Do the odds of becoming prey increase much at night?

[Lurch]

Never had any sort of serious 4 legged wild animal attack in the gorge that I can remember, day or night. I prefer hiking at night. So long as you're alive and kicking you're not really on the menu for Oregon Wildlife.

That said... Many risks are heightened at night, such as a navigational error (wrong junction, or losing the trail) As well as injury, and confusion. Sleep deprivation will cause a whole host of other problems. People tend to drink less, eat less, be more prone to exposure, and more poor life choices when they're sleep deprived and exhausted.

Night hiking does require some more prep and different gear from an average hike, I wouldn't recommend it for most people. If you don't know what you're doing, or you're lost BED DOWN AT NIGHT.

[vibramhead]

In my experience, your chances of becoming prey at night while dozing in your bag are virtually nil, but the chances of your food becoming prey to rodents if you don't store it right can be quite substantial.

[Pnw.hiker]

Deer bug me at night if I don't have a tent. They think my hat is a salt lick.

Happened twice last year - once near Steamboat Lake, once near Three Fingered Jack when I was sleeping under a fallen tree. Then another time when I was in a bivy on the PCT. It generally happens near established campsites.

[Chase]

Shorter, more serious answer for Joe:

In Oregon: No.
In Alaska or Tanzania or Bangladesh: Probably

[Crusak]

"Looks like talking/making some noise might be a good way to prevent such encounters."

That is a strategy I often deploy when I'm out early morning or after dark alone.

I've found myself giving a few hoots, woohoos, etc. when I start a hike before sunrise, if I'm the only one on the trail (judging by the absence of other vehicles at the TH). But I've also occasionally tried to walk very, very quiet, keeping all the jingling and rustling to a minimum, to see if maybe I can see some large wildlife of some sort. Guess it depends on my whether or not I'm feeling like a predator or prey at the moment.

Every time I go backpacking by buddies and I take off and do some sort of night hike. It's just too fun to miss. The only exception is when the weather is bad. I don't recall seeing more than an occasional deer though. We hike without headlamps on, or with only red lights, to preserve night vision.

More on topic: in the beginning days of my backpacking experience I was often fearful at night, and my heart would get to racing at every crash our rustle in the brush. But not so much any more. Biggest scare I've had so far was a large toad hopping across my ground tarp while I was tarp camping and sound asleep. The big fella went hopping, Slap!-Slap-Slap! next to me on the tarp, and scared me silly.

[Koda]

the very few night hikes I've done are intriguing, I always see a lot more glowing eyes and bats, the headlamp gives away the predators much easier than daylight..... the deer (at night) are easy to make out but those glowing eyes lower to the ground that never reveal themselves....

But I've also occasionally tried to walk very, very quiet.....

Honestly, I think it's safer to hike quietly at night. I have more concern for criminal activity than wildlife predation. Anythings possible, but statistically speaking.... at least in Oregon I don't think wildlife predation day or night is that risky, in the dark I'd rather hear people ahead of me than make noise alerting them to my presence. I'd like to be the one to make the call to let them (people) pass by with or without notice, not the other way around.

[Lurch]

I would say the average hiker would walk right past you and not even know it if you were any more than 4' off trail, it was night, and you wore neutral brown/green colors.

[bobcat]

It may only be a matter of time before a trail runner gets attacked by a cougar in Oregon: it will probably be someone going for a run after work in the spring or the fall as the light is fading. Cougar populations are pretty well saturated in the state and they have run after and brought down adult humans in other western states and Canada - but still a lot rarer an occurrence than being stiffed by one's fellow humans in the wild.

That being said, cougars tend to be active when their principal prey, deer, are most active: around dusk and dawn, i.e. you should be safer in the middle of the night than at those times. Making human-type noises, hanging rattles from your belt, carrying lights, etc., would help them to focus on their natural targets, the four-legged variety.