Wolves in the Entiat

[hirshey]

Wolves eating people? Are you serious? Read the stats: 1 or possibly 2 in the recorded history of North America, and one of them (IMO) may have been a major part of the problem.

I was prey tested by two wolves. They were charging me and close enough that when I ran out of rocks, I was hitting them in the face with large grain sand/rocks. They had ZERO fear even when I fired my gun. You will never convince me that these opportunistic apex predators don't pose a threat to humans when the right situation arises.

To date, more people have been attacked and killed by mountain lions and bear in North America than by wolves. Until that statistic changes, people will continue to see wolves as shy and not too threatening. In other words, the naysayers aren't listening.

Side note, do you know if you were near a kill or den when your encounter happened?

Part of that issue comes from biologists and other natural resource specialists preaching that these animals are not dangerous. It is unfortunate that some of these "professionals" have had less time in the woods and more time behind  desks pushing their agendas to really know for certain. The lady archery hunter in Idaho that shot the wolf charging her with her pistol (about a month after my aggressive encounter) is another prime example of this aggressive behavior in action. There was an old kill I had hiked to investigate but those animals followed me for miles displaying that behavior. Biologists said it was not a den site.

[BIGINNER]

the reason why there's not much wolf attacks in north America is because wolves haven't been around populated areas for a very long time.  do some research on wolf attacks in Russia and other places where people and wolves "coexist"

[AspenBud]

the reason why there's not much wolf attacks in north America is because wolves haven't been around populated areas for a very long time.  do some research on wolf attacks in Russia and other places where people and wolves "coexist"

But we don't live in Russia, we live in America, and our wolves are not Eurasian wolves. That's the argument you'll get.

It's not me that you need to convince. I'm beginning to question just how much wolves in western WA will really have an impact on public opinion outside of livestock owners and hunters.

Like I've said, you can bet that timber companies will welcome wolves on their lands to keep deer and elk in check and my gut feeling is most people won't care one way or another whether wolves are there or not. It's not like mountain lions, coyotes, and bear walking through towns like La Center or Seattle is unheard of nor are attacks on pets and people by those.

Unless wolves start picking off hunters, loggers, hikers, campers, mountain bikers etc I suspect the majority of the public will remain largely indifferent. If we had more of a hunting culture in this state it might be a different story. But I just don't see it. Pit bulls and child molesters are a bigger concern to most folks.

Hirshey had a close call and thank God it didn't turn out worse. But I guarantee most people will hear that story and say "so?" and point to cougar and bear attacks that led to someone getting hurt or even killed. It doesn't matter that wolves haven't been here for 70 years, people have a short memory and watch "Never Cry Wolf."

They aren't listening. I don't think that's right, but it's a fact.   

[Kola16]

the reason why there's not much wolf attacks in north America is because wolves haven't been around populated areas for a very long time.  do some research on wolf attacks in Russia and other places where people and wolves "coexist"

It's not me that you need to convince. I'm beginning to question just how much wolves in western WA will really have an impact on public opinion outside of livestock owners and hunters.

Like I've said, you can bet that timber companies will welcome wolves on their lands to keep deer and elk in check and my gut feeling is most people won't care one way or another whether wolves are there or not. It's not like mountain lions, coyotes, and bear walking through towns like La Center or Seattle is unheard of nor are attacks on pets and people by those.

Unless wolves start picking off hunters, loggers, hikers, campers, mountain bikers etc I suspect the majority of the public will remain largely indifferent. If we had more of a hunting culture in this state it might be a different story. But I just don't see it. Pit bulls and child molesters are a bigger concern to most folks.

There is not enough wildlife on the wet side. Once they get over here, they will run out of food and get into plenty of trouble. It will be over our news (hopefully), and people will begin to care.