Students, faculty and staff gathered Friday afternoon to listen to English professor Gordon Grice’s “The Human Being as a Meal” lecture.

Grice’s lecture focused on the attributes that led to the aggressive nature of human/animal interactions and the minimal land left to wild animals. For Grice, some of the content hits close to home.

“When I was six years old, a cougar showed up in the front yard of my farmhouse, and of course the adults of my life rushed us children away from the house because that was dangerous. I was really upset about that because I wanted to see the cougar,” Grice said.

Grice’s discussion focused on the dangers of encountering creatures such as sharks, cougars, elephants and even caterpillars.

“It turns out there are more than 50 species (of caterpillars) that we know of that are very dangerous to people,” Grice said.

Senior English major Ted Weiers said that he was pleasantly surprised with the talk.

“I thought it was interesting because it wasn’t what I expected,” Weiers said. “I came here expecting more of an English-type thing. This was more of English mixed with science, and it was really applicable, which can sometimes be a problem with English stuff.”

According to Grice, because of Minnesota’s location, its inhabitants are relatively safe from wildlife hazards.

“Every single animal around here has more to fear from us than we do from it,” Grice said.

For people that are concerned about encountering threatening animals, Grice suggests studying your surroundings.

“Know the wildlife where you’re going,” Grice said. “For example, if you go on vacation and you want to go hiking or swimming… educate yourself in advance.”

Olivia Cronin can be reached at cron2722@stthomas.edu.