Wolf not so cuddly for this Canadian Woman

[pianoman9701]

This is a really incredible story.

'I was in trouble': Beer can and bears save mushroom picker from hungry wolf
Joanne Barnaby was stalked by a wolf for 12 hours, eventually leading the animal into a trap
By Katherine Barton, CBC News Posted: Jun 15, 2016 11:22 AM CT Last Updated: Jun 17, 2016 11:51 AM CT

What's the best way to fend off a wolf that's stalking you? Bait it with a bear cub, of course.

It sounds incredible, but that's exactly what Joanne Barnaby did when she got into a terrifying situation while out picking morel mushrooms near Fort Smith, N.W.T., last Friday.

UPDATE: After terrifying wolf encounter, N.W.T. woman faces media storm and naysayers
Barnaby and her friend Tammy Caudron headed out to an area burned by wildfires to spend an hour or two searching for the elusive morels. They soon became separated, leaving Barnaby alone with her loyal dog, Joey.

Once her pail was full of mushrooms, she turned to head back toward her truck.

Joanne Barnaby was mushroom picking when she got separated from her friend near Fort Smith, N.W.T. (CBC)

"I heard this growl behind me. There was a long, tall, very, very skinny wolf. A black wolf. And his legs were spread and his hair was standing, and he was growling, and baring his teeth."

Joey charged the animal, but the wolf stood its ground.

"I don't think Joey expected that," Barnaby says. "I didn't want him hurt, of course, but I also knew that if the wolf got Joey, I'd be next."

'Trying to wear me down'

The wolf started pacing back and forth in the direction of the truck. Barnaby says it was forcing her to go farther east, away from the highway.

"It took me a while to realize that he knew what he was doing. He was trying to wear me down. He was trying to separate Joey and I," she says.

"I think he was weak. He didn't look healthy. He looked old to me ... I don't think he wanted to take us both on."

What followed was a 12-hour hunt. The wolf continued to pursue Barnaby and Joey, as they were pushed farther from her truck.

'I started praying to not let the mosquitos drive me insane.'
- Joanne Barnaby
"He was dogged. He was just determined," Barnaby says. "I was in trouble."

Barnaby said she became dehydrated, her calves and thighs were aching, and there was another vicious attacker that was testing her mental strength.

"I was going crazy with mosquitoes. There were zillions of mosquitoes."

Dangerous plan pays off

At about 4:30 a.m., Barnaby heard a loud noise. She quickly recognized it as a mother bear. Listening closely, trying to drown out the buzz of mosquitoes, sure enough she heard a cub respond from far away in the distance. The two bears had been separated.

"I realized that there was a chance that the mother bear would tackle the wolf if she felt that the wolf was a threat," Barnaby explains.

"So I made the choice of walking towards the cub."

It worked. After walking about 20 minutes, Barnaby's dangerous plan paid off.

"I heard this big crashing behind me and realized that the mama bear had attacked the wolf, or maybe the other way around, I don't know, but they were fighting and I could hear the wolf yelping and I could hear the mama bear growling and I could hear all this crashing and I just took off!"

Decision to live

Finally free of the wolf, Barnaby and Joey both "perked right up" when they saw a lake.

"I had brought one can of beer with me. Silly choice," she laughs. "That little can of beer ended up saving my life."

She drank can after can of water and finally took a break.

'This one was a decision to live and it was really powerful.'
- Joanne Barnaby
"I started praying to not let the mosquitos drive me insane. Then I just started talking to people I love, some of whom are still with us, some of whom have passed.

"As I talked to them and told them how much I loved them," Barnaby said, her voice breaking, "everything they mean to me, it energized me, and I was determined to see everybody again.

"All night I had been making decisions of sorts, but this one was a decision to live and it was really powerful."

Lessons learned

When the pair finally climbed onto the highway Saturday morning, Barnaby saw vehicles parked on the road about a kilometre away.

"I was like, 'OK, we're good. We're really good.'"

A police truck, carrying a local RCMP officer and a Parks Canada worker, drove to Barnaby and Joey.

"They both jumped out of the truck and we had big hugs, and of course they were full of questions, but they didn't have any bug spray for me! I couldn't believe it!" she laughs.

Barnaby is still kicking herself for not bringing her gun into the bush, calling it a "huge mistake."

"Don't do what I did. Don't go without your gun," she says. "Anything can happen.

"If I had had that gun, it would've been a very short situation."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wolf-bear-bait-joanne-barnaby-nwt-1.3636604

[C-Money]

Wow! Pretty crazy story...glad it worked out for her and her dog!! Amazing.

[Fl0und3rz]

Barnaby is still kicking herself for not bringing her gun into the bush, calling it a "huge mistake."

"Don't do what I did. Don't go without your gun," she says. "Anything can happen.

"If I had had that gun, it would've been a very short situation."

That is a crazy story, and I am glad she got this out there.  It could have just been a boring story about mushroom picking.

[Kittman]

I read this story to and what was truly amazing was how soon the media and/or wolf advocates were trying to pick apart her story and give discredit to her.  Simply amazing...

[bearpaw]

They criticize her but she was smarter than most people! She didn't end up like the school teacher in Alaska! 

[crowinghen]

Wow! Way to think outside the box!! Good for her!

[pianoman9701]

They criticize her but she was smarter than most people! She didn't end up like the school teacher in Alaska! 

Our government and the animal rights crowd does our community a great disservice by not educating people to not only the dangers of wolf/human interaction, but steps to take with an encounter like this. 90% of our citizens only see the Disney representation of these critters. It'd truly be a shame if that resulted in their death or injury by wolf. No one, regardless of their politics or animal involvement, should be ignorant of these dangers. I'm quite certain that most members of this forum would be fine at any time in wolf country. But the ignorant people, like the ones who want to pet the buffalo at Yellowstone, would be screwed.

[Odell]

I'll be the first to admit her story sounds a bit much. Not the wolf part, but leading a wolf into a mama bear attack? Could be true but I don't blame people for thinking she made it up. But lots of people are doubting a wolf could be aggressive which is just insane. Of course they can, I've seen aggressive squirrels for God sake, every animal can be aggressive and predators much more so. What kind of dumb do you have to be to claim a hungry wolf could never attack a human?

Anyhow, I had to go look at the wolf attacks on Wiki and this one is amazing-

The temperature had dropped to -43 °F one night in mid January, the weather was severe and small game had become scarce. Mr. Duging failed to return that night from a hunting trip. His friends found his body gnawed to the bone the following morning, within 2 miles of their logging camp. Thirteen wolves that he had shot dead lay scattered near his body. At his side was his Winchester rifle with one round still loaded in the chamber.

Tough way to go, but took 13 with him. Wonder how many there were?

[7mmfan]

Went down fighting with a hail of lead flying. Can't think of much better ways to go really.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

They criticize her but she was smarter than most people! She didn't end up like the school teacher in Alaska! 

Our government and the animal rights crowd does our community a great disservice by not educating people to not only the dangers of wolf/human interaction, but steps to take with an encounter like this. 90% of our citizens only see the Disney representation of these critters. It'd truly be a shame if that resulted in their death or injury by wolf. No one, regardless of their politics or animal involvement, should be ignorant of these dangers. I'm quite certain that most members of this forum would be fine at any time in wolf country. But the ignorant people, like the ones who want to pet the buffalo at Yellowstone, would be screwed.

Of all the ways there are to die in the woods or any other way, a wolf attack is near the bottom. Statistically, you are more likely to die driving in your car or checking into a hospital or eating a hot dog.

[JimmyHoffa]

They criticize her but she was smarter than most people! She didn't end up like the school teacher in Alaska! 

Our government and the animal rights crowd does our community a great disservice by not educating people to not only the dangers of wolf/human interaction, but steps to take with an encounter like this. 90% of our citizens only see the Disney representation of these critters. It'd truly be a shame if that resulted in their death or injury by wolf. No one, regardless of their politics or animal involvement, should be ignorant of these dangers. I'm quite certain that most members of this forum would be fine at any time in wolf country. But the ignorant people, like the ones who want to pet the buffalo at Yellowstone, would be screwed.

Of all the ways there are to die in the woods or any other way, a wolf attack is near the bottom. Statistically, you are more likely to die driving in your car or checking into a hospital or eating a hot dog.

partly because of either small human population (most of Canada and Alaska) or small wolf population (most of the US).  Not really an area I can think of where a large wolf population is overlapping a large human population.
Statistically, the hospital (bad reactions, infections, errors) is actually really high compared to most other forms of death that are considered rare.