Important Warning for Travelers!
Make sure to stay on the dedicated path when traveling, especially if you are do not know what you are doing. Gnomes are a serious, yet easily preventable threat.
Specifically forest gnomes (gnomus arboris) and tinker gnomes (gnomus malleus), which are much more dangerous than the garden gnome variety (gnomus hortus). Gnome-Repellant sprays, while affective at repelling garden gnomes, is not as effective against the larger, more wild forest and tinker gnomes.
If you do plan on off-roading in areas with gnome populations, there are several precautions you should take.
Wearing Anti-Gnome spikes up to the knee. This may seem too high, but forest gnomes have been known to jump fairly high when attacking.
Make sure you do not have any open wounds. Tinker gnomes, though omnivorous, prefer the taste of fresh meat. They can also smell blood up to 4 miles away. Cleaning injuries with alcohol can help mask the scent, but it will not eliminate it.
If you are carrying food, such as berries and sweets, make sure to tightly seal them in air-tight containers, especially if you camp overnight. Gnomes are attracted to berries and other sweet foods, which can cause a "sugar frenzy" when consumed in large quantities. Frenzied gnomes are even more dangerous, so attempt to prevent this at all costs. Some travelers forgo traveling with any type of sweet food to stay extra safe.
Wear thick boots, with ankle coverage. Preferably leather and/or steel-toe. Thick pants underneath your anti-gnome spikes are also recommended.
If you are bitten by a gnome, remember to stay calm and look for a few key features to figure out what to do.
Forest gnomes have green hats, and their bite is not as serious as a tinker. Their saliva is only a minor irritant, causing some swelling and redness. Pack some anti-histamines and itching cream, as it will itch like all hell.
If the hat is red, it is just a garden gnome. Typically, they are much smaller than forest and tinker gnomes. Make sure to clean the wound with alcohol if blood was drawn, though most garden gnomes' jaws are not strong enough to bite through pants/shoes.
Tinker gnomes have black hats, and their bites should be taken fairly seriously. The effects are different depending on the age of the gnome, as tinkers have a poison gland behind their sugar tooth that develops with age. You can tell the age by the number of buttons. Younger gnomes (5 buttons or less) only have a minor hallucinogenic poison, which can cause a "high" where you will experience strange sights and auditory hallucinations. If they have 6 or more buttons, you will want to act quickly. Older tinker gnomes have a paralytic agent in their poison, as well as the hallucinogenic properties of younger gnomes. Typically, the poison kicks in within 20-30 minutes of being bitten. Try to find a safe place, where more gnomes cannot get to, such as inside a tent or building, and wait out the worst of the effects. There are no recorded cases of a tinker gnomes bite being fatal to a person, but the effects can last for several hours.
If the hat is white, you need to seek medical attention immediately. The white hat is the marking of a Sugar Gnome (gnomus saccharum), the most dangerous species of gnome. They have a fast acting poison which paralyzes the victim within minutes, but has none of the hallucinogenic affects. They then proceed to drain the victim of all their blood sugar, which is almost always fatal. However, sugar gnomes are only active during specific times of the year, typically around the equinox. Additionally, they are nocturnal so make sure to set up camp while there is still sunlight.
These precautions should help, but remember that gnomes are animals who act only on instinct. They are not "evil" or "monsters", just creatures trying to survive in this world, just like you or me. So long as proper care is taken, gnomes and humans can coexist peacefully.
