold or heat both can kill so make sure to be aware of any weather conditions you may encounter during your hunt and prepaitr and dress accordingly but something to be aware of that you may not think off, as this occurs even in mild weather conditions and that is skin cancer the silent killer, every hour 2 people die from skin cancer in the us and getting sun burn repeatedly doubles the risk. So make sure to wear an appropiate hat and sunscream with the appropiate blocking capability, I use factor 50 to protect my porcelean irish freckled skin.

Lastly an possibly the most dangeorus animal on the planet and that’s people. in general never underestimate the stupidity and aggressiveness of people. People will wrongly attack you either verbally or physically for any reason from a preceved notion they got from a facebook post to misunderstanding what you are actually doing. 

Never turn your back on a stranger and always keep your eyes open for any peoson that may be approaching you, it is very seldom they approach you to say high and tell you that you are doing a greay job. 9/10 it is out of begrudgary they think you are profiting from doing something they don’t agreed with and that can be fuel for a fire that burns deep down in some people no matter how irrational. 

Even people who approach you with a smile and joke can turn very quickly once you refuse to show them what you have found or when the don’t believe you when you tell them nothing much.

So hunt with a partner or if you must and you are on your own always tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back never engage with an approaching stranger if they are angry just walk away take off you headphones hold your hands open which is seen as disarming and move on. 

Avoid groups of teenagers they are only looking to posture at your expense and always best to avoid. I don’t want to come off as paranoid here but I can guarantee you every one of us has been approached negatively by someone when out hunting and it doesn’t take long for that interaction to escalate to something more serious so be on guard and be careful.

So ive outlined a few thing to look out for when detecting and the majority of them can be mitigated with good hygene practices of cleaning cuts and not eating your lunch with dirty hands, learning about the potential wildlife or livestock in the area that may cause you problems and always being alert to your surroundngs and movements. Wearing gloves and don’t hunt a field our pasture in short pants.

Up next is this weeks tech time out where I talk to you about how there is two ways to remove a tick the right way and the wrong way so stay tuned.

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Time for this weeks tech time out 

How to remove a tick if you happen to be afflicted with one even after my execellent advise this week.

Well there are two ways the wrong way and the right way. with the wrong ways rife with old wives tales so lets list the worng ways, firstly to highlight just that to never try remove a tick the wrong way, so several wrong ways include using petrolium jelly aka vasoline using nail polish remover and the one we all have definitly have heard of and maybe even voiced it as fact and that is burning a tick off this and all previously mentioned will result in the tick reguratating its stomach contents back into your wound increasing the likely hood of the very thing you are trying to avoid which in lymes desease. 

So there is a right way and that is as follows. 

1.     Take a fine tipped tweezers.

2.     Grab the tick as close as you possibly can to your skin being carefull to not squeez its abdomim.

3.     Once gripped, in one single motion pull the tick straight out perpinduclar to your skin.

4.     Clean the wound even though it will look like a little pin head cut make sure to clean this wound and apply antiseptic cream.

5.     Finally make sure to monitor the site of the bite for the follow two weeks to ensure you havnt contacted lymes desease.

If you have concerns about the wound or if it looks like it has a halo around it giving it a bullseye look please go to your physician who will perscribe antibiotics.

That’s it for this weeks tech time out stay safe and no hunting in hot pants.

Wrap Up 

That’s it for this week’s  I hope you liked this episode of the metal detecting show podcast.

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Once again, I hope you have enjoyed this episode and we will chat to you all again next week. 

Get out there eyes down and Happy Hunting.