Gorgeous Wolf

I’ve been here 8 days and we saw a wolf on the side of the road today - near the landfill.  He/she was gorgeous - but of course we saw some “Darwinian” actions - the old guy that got out of his car only pissed me off because he scared the wolf away - I’m all about taking photos and am completely enamoured with wolves - so this old guy made me mad that I only got one shot…

Either way - after hearing them in my old town (Mackenzie) for 8 years without seeing them, then here I see one within 8 days and the colours of his/her coat blew me away…it sets a perverbial “welcome to Prince Rupert” in my head  grin

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Pojken som skreker vargen!

Good picture. 

We have our resident wolf expert here on htmf.
He is known as Astrothug.  He has a website about the wolves: http://www.kaienislandwolves.com/

yes very nice picture, I cant tell, but he looks like a one year old from the pack, that area you took the picture is near the Spring Den, from now to June you should see wolves there all the time.
what time of day did you see him? I was out there in the morning and late afternoon, only saw prints and scat… thanks

there is a pack of wolves and a big black wolf out at Kloiya Bay, and a pack just before the pulp mill, if your interested…

Well, I’m glad that astrohug was not the “Old Guy” described above… :unamused:

Oh I’d most definitely be interested - thank you so much for the information - I will always take my camera with me for sure when heading out that way.  That was taken at around 3pm yesterday afternoon - between 3 and 4.  I admit I’m in awe of them and slightly nervous at the same time - my husband is quite nervous of me getting too close; but as long as I stay in the car and use the telephoto he’s quite content.

I hear what you’re saying kaleid, if you go to our website, you can read all our encounters, the young wolves like the one in your picture have been very inquisitive and on occasions have laid down in front of us, the alpha male and female will be very loud and bark, growl and howl if you are too close. Stacey and I have never had a problem with this pack, and we have encountered this pack many times in the past. I have photos of the young pup when we found the summer den.  Wolves in general are afraid of humans and will run away. This pack though have lost some fear of humans as they see humans at the dump every day, and there are stupid talking monkeys ( humans)who have fed the wolves from their cars.
We will be out soon collecting scat (for parasites and other diseases for the next 4 months) and hair samples (if lucky).
The wolves are a genetically different then the wolves found in the interior and else were.  These wolves might be even older then the gray wolves. More genetic testing is being done to find out

I heard a couple of little girls were chased to the store by a wolf, I like wolves and yes they are pleasing to look at but they are wild.
Historically, there are four reasons for wolf attacks on humans:

1.      Disease such as rabies.

2.      Extreme hunger.

3.      Familiarity/Disposition - This is an either/or situation.  Familiarity is the zoo setting, captive wolves, etc. Disposition is a particularly aggressive wolf which may not fear man as most wolves do.

4.      In the heat of the chase and kill - This is where a hiker, trapper or whoever disturbs a fresh chase and kill by wolves.  The person walks into the scene only to be attacked by the wolves.

It is our belief that a predator’s fear of man is both instinctive and learned behavior. For example, wolves raised as pets or in zoos are well documented to attack and kill humans.

Alyshia Berzyck, of Minnesota, was attacked and killed by a wolf on a chain on June 3, 1989. The wolf tore up her kidney, liver and bit a hole through her aorta. One month later, on July 1, 1989, Peter Lemke, 5, lost 12 inches of his intestine and colon and suffered bites to his stomach, neck, legs, arms and back in another wolf attack in Kenyon, Minnesota. (Reports on file and available upon request.)

Zoos carry abundant records of wolf attacks on people, particularly children. The child climbs the enclosure fence to pet the “dog” and is attacked.

Zoos and domestic settings are unnatural in that they place man and wolf in close proximity and they become accustomed to each other. Consequently attacks occur.

Today predator control is very restricted in scope, and as a result, attacks on humans by predators are becoming more common. In recent years, healthy coyotes in Yellowstone Park have attacked humans. Similar attacks have occurred in the National Parks of Canada.

OTHER REPORTED WOLF ATTACKS IN THE WILD

1.      Comox Valley, British Colombia – 1986 - While driving a tractor, Jakob Knopp was followed by three wolves to his barn. They didn’t leave, but kept snarling and showing their teeth. Knopp ran to his barn, retreived a rifle and had to shoot two of the three wolves before the third left the area.

2.      George Williams, a retired sailor heard a commotion in his chicken coup one night. Thinking it was raccoons he took his single shot 22 rifle and headed for the coup. He rounded his fishing boat and trailer when a wolf leaped at him. He instinctively reacted with a snap shot with the rifle and dropped the wolf. A second wolf came at him before he could reload and George swung the rifle and struck the wolf across the head, stunning it. George retreated to the house until morning and found the wolf he had shot, the other was gone.

3.      Clarence Lewis was picking berries on a logging road about a mile from Knopp’s farm when he faced four wolves. Lewis yelled at them, two left and the other two advanced towards him. He took a branch and took a couple of threatening steps at them. They went into the brush and stayed close to him. Lewis faced the wolves and walked backward for two miles until he reached his car.

4.      Don Hamilton, Conservation Officer at Nanaimo went to investigate a livestock killing by wolves. Wolves had killed a number of sheep in a pasture and Don went out to examine the kills. He came upon the scene and saw a large gray wolf feeding on one of the sheep. The wolf looked at him, growled and started running towards him at full speed. The wolf was over 100 yards away and never broke stride as it approached Don. At approximately 15 feet, Don shot the wolf to stop its attack. Don, who has many years experience with wolves, stated that he was convinced that the wolf was going to attack him because of its growling, snarling and aggressive behavior.

5.      In 1947, a man was hunting cougar on Vancouver Island and was attacked by a pack of seven wolves. The man backed against a tree and shot the leader of the pack. The pack instantly tore the animal to shreds while the hunter made his escape.

6.      Clarence Lindley was reportedly attacked by a 125-pound timber wolf. The incident occurred in early November, 1992 on the Figure 4 Ranch in Dunn County, North Dakota. Lindley was hunting horseback when the wolf attacked Lindley’s horse causing it to jump and fall. Lindley was able to grab his saddle gun, a lever action Winchester 94, as the horse fell. The horse recovered its balance and Lindley found himself face to face with a snarling wolf. “My heart was pounding,” said Lindley, “I could see those big teeth. He was less than five feet away… He meant business; he wasn’t going to back off.” Lindley fired his rifle at point blank range and killed the wolf with a shot to the neck. Lindley left the wolf since he couldn’t get his horse close to it. On return to his hunting camp, his hunter friends failed to believe the account. They returned to the scene and skinned the wolf. The pelt was a flawless black and gray pelt measuring seven and a half feet from its feet to its snout. Its bottom teeth measured one and a half inches; top teeth - one and a quarter inches. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGF) confiscated the hide and head of the wolf and took it to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for determination of its species. Tests revealed that the wolf was non-rabid. The wolf was thought to have come from Canada. (Reports on file and available upon request.)

Also I believe that the deer population needs to be culled.

Anywhoo thats my arguement have a nice day

The Vancouver islands wolves have a lot of dog in them one in five have dog DNA more Dog DNA means less afraid of humans.
This is where you got your information aws.vcn.com/wolf_attacks_on_humans.html but many attacks are very old.
Those attacks do not compare to domesticated dog attacks over 300 people in the US since 1979 have been killed that’s not including deaths in Canada, or humans who have been injured by a dogs. In the thousands.
When it comes to research in the field you need to go elsewhere, like here. raincoast.org/proj-wolves/wo … html 
Chris Darimont has spent a lot of time collecting wolf data from the coast Of BC, and has encountered 100’s of wolves.
Another website is  wolf.org/wolves/index.asp ,
you said the wolf that chased two girls into the store is this maverick Market were the cougar was spotted by the two girls in the back ……(might be the same story, different animals)
If a wolf was chasing a human it would have caught it. No human can out run a wolf, that being said, if you understand a wolf then you would know that wolves don’t see well and chase movement, once that movement stops wolves loose site of it unless it is close, wolves have great sense of smell and will usually run away after finding it is chasing a human.
there is one wolf in town who is not part of the pack found at Ridley, this wolf who has an injured leg, has lost some of his fear due to the fact a lone wolf has a hard time hunting alone and will look for easy food source say your garbage, your cat you left outside over night.
I have gone out in the middle of the night armed with a camcorder and a flash light and took film of a wolf, Many times when we go out its very early morning 4:30 Am or at dusk, we have never had a problem, but then again we also don’t look for trouble, we keep our distance depending what wolf we see, like I’ve said the young wolves in this pack are very inquisitive and have come up to us and laid down, like there playing….

Here is a great story from hinterland who’s who hww.ca/index_e.asp about a pack of wolves.
Over a career as an exploration geologist in the Canadian bush, I have had many encounters with wildlife.

One winter day during the uranium exploration rush in the Blind River District I arrived at a location on a large lake where my camp crew was supposed to meet me to go into a. bush camp on our mining property. Apparently the crew did not get the message that the boss was coming in so no one came out to get me. I decided to walk the five miles on the trail marked on the ice to the camp rather than go back into town. It was relatively mild afternoon about the middle of March.

I had walked about half a mile out on the ice when a pack of six big timber wolves came bounding out of the nearby forest and surrounded me, forming a circle about 30 feet around me. What to do? The last thing I should do is start to run back, so after some initial apprehension, I decided to keep on walking normally. The wolves followed along, maintaining and running in a circle around me. Their antics were fascinating; two wolves would sit down and the other four would run the cicle, then three would sit down and three would run the spiral around me about 30 or 40 feet away. I think they were playing with me, or trying to get me to start running or fall down so they could make supper out of me.
It started to get dark so I stopped and got a flashlight out of my little packsack, while the wolves sat and waited. Then we were off again in a lively parade down the lake with the animals continuing to run circles around me in twos and threes. This behaviour went on for over an hour, until we rounded a point and the lights of the camp came into sight. Then the wolves left me.
I will always remember this as a genuine wildlife encounter with a possibly friendly pack of wild wolves. Maybe they were just having fun and were playing with me and did not consider me as food. That’s the way I prefer to remember it.

Next time I will tell you of my conversations with bears in the Yukon.

Dr. Ralph S. Woolverton, Scarborough, Ontario

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Rashid Jamsheed, a U.S. trained biologist, was the game director for Iran. He wrote a book entitled “Big Game Animals of Iran (Persia).” In it he made several references to wolf attacks on humans.  Jamsheed says that for a millennia people have reported wolves attacking and killing humans. In winter, when starving wolves grow bold, they have been known to enter towns and kill people in daylight on the streets. Apparently, in Iran, there are many cases of wolves running off with small children. There is also a story of a mounted and armed policeman (gendarme) being followed by 3 wolves. In time he had to get off his horse to attend to nature’s call, leaving his rifle in the scabbard. A later reconstruction at the scene of the gnawed bones and wolf tracks indicated that the horse had bolted and left the man defenseless, whereupon he was killed and eaten.

A Russian Linguist, Will Graves, provided reports of wolves killing Russian people in many areas of that country. Reports indicate some of the wolves were diseased while others appeared healthy.

Reports have also come from rural China. The official Zinhua News Agency reported that a peasant woman, Wu Jing, snatched her two daughters from the jaws of a wolf and wrestled with the animal until rescuers arrived. Wu slashed at the wolf with a sickle and it dropped one daughter, but grabbed her sister. It was then Wu wrestled with the animal until herdsmen came and drove the beast away. This incident occurred near Shenyang City, about 380 miles northeast of Beijing. (Chronicle Features, 1992)

The question arises: “Why so many attacks in Asia and so few in North America?”

Two factors must be considered:

1.      The Philosophy of Conservation - Our forefathers always believed that they had the right and obligation to protect their livelihoods.  Considerable distance was necessary between man and wolf for the wolf to survive.

2.      Firearms - Inexpensive, efficient weapons gave man the upper hand in the protection of his livelihood and for the taking of wolves.

Milton P. Skinner in his book, “The Yellowstone Nature Bookâ€

Rashid Jamsheed was born in old Iran and has spent most of his life hunting. He headed to every continent looking only for exceptional heads. His journeys have been many…hunting Sheep, Ibex and Markhour from Asia to North America.

Again great cut and past, you can post other peoples information regarding the wolves, but again we are the ones in the field with the wolves.
You only offer propaganda and paranoia, go to our site read our encounters and then go to the links and check out other sites.

Of course wolves attack people and so do other wild animals, no one is saying different, but look at the facts one person killed by wolves in north America in500 years! And he and his friends were baiting them. And for god sake man no one on the coast has ever been killed by a wolf, sure wolves cause problem, but those problems are related to our proximity to wolves for example building dumps near wolves habitats,  the wolves have been on Kaien island before humans, the first nations people of the coast have great respect for the wolves and oral stories talk about how the wolves shaped the first nation’s society.

What you are posting has been disputed in other Literature, people like us and other researchers are trying to change the way wolves are portrayed in society. There is just as much info from ranchers who have positive encounters with the wolves of yellow Stone Park then those have negative encounters. 

So before you go and cut and past more propaganda do a search on the positive encounters with wild wolves….

Positive or not , my thoughts on wolves is preventive. I dont believe to wait for a wolf attack on a child or anyone else, the thing is that the wolf population has exploded here in PR, When I was a child I wouldnt think twice about going to Miller bay or Grassy bay to go camp out for the night and never see a wolf around at all, Not saying there was none but there was less.
My logic may be flawed but I also believe the deer population the be culled as well. About that dump, where were the researchers before it was built? Were they caught off guard by the quick overnight construction? I myself dont know if there was any oppposition to that dump over wolves. I also dont like people encouraging others to go see predatory wildlife up close, Even a deer can be dangerous if all the factors are right, Also people themselves are to blame for what you call “propaganda and paranoia”  for thier own stupidity.

Here is another person who was trying to change the way bears were potrayed. ( I wont cut and paste  :smiley: )

adn.com/front/story/4110831p-4127072c.html

Doesnt look so positive for the bears.

On a lighter note maybe they can just relocate them to another location where they will be more appreciated, better option than shooting them.
Anywhoo not trying to make enemies I just have a point of view not trying to change yours I respect your opinion as I hope you respect mine, I just choose people over wolves.

(Even though the wolves sometimes smell better and offer better company)

That’s odd, who would have thought by going into the wilderness you would encounter wildlife. Strange, strange world.

I know, Its a mad, mad, world

He was probably wearing a name badge and the wolves, who are bad spellers, thought he was one of them.

Well we are not going to stop our research because you think it’s a bad thing. Were still going out to collect wolf scat and take pictures and video. And you can keep preaching about what ever you would like, that’s fine by us. We won’t tell you that your philosophy is a bit off, and on the side of fear mongering, people can judge that for themselves. Until you go out and do research and show us your hard evidence to counter what we have observed while in the field, your opinions really don’t mean too much.
Have a great day from the comfort of your lazyboy chair 

Just to clear up a couple of things, I never said for you to stop your research, do it all you would like too, I have hobbies too, I milk cats. (That last statement was an attempt at humor) And I’m not preaching, I’m not a minister, I dont have an anti-wolf bible.
And I have went out around Kaien Island for years camping and hiking , Its a very nice area. I may have taken your last post maybe wrong but it felt a little hostile, if I came across as that to you I am sorry.
Also to get my evidence around here, people would have to get hurt and I wouldnt want that for anything. But the close calls I have heard about are good enough for me. Heck even domesticated animals have been known to attack humans, even thier owners.

Also you have assumed that I sit in a lazy boy chair all day as you do A person called “Jaboo”

This is an excerpt from your webpage:

"Its ok Jaboo you rather view wild life from the comfort of your lazy boy chair in front of a TV, but were going to enjoy it by experiencing it in the wild. "

Subtle insults often are rude, which I was not trying to be to you.

I was also wondering if you would take feedback on your website which is very well done, Have you thought about adding a section on how to react to wolves and not seem threatening…etc. Some kind of preventive action to keep from seeming like a threat or food?

Anyways have a nice day and dont take things to heart, This is a forum, where people of different opinions get together and talk.  :smiley:

PS:Looking for a good Lazy boy cheap! That was a good idea, I want one now!

I do get bent out of shape, :unamused: because my wife and have never had a problem, my wife who was  pregnant most of last year had encounters with wolves near there summer den, and not once felt threatened. we spent a lot our time, hiking to find the summer and spring Den sites. So when we talk about our encounters its from first hand knowledge and more importantly our devotion to do more for them. 
Again you are entitled to your opinions, and they are most welcomed.
I will say it again please drop by our site, and read about our encounters.
Have a nice day :smiley:

I do believe I have a page that talks about wolves and people on it.
kaienislandwolves.com/?page_id=38

, and thanks for the feedback, PM or email davidw@citytel.net about what you would like too see on the website…

Ahhh!  You guys make me feel all warm inside.  Must be February, the month of love!

Astro,  are you in contact with wolf researchers?  It seems to me your field work would be valuable for any wildlife biologist.