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1stimestar posted this too. Just a reminder that survival situations can occur any place, any time. Sounds like the young man did well with his decision making during the attack.
Are wolf attacks on the rare side?
.44 Redhawk in a chest holster.... goes a long way in AK!!!
Pretty rare but they do happen here.
Notable wolf attacks on humans in Alaska:
• March 8, 2010 — A 32-year-old school teacher, Candice Berner, was attacked and killed by wolves while jogging outside Chignik Lake, a rural village on the Alaska Peninsula. Berner’s body was dragged. Tracks indicated as many as four animals could have attacked. Two wolves suspected in the attack were shot and killed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Neither tested positive for rabies.
• Sept. 10, 2009 — A moose hunter survived an attack by a rabid wolf along the lower Kuskokwim River. Roderick Phillip, 35, was at a bonfire near Kalskag with three hunting partners when he went down to the nearby river to look for moose about 2 a.m. When Phillip yelled to alert his hunting partners, the animal lunged at Phillip full-speed, biting him on the leg. The wolf and Phillip wrestled for a few moments before Phillip’s brother shot the animal with a rifle, killing it. His leg wounds were not serious. The wolf tested positive for rabies and Phillip underwent a series of rabies shots.
• July 7, 2006 — An Anchorage woman walking along the Dalton Highway was chased down and bitten twice by a wolf. Becky Wanamaker, 25, saw the wolf across the road about 20 yards away and started running. The wolf chased her down and bit her first in the right leg and then the left. Wanamaker took refuge in an outhouse in a pullout on the side of the road and then alerted campers in the area who helped her. Wanamaker received one stitch to close one of the wounds and received rabies shots. The wolf was never found.
• April 2000 — A food-conditioned wolf attacked a 6-year-old boy who was playing in the woods and attempted to flee when he saw the wolf at a remote Southeast logging camp in Icy Bay. The boy fell as he was running and the wolf attacked, biting him several times and attempting to drag him away before it was shot.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Wolf attacks trapper on snowmachine near Tok
a damned good 'arguement' for 'open carry' in Alaska, I'd think ??
Also, you need to keep your level of situational awareness up. This applies to all areas rural or urban. Next time you are out see if you can count how many people have their head down texting or looking at their phone and others with headphones on. IF you even believe you might be in an area were you could be attacked by man or creature you need to be aware and not be complacent.
Not so much fun when the tables are turned. ( i n c o m i n g ! )
(just wanted to get your BP up on this cold and grey day)
Yet the tree huggers on PBS are still claiming there has NEVER been an attack on humans by a wolf!!Quote:
Originally Posted by 1stimestar
Don't you just love accuracy of information delivered by open minds?
Kyratshooter I hear where your coming from. However 4 attacks in 12 years does not constitute a national emergency. Folks in wolf country need to be aware and ready.. just in case.
In addition, (to use some of y'all's mode of reasoning :sneaky2: ) more people die of accidental gun shots than of wolf attacks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dropy
Now what?
Yeah and over 400k people die a year from smoking and additional 400k from obesity....
Meanwhile......
http://www.zacharyguitars.com/HappyWolf.JPG
...than wolf attacks.Quote:
Originally Posted by roar-k
I think we're in agreement here.
There are wolves here, on my property. I have seen their tracks, but not them. This is a hot button topic here. Wolves can be, and are hunted here legally. The issue here is elk depredation, not attacks on humans.
Aye, modern humans don't know how to share.
Note, wolf attacks, though not nonexistant, are rare and have always been rare. Of the cases mentioned above, one was rabid, one woman ran and so the wolf figured it was something that needed chasing, another was food habituated (something that would never happen if people had any sense). On the later case, I've seen a picture of grown-ups (ostensibly) putting their children on the back of a black bear to photograph.
I also agree that people need to carry protection, but my impression with most people is that they will shoot first and not worry about whether an animal is going to attack or not.
Not only do humans not share, they don't play well with others.
When we were at the Grand Canyon there was a coyote that had obviously been fed and habituated to humans in cars. It sat idly in a small pine forest until a car stopped and a window rolled down. Then it would amble over for whatever handout it was going to get. A car stopped in front of us and the kid climbed out the window and sat on the door with his feet inside the car. The coyote, thinking BIG meal made a dash for the car to which the parents yanked the now squalling kid inside by his feet. We handed them their STUPID sign. Feeding wild animals is just nuts and the animal usually winds up paying the price for it by being killed.
Up at Cades Cove we saw people throwing hot dogs to the bears. Let's just say once the hot dogs ran out the bears were not very happy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Also, we had a bear put down one year because a person with a camera cornered the bear and wouldn't let it leave while he was taking pictures. The bear had enough and bit the man on the toe. But because the acted aggressively toward a human it had to be put down. Personally, it shouldn't have been the bear...
Just thought I would add something to Rick's post.
Good points, especially about the run and chase situation. I was hiking along a road here in Yellowstone because the trails are closed for Bear activity. A coyote passed me just across the pavement. He had no interest in me, just kept on his way. Black bears seem to be the same way, just back away slowly, don't run, and yell if I have to. I've met several in the Shenandoah and out west and so far so good.Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfVanZandt
Supposedly, until the Candice Berner attack, there wasn't a documented fatal wolf attack in North America. I can see how running away from one (or more) could initiate a preditory response from an animal that might have otherwise posed no threat. The animal is just naturally following its genetic programming. It would also appear that healthy wolves don't really consider humans as a staple, but I wouldn't count on that disposition if I encountered them in the wild.
There have been three dogs killed by wolves in the last month within fifteen miles of me, two on the same property a week apart. The last(yesterday) was chained in the yard. We were in that area this afternoon less than five miles from the attack scene, and observed two pre-school children playing unsupervised at the edge of a brushy area. My friend commented that was just asking for the wolves to consider then "prey" and attack them. People around here are just about holding their breath, waiting for a wolf attack on a human. Others, like these childrens parent(s) seem oblivious to the danger! There are already too many locals who consider that only a dead wolf is a good wolf and if a human is attacked or killed, it will be "open season" on wolves! Personally, I do not roam the woods with out a firearm up here, though more for bear protection until the last few years when wolf numbers have skyrocketed!