Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Wolves Kill, Eat Human

Dave,
That would probably be a State Park or US Forest Service office. I suspect it may have changed over the years, but I'll look for it. Glad your dog was ok.

I have a news article from the 20s (I think), but I can't find it right now. I think it was from Ely; maybe the Timber Jay? Anywho, it told a story of a guy walking accross Snowbank (maybe) lake, late at night, that got et by wolves. It has happened in Mn. The thing was though, that they et him up but spit him out, as the taste was horrible. The word spread from pack to pack that Minnesotans just don't taste good and we have not had an attack since. Ok, I made up that last part.

Sorry___unhijack.

the display i talk about was a full body mount woof, big-un too, can't be too many of those along that stretch up there. it was inside a big glass cube type of display case, prolly to keep me from pee-ing on it.

Why does it really matter?

Golden Retrievers kill people, so do black bears and mountain lions and no one out west thinks that is sufficient reason to exterminate them.

In all the time that I have lived in MN, and much of it not more than 20 miles from Snowbank Lake, I have never heard of a wolf attack, much less a fatality. If it is that rare an event, I think we all have better things to worry about.

It puzzles me how so many double standards are applied where wolves are involved.

Brent

Cougars get hated a lot in Oregon, with similar rhetoric applied to them, and there's never been a fatal cougar attack documented here..

Our F&W guys are begging hunters to shoot cougars on sight. I will, because they say it's necessary, but reluctantly. On the other hand they do come through our property from time to time and I will shoot on sight there, because you shouldn't ever SEE a cougar. You see 'em, that means they are desensitized to humans WAAY too much. Time to S, S, and S.

-jeff

Brent,
Just trying to keep to the facts. What puzzles me is when radical anti-wolfers post that wolves attacked somebody, they exclaim "see, those greenie [bleep] don't know shiite!". "They say there has never been a documented....., and now we have proof there has been!" Now really, who do you know that says there has never been a documented.....?" Who are those guys? No one has ever said that to me.
And anyway, the story I told would only be considered anecdotal anyway.

"They?" Sure some do, but hardly all pro wolf people. Just like anything else, there are many types of people and not all pro wolf people - or even most, say that. And refering them as greenie [bleep] that don't shiite(whatever that is), won't make any converts to your cause.

And your's is a cause it seems. You seem as radical in your name calling and declarations as "they" do in their's.

I'm just a science guy. So, I don't really give a rip about all the emotional baggage on either side of the arguments. I just like to understand the system - and the "system" is such that wolves are a pretty major, important, influential, player in most functional ecosystems where they once occured. That is not really debatable in a scientific sense unless you are one of those guys that likes to argue that the earth is flat, evolution is "just a theory" and so forth.

I don't really care if the wolves eat one person every century or one every month. Lots of things out there are have are dangerous and I don't recommend their extinction either (rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears of all types, raccoons and everything else that could have rabies etc.).

It is a big hairy world and I like it that way.

Brent

That was probably at Tofte or Grand Marais. The Tofte station is too small for a case like that, as I recall, but the GM station is bigger I think. Either of those qualify as North Shore places.



Brent, I don't think there are many wolf exterminators here, unless you count those who would like to see "their" wolves removed from what is established agricultural territory. In those instances, having wolf packs, and especially re-introduced packs, makes about as much sense as having wild dog packs which are protected.

If you like the "science" approach, consider what things were like in Alaska before fish and game (including wolves) were managed. Of course there were no motorized vehicles which could handle snow so people traveled by dog teams or walked. Even so, it was not uncommon for a person to see no moose tracks all winter some years in habitat which no supports many moose. Wolves are indeed a natural part of things. The big question becomes whether we are willing to put up with that. Would Americans continue to hunt if a generation or two of people had little opportunity to hunt deer, moose, etc, simply because the natural cycle was on the down side? That would sure please some folks. No, I would not want to see wolves exterminated. However, I sure do appreciate the people who use a scientific approach when controlling them as and when necessary. I like to see them, I like to hear them, but I also feel no more or less remorse about killing them than prey animals. Like the ungulates, they really are quite useful.

BrentD:
�Golden Retrievers kill people, so do black bears and mountain lions and no one out west thinks that is sufficient reason to �exterminate� them.


�I don't really care if the wolves eat one person every century or one every month. Lots of things out there are have are dangerous and I don't recommend their �extinction� either (rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bears of all types, raccoons and everything else that could have rabies etc.).�


You like to use words like �extermination� and �extinction� but I haven�t noticed anyone advocating that.

So, you�re a �Science Guy�, WOW, I guess that means you know more than most of us who have to deal with wolves.

You musta skipped English though.
Exterminate------ To destroy completely. v.annihilate, abolish, blot out, eradicate, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, obliterate, root out, stamp out, wipe out.

Extinction-----�The act of totally destroying or wiping out : extermination, annihilation, eradication, extinction, extinguishment, extirpation, liquidation, destruction, elimination, abolishment, demolishment. �

Smitty of the North

Exactly right. We had a pack kill 3 people on the peninsula last year. The rampage was finally ended with a blanket of cyanide getters. Sadly, a few poodles were killed in the process.

It was in all the papers. Y'all probably saw the stories.

What the H are talking about? What exactly is my "cause?" If you carefully read my post, you should see that I am quoting what I see radical anti-wolfers write about "pro-wolfers." I wrote "....that don't know Shiite" because I think its a cute way to write "[bleep]." See, [bleep] don't work but Shiite does; Get it? You sure get worked up easy, and over nothing but misreading and misunderstanding. Get a grip.

I'm a science guy too, but I DO and I learn. I'm one of the guys who do the field work that you read and tell your students about. My "cause" is to learn and inform. My opinion is that wolves should be managed like other game animals because they are as magnificent as any other game animal. That's right, I'm on the wolves' side. If you have not seen me argue that case on this forum, you are really missing something very basic. So back the F off and think before you press the "submit" button.

Well, there is a wolf mount, in a glass case with other critters right inside the front door, at the Grand Marais USFS station. Remember that USFS is NOT MN DNR Forestry. I was here when they built the new building 6 or 7 years ago. I know the gal who put in the display and I just left the station as I had some other business there. I talked to the gal who put up the display, but she does not know where the mount came from; perhaps another station where Dave may have seen it. She says there are no other north shore offices with wolf mounts. This one has nothing like what Dave describes. In fact, as the gal said, they would never put something up like that as "they are not allowed to have an opinion."
Anyway, I'll keep looking.

DPole - sorry to have ruffled your feathers so badly. Meanwhile, I'm hardly worked up at all. Can't take much of anything on this forum seriously enough crack a sweat over it.

I don't mind seeing wolves hunted where they can be. I also don't see much reason to think that the world (or hunting) needs to come to an end if they aren't. How long has it been since Minnesota had a wolf season (or shall we say, a time when wolf shooting was allowed?). 50 yrs maybe? Certainly close to that. In that time, how many humans have been killed? Zero (but maybe we should increase that by 1 for Snowbank Man).

How has the deer herd done in that time? Doubled, tripled, quadrupled? What's your best guess? Certainly it is up dramatically.

It seems that you and some others don't much care for having the same sort of rhetoric pitched at you that you spew in the name of cuteness at everyone else. All dish I guess.

Say, what field work are you doing that I could read about for my classes? Of course, I do a lot of field work myself, so I'm just curious what you are up to.

Brent

It's not the wolves so much that bother me as it is the people who credit them for things like the elevated deer population.

yeah, wolves did that, good job wolves, you guys are awesome. How can we re-pay you? How bout some domestic pets & livestock?

turkeys, sheep, cattle? how bout fido here? I know these domestic animals aren't natural prey for you but since you are protected & have far outgrown your natural habitat areas, and since these critters are way easier to "hunt" than those deer, have at them.

I just love you woofy, woofy-woofy boo-boo, give me a hug, oh good boy, goooood boy. You are the inspiration for my existence woofy boo-boo, hold still while I paint a majestic howling wolf likeness of you to print on thousands of T-shirts. Is that a flea & tick collar wedged in your teeth? We'll just leave that out of the painting, along with the blood stains on your filthy coat.....

Oh woofy, your mystical spirit installs order & balance to the world... blah-blah-puke-gag.


Hey pole, It's been a long time since I was up through that way, I'll bet it's been at least 7 years, I bet i filled out a half a dozen suggestion cards at that display airing out my frustration over that statement.

Try 1973! Far from 50 years - what kind of field work do you do????

I see alot of the Tredwell type garbage too Dave, some people will never learn... Oh I Love You Wolffy be a Nice Bear or was that a Wonderful Rattle Mr.Snake you must need a Love, Oh thats right Mr.Crock you need a kiss too.... Even Science sometimes is Very Lacking in Common Sense.

I'll try to make this real simple.
I'm not ruffled, only asking you what the heck you are talking about, and trying to clarify my position in case you were confused. You made some charges about me. I asked you to clarify. You didn't. I'll try again.
1)What is my cause?
2)Show me where I'm as "radical in" my "name calling and declarations as "they" do in their's." Where did I refer to "pro-wolfers" as "greenie [bleep]?"

Oh.. and 3) I'm still waiting for you to explain the last claim you made against me.. as to how guys like me are making the "planet and society so screwed up."

Well heck! Maybe you got 'er done yourself!
I heard that the feds may have a display at Isabella too.

Anyway, if you guys hear folks talking that way about wolves; never been a documented attack.... or that they are not a dangerous animal, then I'll have to take your word for it. Maybe you fellers hang with a different crowd. Like I said, I honestly don't remember ever having someone actually say anything that silly to me, and I live in lefty county, where green reigns supreme. I know lots of these type folks. Even they know that wolves are potentially dangerous.

Come on Brent, show some class and answer my and Ranger's questions. Or have you become too smug since the full professorship this year?

Oh, I'm very smug - yeah right.

So, where did you answer my questions?

How much has the deer herd decreased as the wolf population has risen from 500 in the 1970s to 3000 today?

What field work do you do that my students read about in class - or even could reasonably be expected to read?

So, have at it.

When are people going to admit that we're made of meat, and any species with teeth and claws capable of getting the job done will if the opportunity presents itself. People get eaten by great whites because we look like seals. We get eaten by mountain lions because we fall into their prey size. We get eaten by predators when we run and trigger their prey response. We get eaten by lions when their teeth go bad and they can't catch their normal prey. Come on, isn't it simpler than that. It's a natural instinct. Animals have to kill to live, weather they're killing a moose or a carrot. Let's all just be glad Sam Colt, Oliver Winchester, John Browning, Bill Ruger and their like came along and gave us the upper hand. There'd be a lot more people getting munched without them.