Wolf attacks, HA. (was re:Wolves: ho to cope with ?)
John Pieper
>From: ch...@cdc.hp.com (Chris Schiller)
>Subject: Re: Wolves : how to cope with ?
>Wolves are not a threat to adults. There has never been a documented
>case of a non-rabid wolf attacking a human adult in the last hundred years
>in the US. [stuff deleted]
>Chris Schiller
>ch...@cdc.hp.com
That is not too surprising given that most of the wolves in this country
were dead by then.
However, there has been no documented case of a non-rabid wolf attacking
non-infant humans in the entire history of the country, back to the
1600's. There are plenty of cases of wolves chasing humans, chasing
horses and wagons, etc. But wolves, despite lots of literature and a deep
European-based cultural bias otherwise, do not attack human adults. Or at
least, have not attacked human adults in a way that the rest of humanity
learned about. Even back when there were lots of them.
My advice: don't run. Wolves are known to chase their prey for miles until
it drops from exhaustion. If you stand you ground, they will back down.
As with all wildlife, don't feed them. Once an animal learns it can get food
from you, you will be pestered to death.
-----------------
Bernard Adrian Frankpitt
>
>
>
> However, there has been no documented case of a non-rabid wolf attacking
> non-infant humans in the entire history of the country, back to the
> 1600's.
Perhaps this just indicates that when wolves attack humans they do a good
job of cleaning up the remains. :-)
Bernie
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Dave Bernard
If you want something canine to worry about in the wild, a better
bet is wild dogs... those raised by humans, but since gone to
run with others. They don't have the instinctive fear of humans
that totally wild wolves do.
Dave
Shawn Boyd
This is an excellent point, and well taken. I might mention that the
usual term for these animals is feral dogs, as opposed to "wild dogs"
which is generally applied to a communal african canine known for it's
intelligence and extremely effective hunting techniques. Feral dogs,
like feral hogs have retained some of thier civilized characteristics,
not the least of which is thier lack of fear of man. They can often,
however, recognize a shotgun... they typically will fear that.
The point is also made that European wolves are more aggressive toward
man than American wolves. Sadly, I have no experience with either, so I
cannot claim any degree of expertise. I do have experience with feral
hogs, and can tell you that if not confronted they are relatively harmless,
but if pursued can be quite dangerous. This makes them very interesting
to hunters, especially bowhunters. They're wilder cousins, Javelinas,
while potentially dangerous (highly communal, aggressive among themselves,
and armed with four very sharp 2 - 3 inch incisors) are very docile, and
will only display threat (a VERRRRRY loud jaw snap/clap) when cornered
or wounded. I imagine a vague comparison might be made along the same
lines between wolves (NOT at threat) and feral dogs (often threatening,
especially to youngsters or occasionally to unarmed adults.)
Shawn Boyd
Austin, Texas