Wolves v. Dogs

This time, the dog survived! Amazing...as is the story.

The owners say earlier Wednesday morning a pack of nine wolves mauled their dog.

When the husband realized what was happening, he bolted out the door and rescued their yellow lab from the jaws of the wolves.

The owner of the lab went on to say he feared a wolf that would attack his 90 pound dog would not hesitate to attack his 60 pound child.

Quote from the story: "Idaho Fish and Game says they've never had a report of wolves killing a human being."

That is a prime opportunity to read what is not said. In casual passing, you might go away with the impression that wolves have never killed a human. That, of course, would be a gross error. Wikipedia has an entry devoted to fatal wolf attacks, and of course the Carnegie case in Saskatchewan was not so far away, geographically or temporally.

Carefully reading what is not written, you see that what Idaho Fish and Game really said was that they, themselves, as an agency, (or possibly even more narrowly as that individual spokesperson) have never had a report of a human killed by wolves filed with their office.

The wolves, of course, were only re-introduced into Idaho in the mid 1990's.

Wolves v. Dogs

The wolves are winning in Ontario.


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Wolf attack in Timmins

Both families are sure the dogs were attacked by wolves.

“This was gruesome,” said Jeanne Lajoie. “This is something you just can’t accept.”

Both were husky-cross dogs, large in size, and the families learned how another neighbourhood dog had been killed just days before T-Bone.

Cougars versus Dogs

Previously, on the Dog Scoop, Ms. X had published a series of Dog versus Wolf posts showing what happened when man's best friend came face to face or canine to canine with his ancestors. Well, wolves aren't the only predators we face. In Oregon, the human and canine inhabitants are increasingly coming face to face with... cougars.

According to the story from KOIN News, the state's cougar population has risen to 6,000. Now I'm not a wildlife biologists, but I can do a little math. The entire state of Oregon is 97,052 square miles.

A typical cougar has a range of 50 to 150 square miles. If we're even conservative, 6,000 times 50 is 300,000 square miles. In fact, according the to Columbus Zoo fact sheet, "Except for mothers and their young, adult cougars like to live alone" and "a male cougar is very protective of his territory". So if even half of those cougars are adult males, we're still talking about 150,000 square miles to support all those cats.

Overpopulated?

Ms. X is not a wildlife biologist. According to the news articles, the cougar population has risen substantially since hunting with dogs was banned in 1994.

What a shame. Too bad the legislature that approved the ban couldn't ban the cougars from hunting the dogs.

Wolves versus Dogs

Here are some more stories on Wolves and Dogs from the archives...

(This blog originally posted on 6/23/2006.)

Wolf Pack Kills Dogs

Story out of Idaho, hunting hounds on a bear training trip are killed by a wolf pack.

The Fish and Game department in the state of Idaho has a "fact sheet" about keeping dogs safe from wolves in the wild.

Others say the government should keep it's wild animals on a tight leash, just like private citizens are expected to do.

Still others suggest subscribing to the ol' SSASU routine...

At the end of the day, Ms. X predicts the push to re-establish the wolf population will result in having traded an abundance of many species in the wild (deer, elk etc.), for one species in the wild - wolf, that attacks the human food sources such as sheep and cattle.

(This blog originally posted on 7/16/2006.)

So far the wolves are winning.

From Wisconsin, another report of bear dogs killed by wolves. Interestingly, this article says the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) will reimburse hunters for dogs lost to wolves. I wonder what the going rate for that is?

(Ms. X notes the original article is no longer availabe for free. Here is an exert from it:)

Timber wolves killed one bear-hunting dog and injured another July 1 in southwestern Lincoln County, the first day of the hound training period for bear hunting, state Department of Natural Resources officials said. As a result, the DNR expanded an existing warning area between Merrill and Rib Lake to include the affected area northeast of Goodrich near the Taylor-Lincoln-Marathon county line.

(This blog originally posted on 8/6/2006.)

Wolves versus Pet Dogs

Wisconsin, and this time it's not hunters, but a woman from the burbs that wrote the Wausau Daily Herald about a wolf attacking her dog, in her backyard.

No word on the outcome for either wolf or dog. I guess we assume they both live.

Ms. Western? How is the doggy?

(Ms. X notes the original article is no longer available for free, but here is an exert from it, written by a Ms. Western:)

On Friday, July 21, at 8:30 a.m., our dog was mauled by a wolf in our yard. I
did not see the attack but did see the dog in the wolf's mouth. I called the
Department of Natural Resources and they referred me to the USDA-Wildlife
Services. They came to the house, found the attack spot and tracks and told me
it may be a wolf. They said it wouldn't surprise them but there are no
documented packs in the area. I have no pictures to prove it was a wolf.

(This blog originally posted on 2/16/2007.)

Idaho gets hit again. This time it is not hunters dogs that are savaged by wolves. It is family pets.

Read the Story Here

Wolves versus Dogs (and Humans)

Seems like Alaska is quickly learning that wolves, in fact, don't fear humans as much as some people would like to believe. And, really, if you take 10 seconds to think about it, would dogs ever have been domesticated if they were half afraid of humans as people always say wild animals are?

Wolves become increasingly violent towards humans, pets

A pack of at least seven wolves surrounded the three women and their dogs
as they jogged just on Artillery Road. The lead wolves came within feet,
circling the women as they tried to get away.
"I was rainbowing my pepper spray, and they fell back a little bit. But as soon as we would turn our backs to try to go, they would run up on us, and we would turn around and start screaming again, and I would spray my pepper spray," said Eagle River resident, Camas Barkemeyer.

Here's a tip people, "rainbowing" pepper spray is a waste. You need to get some good strong shots directly to the nose of the animal.

Wildlife experts say wolves are smart animals and that they learn quickly. This means the pack will likely get worse before it gets better.
"If they figure out that dogs are easy to kill, and good food for them, then they can just come to the conclusion that there is a lot more dogs than moose, and 'let's just start eating the dogs for now.' I'm not sure they have quite reached that point,
but they are working on that concept right now," said Rick Sinnott of the Alaska
Department Of Fish and Game.

From another story at the same station: Fish and game officials hopeful wolf attacks will soon stop

The wolves living in the Anchorage Bowl are getting bold and no longer seem to be afraid of humans. . . Wildlife experts say killing certain members of the pack was the only thing that stopped a string of wolf attacks 13 years ago; and it could end up stopping this pack.
"Wolves are instinctively afraid of people, and it gets reinforced sometimes by trappers and hunters," said Sinnott.

I think that "instinctive fear" is a slender shield at best. Just ask that furry creature with sharp fangs and her head in your lap.

And when it comes to maintaining that fear in a wild predator, the only thing that works is the human not being easy prey, e.g. hunting and trapping.