This had to be frightening

[STCM(SW)]

Washington state, home to wolves, bears, cougars... Yup, all out there in the same places we enjoy camping and hiking. Be prepared!
Okanogan search and rescue teams use helicopter to save student - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

[Ivan the Butcher]

Packs are usually 6 to 8 adults plus young. I don't normally EDC enough ammo, I'll need to rethink that, if I go that far out of my area.

Reading the comments, I am so glad the moderators don't allow that kind of verbal bashing on this forum!

Ivan

[Whitwabit]

Glad the student was a good climber !!!

Wild life in many areas are being encroached on and
more incidents like this will happen ..

[Watchdog]

I think the possibility exists that this incident was blown a bit out of proportion to what really happened.

[vonn]

Was bow hunting on a large South Texas ranch and a pack of coyotes surrounded the tripod I was using , running around and yelping etc. but keeping to the brush and mostly out of sight. With only 3 arrows and a pocket knife I was glad when the truck came to get me after dark and drove right up to the tripod! I wasn’t coming down until they got there no matter how late it got.

[BearBio]

Something doesn't sound right! As a wildlife biologist who works in that area, we don't have a wolf pack in that area! And none that big!

We had a fire team in Idaho that had to be evacuated because of aggressive wolves. One packer was dropped off and walked the pack horses out by himself after an "emergency evacuation" by chopper. We still laugh about that one.

[BearBio]

I stand corrected: It was the Loup Loup pack (I'm familiar with that one). It was only TWO wolves that were following her. Definitely sounds like she wandered too close to a denning site and the parents wanted to warn her off!


Right time of year for them to be weaning pups. The rest of the pack will be away until the parents wean the pups, then they will be introduced.


I've been out sick all week (I went in today but my boss said I looked like "poop" and sent me home). Our wolf specialist was out (his car was at the office but he was gone). I'll know more next week when I go back to work!

[RobertJ.]

One commenter noted that there was no footage, even though she had a cell phone. I find that curious as well, especially in this day and age, when everyone is video crazy. Until I hear more, call me skeptical...

Maybe it was just a nearby camper's German Shepherd.

[BearBio]

As I said, I'll find out more on Monday-I work at the USFS Headquarters office.

[BearBio]

Scuttlebutt is that she got too close to a rendezvous site (a nursery for pups) and they warned her off. Sorta a "barking dog" situation.

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by BearBio

Scuttlebutt is that she got too close to a rendezvous site (a nursery for pups) and they warned her off. Sorta a "barking dog" situation.

Thanks for the update. I thought it might've been something like that...just didn't sound like a chase-and-attack scenario, even though I'm sure it must've scared her.

[old bear]

I’m glad this has not turned into bashing the lady who ended up in the tree. I think I would have done the same thing she did, get my old fat self about 50 feet of the ground.

The wolves may have been warning her away from their area, which is just fine, I would want to be out of there MORE than they want me out. But how does anyone let a wolf or any wild animal know “I got it bubba, I’m out of here?”

[BearBio]

They'll try to stay between you and what they are protecting. Don't make eye contact, don't show teeth (especially with primates), back away slowly and talk calmly.

[BearBio]

p.s.: Good news is that means Loup Loup likely has a new generation of pups!

BTW: The one CONFIRMED wolf fatality (near Anchorage) was a jogger who tried to outrun two wolves. Once she ran, instinct took over and she became prey. The other "attack" was most likely a bear, although wolves got blamed (The one in Ontario).

[rwsmith]

...camping in a forest in Washington. He said that were scared poopless all night because it seemed that every animal in the forest was stomping, growling, caterwauling and mating right outside their tent. I'll bet dollars to donuts that they didn't have a gun with them. They were just college kids doing a camping trip

[Texas Star]

Originally Posted by BearBio

p.s.: Good news is that means Loup Loup likely has a new generation of pups!

BTW: The one CONFIRMED wolf fatality (near Anchorage) was a jogger who tried to outrun two wolves. Once she ran, instinct took over and she became prey. The other "attack" was most likely a bear, although wolves got blamed (The one in Ontario).

What's this "Loup Loup" stuff? Sounds too repetitive. Shouldn't there be a different word after, "Loup", like "Garrou"?

Now, that would make for a much better wolf story...

I should have asked Patvince first, but I think my French is correct? Loup garrou = Werewolf?

Personally, I don't trust wolves or any other canids, inc. many domestic dogs. Wolf huggers claim there've been no US attacks, which Elmer Keith disputed. And other nations like Finland, Russia, and France have horrifying records of wolves taking people. I think India has had more problems than most here realize.

If an animal like the Beast of Gevaudan, which inspired the Little Red Riding Hood tale, appeared here now, he'd be on the FBI's most wanted list really fast.

[BearBio]

The difference in attack "rates" has been proven to be the result of man's wars. Lots of carrion (i.e. bodies), loss of game, concentrations of wolves (leading to rabies), lots of food leads to overpopulation, etc. Big outbreak after the Napoleonic Wars and WWI. In the US, there was a massive outbreak of rabies among skunks after the Civil War for the same reason.

As far as Keith goes, he reports "someone told him" of finding a skeleton with several wolf skeletons around it. Correlation is not causation!

India has a different species of wolf (dhole) and many unarmed children running around.

Loup Loup is the trappers name for the pass. Yes, Loup garrou is werewolf in French.

ps: Never heard anyone say no wolf "attacks". No recorded FATALITIES other than the one==not to say a stray Indian didn't get picked off in areas where birth/death records aren't kept.

[Texas Star]

Originally Posted by vonn

Was bow hunting on a large South Texas ranch and a pack of coyotes surrounded the tripod I was using , running around and yelping etc. but keeping to the brush and mostly out of sight. With only 3 arrows and a pocket knife I was glad when the truck came to get me after dark and drove right up to the tripod! I wasn’t coming down until they got there no matter how late it got.

I can't imagine going out like that with just three arrows and a pocketknife.

The only time I'd rely on three arrows are if they're the ones in the Beretta logo on my pistol.

What's this tripod thing? Some sort of tree stand? If I was in a situation like that, the sort of tripod I'd want is the sort on which I could mount a machine gun.

[nachogrande]

Don't forget BIGFOOT.

[BearBio]

I had a friend come to pick us up after we hunted a canyon for wild pig. There was a bobcat just above us on the ridge in heat. He refused to unlock the truck and told us to climb in the back. Between that and one lion I heard one night, it is MOST bloodcurdling.

While I was in grad school, the wife volunteered to do a quail survey, counting chicks. She "cammoed" out, tucked a 38 spl in her pants, and staked out a waterhole. Right at dawn, she heard a horrible roaring sound! When they picked her up about noon, she found out she was only a mile (as a crow flies) from the Wildlife Waystation in Angeles Forest and it was the African lions roaring for breakfast!

[jimmyj]

If I was hiking in that area I would carry an 20" electric chain saw (with a really long extension cord)

[Texas Star]

Originally Posted by BearBio

The difference in attack "rates" has been proven to be the result of man's wars. Lots of carrion (i.e. bodies), loss of game, concentrations of wolves (leading to rabies), lots of food leads to overpopulation, etc. Big outbreak after the Napoleonic Wars and WWI. In the US, there was a massive outbreak of rabies among skunks after the Civil War for the same reason.

As far as Keith goes, he reports "someone told him" of finding a skeleton with several wolf skeletons around it. Correlation is not causation!

India has a different species of wolf (dhole) and many unarmed children running around.

Loup Loup is the trappers name for the pass. Yes, Loup garrou is werewolf in French.

ps: Never heard anyone say no wolf "attacks". No recorded FATALITIES other than the one==not to say a stray Indian didn't get picked off in areas where birth/death records aren't kept.

Thanks for this good reply. And I hope you're feeling better.

However, India has both dholes and true wolves. And I wouldn't trust either. Dholes will attack even tigers.

Kipling had a lot more faith in wolves than I do when he created Mowgli.

If the old trappers called that pass Loup Loup, maybe they were crying, Wolf! Wolf! As in alarm cry or warning.

[BearBio]

Dholes also have a reputation for being grave robbers==digging up and eating corpses.

I vaguely remember the northern hills have "true" wolves as well.

[Texas Star]

Wolf attack - Wikipedia

Here's a Wikipedia article on wolf attacks. Quite interesting. I haven't checked lately on attacks by dholes, dingos, African hunting dogs, etc. I know that hyenas are dangerous. And this article makes it clear that wolves sometimes are, too. I have personally been menaced by a gray fox. He came very close to getting a .357 Magnum bullet in him.

I was a little surprised that Indian wolves sometimes enter a hut, grab a child by the face or throat to prevent an outcry, and drag the kid off to be eaten. That sounds more like leopard attacks, or a man-eating tiger. But if a basic technique works, various predators will use it.

[Stevens]

Around here Loup Garrou has become "Rougarou". Rougarou festivals and "swamp sightings" are common. "The Rougarou gonna get you", good to make kids behave.
Steve W