WOLVES

This is a section from an article in MUSHING magazine, written by Miki and Julie Collins. They are experienced Alaskan trap line mushers. The article is entitled , "Wilderness Traveler" and this is the segment on Wolves.

p.20 Wolves
"Wolves are unlikely to tangle with a dog team. However, occasionally they will attack a loose dog, or even come into a dog yard to kill and eat a chained dog. On two occasions wolves have attacked our loose dogs, and several of our neighbors have lost dogs in their yard to wolves. "
(This is in Alaska).

" I have also had the pleasure of watching a wolf trot up behind my sled as I mushed across a lake, beninignly swinging up right past my startled team.

As with dogs, an offensively aggressive wolf has a hard, focused stare with the ears rigidly forward. It may be so fixated on its prey that it is unaware of other sounds and movements including those of a musher. ...

If a wolf actually tangles with your team, you should be able to beat it off with an axe.... An attacking wolf may not respond to a shouting human, but close gunfire would probably frighten it off.

Wolves are highly unlikely to be a problem unless they are hungry, habituated to humans or most dangerously, rabid. However, as with all wildlife, wolf behavior has no hard and fast rule. When a lone wolf attacked our retired leader..., Julie (Collins) shot it and was surprised to find it was healthy and well fed. "