According to an article in the Alaska Daily News that was sent to me, a woman, who lives in Alaska, was walking her 4 dogs (two hers and two her sister’s), evidently a regular routine, when she and her dogs were confronted by a wolf that the dog owner described as: “…weak and wobbly and was panting a lot.”
After a few struggles, one of the dogs gets killed by the ailing wolf, that evidently just remained in place and ate the dog.
The wolf got him by the throat and killed him in an instant. It was done in a second. Without ever looking at us, she began eating his body, with us standing right there,” Bochart said.
The article presents the story as though the dog owner, Hannah Bochart, 24, mostly apologizes for the wolf, saying it meant her no harm. She also made statements of never needing any kind of protection when walking dogs in the wilds of Alaska.
“I don’t want it to make me fearful. Ninety-nine percent of the time you can move through the wilderness and be safe if you’re respectful of large animals. It’s a one-in-a-million occurrence when you meet an animal that’s desperate and willing to take a chance.”
“I really wouldn’t want this to end with the wolf getting shot. I’d rather she just leave and live a full life somewhere else,” Bochart said.
There are untold numbers of records available that might refute some of Bochart’s claims that 99% of the time large predators won’t bother you “if you’re respectful” of them. One of the problems that exist in dealing with people that seem to have some corrupted and ill-perceived ideas of wild animal behavior, is that upon mention of historic records that show that people like Bochart might be pushing the envelope a bit, they deny the records exist, claim them to be nothing but folk lore or simply deny the accuracy of the report.
After receiving the Alaska Daily News article, I also received a copy of a study done by Mark E. McNay, in 2002 for the State of Alaska. I had a copy of this report which I have read a few times and referred to often, but I will make it available for readers. The report is titled, “A Case History of Wolf-Human Encounters in Alaska and Canada.”
It might be of interest for Bochart and others like her to take a reading of McNay’s report and then decide whether you want to venture into the Alaska and Canada forests and wilderness without any kind of protection other than a ski pole.
Of course a person has a right to go into the woods with no protection but I encourage people to have a full understanding of the risks involved before rendering such a decision.
