Brazen wolf pack attacks dogs
Brazen wolf pack attacks dogs, circles joggers near Anchorage
By The Associated Press
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004087262_wolves22m.html?syndication=rss
ANCHORAGE - A wolf pack surrounded three joggers and attacked one of their dogs in the latest of a series of bold attacks near Alaska's largest city.
A dog on a chain also was killed Thursday and a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the same pack may be responsible for both attacks.
The dog in its own yard in Eagle River on Anchorage's north side was killed Thursday morning.
A few hours later, the second attack occurred less than a mile away as three women and their dogs were running on a well-used stretch of road.
It was so quick, the three friends at first didn't know what was happening.
"They were so quiet. They just came right up on us. They were quick. The dogs had no clue. They didn't smell them or hear them - nothing," Alycia Beiergrohslein told KTVA-TV.
At least seven wolves surrounded the three women and their dogs as they jogged on Artillery Road. The lead wolves came within feet, circling the women as they tried to get away. They were only slightly deterred by pepper spray.
"I was rainbowing my pepper spray, and they fell back a little bit," said Camas Barkemeyer. "But as soon as we would turn our backs to try to go, they would run up on us, and we would turn around and start screaming again, and I would spray my pepper spray.
"We just kept pulling, and they were so big, and they started howling, and they were circling us. And it got us really panicked, and we kept screaming."
Beiergrohslein, Barkemeyer and the third jogger were more than a mile and a half away from their cars.
The women had read the warnings about other wolf attacks and kept their dogs on leashes.
As the wolves circled, the women walked backward, screaming to keep the animals away, and trying to keep everyone safe.
"I love my dog with all my heart, but I can't jeopardize my friends. And if that's what they wanted, I didn't know whether to leave him," Beiergrohslein said.
The women held tight to the leashes, and were able to keep the wolves at bay, but not before the pack attacked Barkemeyer's American bulldog, Buddy.
"My dog was attacked by the wolves, three wolves," Barkemeyer said. "He fought his way out as I was pulling."
The women were not physically hurt. Buddy underwent surgery to mend gashes and bites left by the wolves. Barkemeyer said she worries the pack could attack again.
"They were not afraid of us," she said. "And I'm afraid that if I was out here by myself, they would attack me. They were not afraid."
Wildlife experts say wolves learn quickly.
"If they figure out that dogs are easy to kill, and good food for them, then they can just come to the conclusion that there is a lot more dogs than moose, and 'Let's just start eating the dogs for now,' " said Rick Sinnott, a state biologist. "I'm not sure they have quite reached that point, but they are working on that concept right now."
A dog accompanying two people on the northern edge of Anchorage was killed in late November. Earlier this month, a wolf carried off a 9-year-old Nova Scotia duck-tolling retriever that was trailing 30 feet behind its owner on a road on Fort Richardson Army Post, also on Anchorage's north side.
Sinnott said dogs were attacked 13 years ago by the same pack. The wolves stopped attacking when key pack members were trapped and killed.
By The Associated Press
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004087262_wolves22m.html?syndication=rss
ANCHORAGE - A wolf pack surrounded three joggers and attacked one of their dogs in the latest of a series of bold attacks near Alaska's largest city.
A dog on a chain also was killed Thursday and a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the same pack may be responsible for both attacks.
The dog in its own yard in Eagle River on Anchorage's north side was killed Thursday morning.
A few hours later, the second attack occurred less than a mile away as three women and their dogs were running on a well-used stretch of road.
It was so quick, the three friends at first didn't know what was happening.
"They were so quiet. They just came right up on us. They were quick. The dogs had no clue. They didn't smell them or hear them - nothing," Alycia Beiergrohslein told KTVA-TV.
At least seven wolves surrounded the three women and their dogs as they jogged on Artillery Road. The lead wolves came within feet, circling the women as they tried to get away. They were only slightly deterred by pepper spray.
"I was rainbowing my pepper spray, and they fell back a little bit," said Camas Barkemeyer. "But as soon as we would turn our backs to try to go, they would run up on us, and we would turn around and start screaming again, and I would spray my pepper spray.
"We just kept pulling, and they were so big, and they started howling, and they were circling us. And it got us really panicked, and we kept screaming."
Beiergrohslein, Barkemeyer and the third jogger were more than a mile and a half away from their cars.
The women had read the warnings about other wolf attacks and kept their dogs on leashes.
As the wolves circled, the women walked backward, screaming to keep the animals away, and trying to keep everyone safe.
"I love my dog with all my heart, but I can't jeopardize my friends. And if that's what they wanted, I didn't know whether to leave him," Beiergrohslein said.
The women held tight to the leashes, and were able to keep the wolves at bay, but not before the pack attacked Barkemeyer's American bulldog, Buddy.
"My dog was attacked by the wolves, three wolves," Barkemeyer said. "He fought his way out as I was pulling."
The women were not physically hurt. Buddy underwent surgery to mend gashes and bites left by the wolves. Barkemeyer said she worries the pack could attack again.
"They were not afraid of us," she said. "And I'm afraid that if I was out here by myself, they would attack me. They were not afraid."
Wildlife experts say wolves learn quickly.
"If they figure out that dogs are easy to kill, and good food for them, then they can just come to the conclusion that there is a lot more dogs than moose, and 'Let's just start eating the dogs for now,' " said Rick Sinnott, a state biologist. "I'm not sure they have quite reached that point, but they are working on that concept right now."
A dog accompanying two people on the northern edge of Anchorage was killed in late November. Earlier this month, a wolf carried off a 9-year-old Nova Scotia duck-tolling retriever that was trailing 30 feet behind its owner on a road on Fort Richardson Army Post, also on Anchorage's north side.
Sinnott said dogs were attacked 13 years ago by the same pack. The wolves stopped attacking when key pack members were trapped and killed.
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hmm,
I expected proper Alaskans to maintain disciplined fire until the hostiles retreated or were eliminated.
I am rather dissapointed0 -
The far left politically correct own Alaskans. They pour so much money into that state that the citizens have little say in matters like these. They have the state's hands tied when it comes to controlling wolves - just my .02 cents. 0 -
I remember my Uncle telling me when he was a boy in Kansas a group of Mounted men on Horse back came thru hunting the last wolf in the area. I guess they need to do that up there before a human fall prey. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
I remember my Uncle telling me when he was a boy in Kansas a group of Mounted men on Horse back came thru hunting the last wolf in the area. I guess they need to do that up there before a human fall prey.
Considering that Alaska is sparsley populated and two and one half times bigger than Texas, Alaskans need not have to ever worry about depleting their wolf population. However, a hand-tied state that cannot regulate its own fish and game to keep the wolves out of the state's largest city, and its Army base in order to protect the inhabitants and their pets is a sad sitution, indeed. These wolves are devasting to moose and carribou herds in Alaska as well.0 -
Wrong kind of pepper spray. I'd think my 357 SIG would work a little better than that canned stuff.
Would think that the American Bulldog would have left an impression on the wolves too.0 -
Robinson Crusoe was written during what is known as the Little Ice Age, and apparently, even the wolves had to resort to desperate measures too, just to survive. Defoe, writing about Crusoe's return (after his rescue from the desert island) across a mountainous region of France (I believe it was), talks of having the rather large troup of traveling horsemen attacked by a huge pack of ravenous and very brave (or foolhardy) wolves. They decided the wolves were actually after the horses, but at least one member of the party was seriously injured in the attack.
It was only by virtue of a line of fallen trees, that served as a sort of fort, that the party was able to fight off the hungry wolves.
Granted, Robinson Crusoe is fiction, but I suspect the very harsh winters of the Little Ice Age, combined with reports of unusual wolf activity and desperation, caused this episode to appear in the book.
If that's so, it may be that there truly is nothing new under the sun.
Sahagan0 -
they weren't after the humans at all. whatever the reason they were going closer to the city, their first instinct when they come across a domestic dog is to kill it. then yup they might have found them good eating. I don't think the people themselves have much to worry about. anything else though... 0 -
Wolf will eliminate any adversary and THEN go in for the kill. 0 -
i`m sure i read somewhere that alaska is an open carry and a concealed carry state...maybe more people should exercise their rights and gun to defend themselves and their dogs when they are out and about...the radical greens would go crazy if the wolves got shot of course, but if it came down to losing my dog who is like a member of my family or blowing a wolf to hell, them it`s bye bye wolfy 0 -
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The ladys should of been packing not only for fear of animals for fear of humans more importantly. 0 -
Obviously, these are not real women but yuppie jogger females. They will probably vote for Hillary next year. Wolves might have the right idea. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Mobuck
Obviously, these are not real women but yuppie jogger females. They will probably vote for Hillary next year. Wolves might have the right idea.
You have a point. Glad their dog will be OK.0
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