Wolf Sizes

My neck of the woods I worry more about mountain lions then wolves. I always find mountain lion tracks and they always make me paranoid!
 
In that case the wolves were after the dogs. Even as the media was blowing it out of perspective with lines like "women surrounded by pack of snarling wolves" I was waiting for the information that they indeed were out walking with their dogs. Wolves are opportunistic predators, those family pets represented a possible meal to them and that is all it was.
 
Here is a document that analyzes 80 recorded wolf-human interactions that I found some time ago:

http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/pubs/techpubs/research_pdfs/techb13_full.pdf

I found it quite an interesting read. For those who want the short book report, I'd divide the interactions into three kinds:

One is where the wolf has been fed by a human, or gotten food from human campsites / gear. The wolf approaches another human, expecting to get food. If the person doesn't feed it, the wolf gets annoyed and may become aggressive, possibly biting the person.

The second is when there is a human child present (or perhaps a dog or puppy) - the wolves seem to almost universally view children as potential prey and will act accordingly (usually they try to attack).

The third is when the wolf has not been fed by humans, and when there is no child/pet present - this seems to be curiosity on the wolf's part. They will follow or walk beside people for a time, and maybe mouth a leg or shirtsleeve, but generally are not aggressive.
 
Kat013 said:
The third is when the wolf has not been fed by humans, and when there is no child/pet present - this seems to be curiosity on the wolf's part. They will follow or walk beside people for a time, and maybe mouth a leg or shirtsleeve, but generally are not aggressive.
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This is where people out of touch with reality fail to communicate properly with the wolf.

We are not his normal prey, and he knows it. We can change his mind about this real quick because he is a smart, adaptable predator. Allowing a wolf in close enough to nip your sleeve is telling him you aren't smart enough to realize he could "nip" your throat next.

Maintain a dominant and security-oriented attitude and posture by facing him, addressing him firmly in low/growl tone, and raise a weapon between you and him. You wouldn't let an aggressive drunk inside your personal space. Why allow a much more dangerous wolf?
 
I know that the "play" ploy is often a tactic used by suburban coyotes to lure "Fifi" into a position to be attacked and eaten. I would not doubt that wolves might use it also. Thankfully though, the red wolf (Canus Rufus) has been eliminated from this area. We do have an abundance of coyote and coy-dogs though.
 
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