Don’t mess with wildlife and learn to eat ANYTHING. Here are five survival tips we learnt from The Revenant

WHEN it comes to survival skills, The Revenant’s Hugh Glass makes Bear Grylls look like Alan Carr.

In this brilliant and brutal man v nature western – based on a true story – the tough 19th-century fur trapper undergoes appalling dangers and hardship and lives to tell the tale.

Glass – played by Leonardo DiCaprio – is attacked by Native Americans, mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead.

Incredibly, he escapes, then drags his wounded body across 200 miles of bleak North Dakota terrain, without weapons or supplies, to get revenge on the men who ditched him.

It’s astonishing stuff. DiCaprio, who deservedly won an Oscar for the role, says the scenes, filmed in the freezing cold, “were some of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do”.

Our hero’s skills keep him alive but he couldn’t have done it without a sheer will to survive and desire to seek revenge on those who betrayed him.

So how would you survive in his place?

Here is how Hugh Glass does it.

Don't upset the wildlife

Glass is severely injured when he is attacked by a bear in the film’s most gruesome and talked-about scene.

If, like Glass, you come face to face with a bear, experts say you should speak in a monotone voice and walk away slowly.

If that doesn’t work, do what Glass does – get on your stomach and protect your nether regions.

Luckily, in reality bears are reclusive and are more likely to shy away from you.

Have basic medical knowledge

A good survival movie needs a scene showing a self-administered, life-saving procedure.

The grizzly encounter leaves Glass with a serious throat wound, which he cauterises with gunpowder and a flame to prevent infection.

Don't be a fussy eater

Glass survives eating raw, bloody meat and fish.

Although not for the faint-hearted, it is packed with nutrients like omega 3 and boosts blood flow to the brain.

Improvise

In one of The Revenant’s most breathtaking scenes, Glass charges over a cliff on horseback.

The horse doesn’t survive but Glass puts the carcass to good use, slicing it open and removing its innards to wear it as a coat during a blizzard.

Learn the basics

The fur trapper knows how to light a fire to ward off predators and keep warm.

Glass catches fish by placing large rocks in a stream in a horseshoe shape.

The Revenant is available in HD on Sky Cinema from November 25

Did you know...

Here's what really went down when Leo DiCaprio filmed The Revenant

• Raw fish anyone? No, we’re not talking sashimi but that stomach-churning scene where Leo catches and chomps into a live fish. Rumour has it DiCaprio also ate raw bison liver during filming even though he’s a vegetarian. Let’s hope finally getting his mitts on an Oscar for best actor made it worthwhile.
• The meteor scene, which appears during one of Leo’s disturbing dreams, is a clever nod to director Alejandro G Iñárritu’s film Birdman which also features a comet.
• Just like Leo’s trek through the snow, filming was long, gruelling and very cold. In fact, setbacks in the schedule meant Tom Hardy had to pull out of Suicide Squad. He was set to play the role of Rick Flagg, but was replaced by Joel Kinnaman.
• Real-life Hugh Glass, from Pennsylvania, made the almost impossible journey back to civilisation and continued to work as a fur trader but was killed 10 years later, aged 50, in an attack by Native Americans.
• Alejandro G Iñárritu’s decision to film in the remote wilds of Alberta, Canada, made it one of the toughest film sets of all time. Not only did the crew have to battle temperatures of -30 ̊C, they also had no phone signal. No Snapchat? How did they cope?