Dangerous Animal Encounters – Section 3.3.2 K9s: Wolves
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Like cougars, wolves stir a deep fear in a vast majority of people. We grow up hearing stories of the big bad wolf. It’s interesting to see just how far wolf fear has penetrated into our culture when you begin looking for it. While much of this demonization likely came from historical interactions between humans and their livestock, the reality is that wolves pose very little risk to humans.
Unlike coyotes, as a general rule, wolves are not very comfortable around urban areas and therefore do not generally spend time near densely populated areas. They are also extremely aware and very shy of humans, which makes sense given their history of being persecuted, hunted, trapped, and poisoned for centuries. As with most creatures, wolves have a lot more to fear from us than we do from them.
In addition to their extreme awareness, wolves have a really solid trio of senses with great vision, hearing, and an incredible sense of smell. They are also very intelligent creatures and have been observed working together to facilitate some ingenious hunting strategies.
What are my chances of running into a wolf?
Generally, like cougars, close human encounters with wolves are extremely rare. Wolves generally sense us long before we are near and simply slink off into the woods with no one being the wiser. When close encounters do happen, it is generally out of wolf curiosity rather than aggression. Like cougars, wolves are very curious creatures and will investigate interesting happenings within their territories. Weighing in between 80 and 180 lbs wolves can get very large. Make no mistake, they are very capable predators. I once found the track of an alpha male wolf in the northwestern United States that measured 5 inches wide and 5 inches long, much bigger than any domestic dog track that I have ever seen.
Wolves feed primarily on large ungulates, deer, elk, moose, and buffalo where available. They generally form packs that range in size from a handful of animals up to a dozen or so. An alpha male and alpha female who are supported by the other pack members lead the pack.
Aggressive encounters between wolves and humans are very very rare. In fact, since 1930, there have only been two reported cases of wild wolves killing humans. If you do have a close encounter with a wolf in the wild that is not actively retreating, you should make yourself look as big as possible and present direct dominant behavior. Yell and throw things at it if possible.
How to defend against a wolf
If a wild wolf did attack you, it is most likely that the wolf would be trying to predate upon you and not simply defending itself. Wolves do not generally defend space like bears will, generally choosing instead to retreat in the presence of humans. Your best bet in this scenario is to fight back hard as you can and hope someone else is around to help. Unfortunately there is really not much else you can do. Bear spray or pepper spray would be an effective tool to deter a wolf attack, which would be similar to the attack of a very large domestic dog. In most areas in North America, if you are in wolf country you are also in bear country. So why not bring along bear spray just in case.
Domesticated wolves do often pose a serious threat to humans, which is why they are outlawed in many states. An attack by a domesticated wolf or wolf hybrid should be treated the same as an attack by a domesticated dog.