Northern WI wolf attack

Black bears really aren’t hunters, mostly lazy omnivores so it’s typical they just want to raid your picnic basket and want nothing to do with you.

So far no followup to this story that I could find. Wolves shouldn’t be territorial at this time of year. They can be protective of dens when pups are born in spring, but normally against other dog-like animals. Maybe the age of the dead wolf may be a clue. A pack of young wolves could be dumb and brazen just like teenage humans.

This is why wolf hunts aren’t a simple answer. Sure it cuts down population numbers but the problem with that is it upsets the pack social structure if older wolves get culled. Might actually make things worse.

As solo canoe campers we should at least be mindful that aggressive wolf encounters are a possibility.

black bears are opportunistic hunters. They can kill all kinds of different animals, especially young ones.
Occasionally they are predatory on humans.

Not to be outdone by their American cousins . . .


wjmc

ppine said:

black bears are opportunistic hunters. They can kill all kinds of different animals, especially young ones.
Occasionally they are predatory on humans.

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I read a report years ago about a study that was done to determine what was causing a lowered survival rate for fawns - I don't remember which part of which state. The findings were that the population of black bears in that area had been finding the hiding fawns and having increased success at preying on them.

Steve in Idaho said:

I read a report years ago about a study that was done to determine what was causing a lowered survival rate for fawns - I don't remember which part of which state. The findings were that the population of black bears in that area had been finding the hiding fawns and having increased success at preying on them.

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In the Tetons in the 90s, black bears were the #1 cause of known mortality for elk calves. That was before grizzlies expanded significantly into the area.

Steve in Idaho said:

I read a report years ago about a study that was done to determine what was causing a lowered survival rate for fawns - I don't remember which part of which state. The findings were that the population of black bears in that area had been finding the hiding fawns and having increased success at preying on them.

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I listened to a talk on black bears in northern MN once. I can't comment on the knowledge of the presenter but they said they tracked the diet of black bears and an astounding amount of their diet was ants. There wasn't much meat except for fawning season.

Alan

Slightly off topic; there was a wolf killed in the Adirondacks by a coyote hunter this year. I recently saw a TV show about a first hand account about guy that was attacked by coyotes. He got tore up pretty good, they were lunging at his throat and he was lucky to have survived. A few years ago I got attacked by a raccoon in Pa, it probably had rabies.

Getting attacked by a wild animal is rare, but it happens. Like pine said, "Be ever vigilant"

Blukanu said:

Black bears really aren’t hunters, mostly lazy omnivores so it’s typical they just want to raid your picnic basket and want nothing to do with you.

So far no followup to this story that I could find. Wolves shouldn’t be territorial at this time of year. They can be protective of dens when pups are born in spring, but normally against other dog-like animals. Maybe the age of the dead wolf may be a clue. A pack of young wolves could be dumb and brazen just like teenage humans.

This is why wolf hunts aren’t a simple answer. Sure it cuts down population numbers but the problem with that is it upsets the pack social structure if older wolves get culled. Might actually make things worse.

As solo canoe campers we should at least be mindful that aggressive wolf encounters are a possibility.

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actually there have been dozens of studies that show that wolf populations change very little with hunting, and in some cases may actually increase, because hunters generally try to take the largest animals, leaving the breeders to have larger litters due to less competition for prey- more food to go around, more food for the females and pups, and bigger litters with lower mortality rates for the pups ...

Blukanu said:

This is why wolf hunts aren’t a simple answer. Sure it cuts down population numbers but the problem with that is it upsets the pack social structure if older wolves get culled. Might actually make things worse.

Click to expand...

A friend of mine spent a summer out west tracking wolf packs in Oregon a few years ago. He said, at that time, that if a pack killed livestock twice then then the entire pack was eliminated.

In once instance there had been a longstanding pack with no record of attacking livestock. The alpha female was legally killed by a hunter and then the pack began attacking livestock and was eliminated.

To track the individual packs they would radio track one wolf in every pack. When it came time to eliminate a pack this wolf was the last to be killed.

Alan

scoutergriz said:

actually there have been dozens of studies that show that wolf populations change very little with hunting, and in some cases may actually increase,

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So similar to coyotes. Think in the case of coyotes if the Alpha male gets taken out it becomes an all out **** as low status males who normally didn’t have breeding rights seize the opportunity. All the females end up pregnant before order is once again restored in the pack.

scoutergriz said:

actually there have been dozens of studies that show that wolf populations change very little with hunting

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I haven't seen these studies, but I'd guess they involve very regulated hunting. Our native ancestors in many parts of the world successfully hunted wolves to significant or total extinction.

This event still remains unexplained:

https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-c...l-teen-folk-singer-in-cape-breton-park-18896/

G.

Glenn MacGrady said:

I haven't seen these studies, but I'd guess they involve very regulated hunting. Our native ancestors in many parts of the world successfully hunted wolves to significant or total extinction.

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The general rule of thumb (based on a number of studies) is that wolves can sustain a 50% mortality rate and maintain their populations.

Summary of canoetripping.net's latest fascination:
Marauding moose
Killer coyotes
Bloodthirsty bears
Wicked wolves
Paranoid primates of the Homo Sapiens species

We have had a very nice relationship with Canis Lupus up here for many years. Sure, he will eat your dog, but other than that, he's a real pussycat. Around 30 years ago, on one of my early fall trips with Outers, a big black wolf sat at the edge of our camp all night. If approached, he would back off a few feet, but left to his own, he would return to his spot. Merely an observer, never a devourer. 20 years later, in the same area, with 25 kids, a pack started howling early in the evening. Up close wolf howls are something to experience, the hair on the back of your neck will stand up. Anyway, when I got up early in the morning, there were wolf tracks all over the camp, but nobody saw or heard a thing. I've seen several wolves up here, but have never felt threatened.

This summer has been a banner year for bears in our town. There are at least four to five reports a night of bears wandering around people's yards. Yesterday, the school I work at came out with a "Wild Animal Encounter" policy, because so many bears have been spotted around the schools in G-Town. My wife is the secretary at the local French school, and she has had to cancel recess several times in the last month because a big bear has been wanting to play at recess too. If this were occurring in Toronto, they would call out the army. in G-Town, both the OPP and the MNR have washed their hands of the problem. So far, no one has been eaten.

This weekend is the opener for moose season. There are three Wildlife Management Units within minutes of my house, and the plague of hunters from Southern Ontario began arriving on Monday. There will be thousands of these fellas in every gravel pit and pull off on every dirt road within 200 kilometres. They drink like fish, leave their garbage behind, and will fight each other for prime locations. It's the wild west until the end Of October. If the killer moose exist, I hope they suddenly manifest and send these SOCS flying back to Kitchener and Waterloo, and Toronto and Hamilton.

Coyotes in Nova Scotia are a weird breed, they can get up to 70 pounds, and they are something to be reckoned with. When we pulled the dead pigs out of the barn for the knacker to collect the following morning, they would show up and try to get a free side of bacon. We waited up one night and sent a shotgun slug threw him, it was the size of a small German Shepard.

In any case, live long and prosper fellow canoetrippers, the only animal I will be worried about this weekend as my wife and I travel the pristine waters of the Namewaminikan River in search of Alces alces, or in the vernacular of my wife's ancestors, l' Orignal, are the drunken bipeds from the southern parts of the province. There should be a pepper spray made specially for these prizes of humanity.

...when I got up early in the morning, there were wolf tracks all over the camp, but nobody saw or heard a thing.

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The night I sand bar camped on the Steel river (between the last 2 logjams), I saw what I believe were the tracks of several wolves in the sand the following morning. It's made me want to start taking a game camera along just to see what wanders through camp while I'm sleeping but I haven't picked up a cheapie yet (no need for fancy stuff like bluetooth way out there IMO)

Good luck with the hunt. Hopefully, this is your year.

Mem, you forgot the one about snakes. Definitely a lot of "fearsome animal" click bait on the site of late.

Now don't plunk me down in the wrong camp when I say this Mem, but the ocassional bear has been seen to wander down south of Barrie without too many people freaking out. https://www.tvo.org/article/why-ontarios-black-bears-are-moving-south
And to be fair, besides the snickerdoodle dog owners getting in a huff over little Fluffy getting eaten by ravaging hungry coyotes, the southern authorites have pretty much thrown up their hands and concluded that these Cani latrans are here to stay. And they've thrown up warning signage, so it all must be true.

memaquay said:

Paranoid primates of the Homo Sapiens species

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I think it's more of a healthy dose of anxiety rather than real paranoia Mem. The paranoid people probably stay home, at least after their first time out.

lowangle al said:

I think it's more of a healthy dose of anxiety rather than real paranoia Mem. The paranoid people probably stay home, at least after their first time out.

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This may be true, but just this morning I recognized the vehicle in front of me waiting at the lights. I could tell it was our neighbour from up the block by the conspiracy paranoid stickers all over their bumper. And tailgate. And rear window. He must've run outta room on his garage and lawn. I won't divulge the shrill warnings they're given to spread with these "(mis)infographics, but I can tell you the next time I'm standing in line waiting for the big replacement by my friendly neighbourhood invading aliens from Uranus there's no way I'm dropping my shorts.
A quick little beep from the impatient driver behind me woke me from my daydream, my daydream having just about covered all the crazed fake factoid stickers all over their rolling advert. He jack-rabbited the green and sped on up to the next light while I dawdled behind kinda relieved I was living in my own happy sappy soap bubble world completely out of touch with all the dangers raining down on us. (Well, my neighbour anyway, not so much on me because I like being "out of touch".) He might've been entitled seeing as he's running from the Bigfoot army employed by the Feds wanting to take away his crayons. But I'm sure glad we crossed paths however briefly, it added some colour to my morning.

Odyssey said:

kinda relieved I was living in my own happy sappy soap bubble world completely out of touch with all the dangers raining down on us.

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LOL. I was involved in a one way conversation this morning with a customer as he gave me a litany of similar problems.

All I could think was, "I sure am glad I'm not you."

Alan