Wolves Gone Wild

Sometimes it just shocks me what some people will believe. Maybe this is how cults stay in business.

Besides kissing with wolves (How to get to First Base with a Wolf) there are actually people that believe wolves are good neighbors as shown in a recent post on SOSForests.com.

I always wonder when and where they people joined the Wolf Cult. I am not sure what kind of deprogramming they need but facts do not seam to work.

A simple internet search will provide evidence of many human wolf conflicts including documented by the Alaskan government. Maybe in joining the cult their ability to type certain key words into search engines has been affected.

Mike who runs the site was right to point out that

wolves are not wonderful animals or good neighbors. Wolves are blood-thirsty predators that attack and kill pets, livestock, children, and adults. Blood-thirsty predators do NOT make good neighbors, and we do NOT “need” to find a way to co-exist with them.

That being said Mike also points out some of the attacks by wolves on people since many people are in denial and think wolf attacks have not occurred.

More wolf human attacks that are referenced in Range Magazine in their Groundhog Day at the Wolf Wars.

 

KILLER WOLVESSince historians seem to be having problems digging up this information, here are a few documented cases of wolves killing and/or injuring humans. Although wolves should not be excessively feared, and wolves that kill humans are very rare, we do need the truth told by someone.         

Research: Scott, Peter A., et al. “Aggressive Behavior by Wolves Toward Humans.” Journal of Mammalogy 66.4 (1985): 807-809; Munthe, Kathleen and J. Howard Hutchinson. “A Wolf-Human Encounter on Ellesmere Island, Canada” Journal of Mammalogy 59.4 (1978): 876-878; McNay, Mark E. “Interactions in Alaska and Canada: A Review of the Case History.” Wildlife Society Bulletin 30.3 (2002): 831-843.

Scientist: Arctic wolf attacks a scientist in Canada (1985—Arctic, Vol. 38, 1985).

Female Researcher: Three penned wolves had to be killed before rescuers could get to the body of a female wildlife reserve employee that the wolves had killed in their pen (1996—The Kingston Wig Standard, Ontario, Canada, April 20).

Trapper and Two Indians: An elderly trapper did not return to the post office as promised, so two Indians were sent to find him. All three were killed by wolves (1922— Port Arthur, Ontario newspaper, Dec. 27).

Negro Man: Two Negro men were attacked in Kentucky by wolves on the way home from visiting girlfriends. One survived by climbing a tree (1851—John James Audubon, “Black American Wolf” in Quadrupeds of North America).

Farmer and Son: A pack of wolves attacked and ate a farmer and his son (1888—The Saint Paul Daily Globe, March 8 ).

Eskimo Woman: She was strangled by a wolf as her husband rushed to her assistance (1829—John Richardson in “Fauna Boreali-Americana”).

Sick Indians: Not only did wolves come into the Indian camps and eat corpses dead of smallpox, but also attacked, killed, and ate the sick (1770—Peter Kalm in “Travels in North America”).

Injured: Several instances of nonfatal, but serious attacks in Canada and Alaska have appeared recently in the news: Algonquin Provincial Park, 1996; Yakutat, Alaska, 2000; Vargas Island, British Columbia, 2002 (The Wolf Society of Great Britain, www.myinternet.co.uk/wsgb/index.htm).

Another extensive source for many of wolf attacks on humans comes from Abundant Wildlife Society of North America. Many of the attacks listed were documented by John James Audubon. In one instance, T. R. Mader, taped an interview of the following wolf attack.

A forester employed by the Province of British Colombia was checking some timber for possible harvest in the 1980s. He was met by a small pack of three wolves. The forester yelled at the wolves to frighten them away. Instead, the wolves came towards him in a threatening manner and he was forced to retreat and climb a nearby tree for safety.

The wolves remained at the base of the tree. The forester had a portable radio, but was unable to contact his base, due to distance, until evening. When the call for help came in, two Conservation Officers with the Ministry of Environment were flown to the area by floatplane to rescue the treed forester.

When the Conservation Officers arrived, the forester was still in the tree and one wolf, the apparent leader of the pack, was still at the base of the tree. The officers, armed with shotguns, shot at the wolf and missed. The wolf ran for cover and then started circling and howling near the two officers. After a couple missed shots, the wolf was finally shot and killed.

The wolf tested negative for rabies. It appeared healthy in every respect, but was very lean. The Conservation Officers felt the attack was caused by hunger. (Taped Interviews and a photo of the wolf on file at Abundant Wildlife Society of North America.)

A full read of the Abundant Wildlife Society of North America list of wolf attacks should be enough to assist in deprogramming anyone that wolves are anything but dangerous predators.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 12th, 2007 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Wolf Politics, EnvironMental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.