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Author Topic: UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS ARE WOLVES HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO Humans?  (Read 1520 times)

Offline wolfbait

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UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS ARE WOLVES HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO Humans?
« on: November 08, 2009, 07:23:39 PM »
UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS ARE WOLVES HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO

HUMANS?

Wolves become dangerous when they run out of food, be it by depleting prey, or by

encountering difficulties in hunting by virtue of old age, or young age and lone status and

low social rank, or due to illness, or due to injury inflicted by a hunter, or by reacting to a

scream of a wounded pack member and attacking, or by mistaking the human as prey.

Well fed wolves can also become dangerous, but under conditions where they take

advantage of a rich feeding opportunity that – constantly – bring s them into close contact

with humans. This can happen at garbage dumps and on campgrounds. However, a

necessary condition for attacks to occur is the de facto or de jure protection of wolves.

When these conditions are met, wolves begin to explore humans as alternative prey.



HOW DO WOLVES EXPLORE FOR ALTERNATIVE PREY?

A brief departure into theory is required here: all organisms – no exception – act so as to

live in predictable surroundings and circumstances. Predictability is here key! The main

reason for that is that under most conditions energy and nutrients for maintenance, let

alone reproduction, are difficult to acquire, and are digested, metabolized into growth or

work quite inefficiently. The cheapest way to live, which is the way by which the

organism may set aside and store enough energy and nutrients for reproduction, is to live

under utterly predictable circumstances. To make the environment predictable, organisms

have mechanisms of exploration and the manner of making the unknown known is

remarkably similar be the organisms mice, sheep, wolves or men. It is a process of little

excursions into the unfamiliar followed by a quick retreat into familiar where the animals

dwells mostly, till it sums up its “courage” to do a bit more exploration. The manner of

the wolf exploring and becoming familiar with new prey happens to be exceedingly slow

and proceeds in stages over along time, as the wolf, by nature, is – and needs to be -

exceedingly timid. When confronting an unknown prey, the last exploration by a wolf is

to attackiv[iv].



These are the 7 stages leading to an attack on people by wolves.

1) Within the packs territory prey is becoming scarce not only due to

increased predation on naïve prey animals, but also by the prey evacuating

home ranges en mass, leading to a virtual absence of prey. OR Wolves

increasingly visit garbage dumps at night. We observed the former in

summer and fall 1999. Deer left the meadow systems occupied by wolves

and entered boldly into suburbs and farm, causing – for the first time –

much damage to gardens, sleeping at night close to barns and houses,

which they had not done in the previous four years. The wintering grounds

of trumpeter swans, Canada geese and flocks of several species of ducks

were vacated. The virtual absence of wildlife in the landscape was

striking.

2) Wolves in search of food began to approach human habitations – at night!

Their presence was anounced by frequent and loud barking of farm dogs.

A pack of sheep-guarding dogs raced out each eveining to confront the

wolf pack, resulting in extended barking duels at night. The wolves were

heard howling even during the day.

3) The wolves appear in daylight and at some distance observe people doing

their daily chores. Wolves excel at learning by close, steady

observationv[v]. They approach buildings during daylight.

4) Small bodied livestock and pets are attacked close to buildings even

during the day. The wolves act distinctly bolder in their actions. They

preferentially pick on dogs and follow these right up to the verandas.

People out with dogs find themselves defending their dogs against a wolf

or several wolves. Such attacks are still hesitant and people save some

dogs. At this stage wolves do not focus on humans, but attack pets and

some livestock with determination. However, they may threaten humans

with teethe exposed and growling when these are defending dogs, or show

up close to a female dog in heat, or close to a kill or carryon defended by

wolves. The wolves are still establishing territory.

5) The wolves explore large livestock, leading to docked tails, slit ears and

hocks. Livestock may bolt through fences running for the safety of barns.

The first seriously wounded cattle are found; they tend to have sever

injuries to the udders, groin and sexual organs and need to be put down.

The actions of wolves become more brazen and cattle or horses may be

killed close to houses and barns where the cattle or horses were trying to

find refuge. Wolves may follow riders and surround them. They may

mount verandas and look into windows.

6) Wolves turn their attention to people and approach such closely, initially

merely examining them closely for several minutes on end. This is a

switch from establishing territory to targeting people as prey. The wolves

may make hesitant, almost playful attacks biting and tearing clothing,

nipping at limbs and torso. They withdraw when confronted. They defend

kills by moving towards people and growling and barking at them from

10-20 paces away.

7) Wolves attack people. These initial attacks are clumsy, as the wolves have

not yet learned how to take down efficiently the new prey. Persons

attacked can often escape because of the clumsiness of the attacks. A

mature, courageous man may beat off or strangulate an attacking wolf.

However, against a wolf pack there is no defense and even two able and

armed men may be killed. Wolves as pack hunters are so capable a

predator, that they may take down black bears, even grizzly bearsvi[vi].

Wolves may defend kills.

The attack may not be motivated by predation, but be a matter of more detailed

exploration unmotivated by hunger. This explains why wolves on occasion carry away

living, resisting children, why they do not invariably feed on the humans they killed, but

may abandon such, just as they may kill foxes and just leave them, why injuries to an

attacked person my at times be surprisingly light, granted the strength of a wolf’s jaw and

its potential shearing powervii[vii].

http://rliv.com/wolf/GeistWhenDangerous.pdf

Offline carpsniperg2

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Re: UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS ARE WOLVES HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO Humans?
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2009, 07:33:07 PM »
i hate wolves i never thought i would ever have to worry about seeing them or there being no game for when i have kids for them to hunt. to many dam preditors anyways let alone putting the master hunter the wolf in the mix.

nuke the wolves before they nuke our game and our livestock and maybe some people
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