Wolf attacks boy in Minnesota

  • kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    #1283407

    Another attack. A biker in Canada was attacked not long ago. Another reason to pay attention to your surroundings when out in mother nature.

    Wolf Attack

    MINNEAPOLIS — A canine believed to be a wolf chomped the head of a 16-year-old boy who was camping on Lake Winnibigoshish in north-central Minnesota, the Department of Natural Resources announced Monday.

    The teenager survived what the DNR called an “extremely rare” attack, but a wolf with a jaw deformity was trapped and killed in the area early Monday, said Tom Provost, regional manager for the DNR’s enforcement division in Grand Rapids. Rabies test results on the animal are expected Tuesday or Wednesday, he told reporters.

    The DNR has no records of another serious injury or fatal wolf attack on a human in Minnesota before, he said. The only two recorded wolf attack fatalities in North America in the last decade were in northern Canada and Alaska.

    Assuming it’s the same animal, Provost said, the wolf’s jaw deformity is probably the reason it attacked the youth. While the male wolf was a normal 75 pounds, he said it would have had difficulty killing prey and likely was scavenging for food around the campground. Other campers told DNR officers an animal had bitten through their tents that night, puncturing an air mattress, and one camper said he saw a wolf near his campsite with similar colors and markings to the animal that attacked the teenager.

    “It was trapped in an area where it was likely habituated to humans and the ability to grab easy food,” Provost said. “Not normal for wolf behavior.”

    The boy was lying outside his tent near the shore at the West Winnie Campground around 4 a.m. Saturday and didn’t hear or see the animal until it bit him on the back of the head, Provost said. He struggled to escape from its jaws and got up. The wolf didn’t run off until he kicked it. Family and friends were nearby, performed first aid to stop the bleeding, and drove him to a Bemidji hospital, where he was treated and released for puncture wounds on the right and left sides of his face and a 4-inch laceration on his head.

    DNR officers were interviewing campers when one officer spotted a wolf at the campground, but it escaped, Provost said. A short while later, an officer saw a wolf matching the description and fired one shot but missed and the wolf took off. So authorities called in trappers who caught and killed a wolf there early Monday. The carcass was taken to the University of Minnesota for a necropsy, including DNA tests to try to confirm it’s the same animal that attacked the teen.

    A preliminary examination showed the wolf’s bottom and top jaws did not align properly and it was missing at least one canine tooth, Provost said.

    The teenager’s name and hometown were not released, but Provost said he lives in northern Minnesota. He said he believed the boy began getting precautionary treatment for rabies but could not confirm that.

    The U.S. Forest Service has closed the campground until further notice. Traps were being left in place for another night to make sure there are no other wolves in the area.

    icenutz
    Aniwa, WI
    Posts: 2540
    #1191608

    Very lucky it was not a small child or the results could of been much worse. I guess it will take someone getting killed before they realize that there are too many wolves, maybe zero would be a good number?

    roosterrouster
    Inactive
    The "IGH"...
    Posts: 2092
    #1191610

    I respectfully disagree…Humans are not what wolves eat. Deer are what wolves eat. This particular example has the issue being the wolves jaw. If wolves enjoyed eating humans don’t you think there would be more of this? RR

    dfresh
    Fridley, MN
    Posts: 3053
    #1191611

    Quote:


    I guess it will take someone getting killed before they realize that there are too many wolves, maybe zero would be a good number?


    Come on..

    nhamm
    Inactive
    Robbinsdale
    Posts: 7348
    #1191615

    Its only a matter of time until all predatory animals become familiar with humans, nature adapts. If its between starving to death and chomping on a 16 yr old I’d eat the teenager too.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18625
    #1191617

    With animals and people mixed together every scenario imaginable is gong to eventually play out and probably already has over and over again. I don’t think anything can be read into this. Just an interesting event.
    If it happened numerous times in a short period I would take notice.

    big_g
    Isle, MN
    Posts: 22456
    #1191618

    or if it happened once to your kid… I am guessing here

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1191619

    We need to reduce the amount of lightning to zero which injures more people than wolves.

    I find it funny when an accident like this happens it is suddenly a news story. Its like when 10 people get ill from poopy lettuce and all of a sudden it is all over the news and there is a massive recall.

    icenutz
    Aniwa, WI
    Posts: 2540
    #1191622

    Apparently people have no concern with wolves killing the deer herd or livestock and pets.

    Many of the local farmers and bear hunters here in WI are paid a lot of money for the damage done by wolves.

    Phil Bauerly
    Walker, MN - Leech Lake
    Posts: 866
    #1191628

    A scary situation for that family for sure. Your odds are better being killed by a donkey then a wild wolf. Backyard swimming pools kill hundreds of people every year….

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18625
    #1191631

    Quote:


    or if it happened once to your kid… I am guessing here


    Inconsequential to a logical person. They went camping in the woods. They killed the problem wolf. What more could anybody want out of this!

    big_g
    Isle, MN
    Posts: 22456
    #1191633

    Guessing again, but maybe be able to go camping in the woods without being attacked by a wolf ? (just playing devils advocate here, I like whitetails…. and turtles)

    big_g
    Isle, MN
    Posts: 22456
    #1191635

    Quote:


    A scary situation for that family for sure. Your odds are better being killed by a donkey then a wild wolf. Backyard swimming pools kill hundreds of people every year….


    Compare a wolves territory to that of a donkeys or a backyard pool for that matter and that analogy loses it’s luster….

    icenutz
    Aniwa, WI
    Posts: 2540
    #1191643

    You can make all of the analogies that you want, Wolves are good for one thing only and that is killing. Go hug your wolf today and give it a big kiss.

    Maybe you would change your mind when they kill your cattle?

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1191645

    Quote:


    Apparently people have no concern with wolves killing the deer herd or livestock and pets.

    Many of the local farmers and bear hunters here in WI are paid a lot of money for the damage done by wolves.


    That’s life.

    I’ll be concerned when it (an attack on humans) isn’t a rarity.

    Farmers are reimbursed for livestock lost to wolves…I think we may subsidize everything a farmer does including taking a dump, but that is another thread.

    If you live near a wolf population you might want to treat it like living by a highway. You have to adjust.

    Disclaimer: I have said in the past I fully support wolf management through hunting and other means. I just think complete annihilation is reckless and irresponsible.

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191648

    while a farmer might get reimbursed for the value of a calf lost to wolves (if, that is, everything goes right for the farmer in that reimbursement process); it’s still the “value of a calf” as a calf

    for every one of those instances, the farmers loses the opportunity to make the additional amount which he COULD/WOULD make if he were able to fatten the animal and raise it to the point of being ready for sale to the butchering market

    And isn’t selling to the butcher market the business he’s in to begin with?

    roosterrouster
    Inactive
    The "IGH"...
    Posts: 2092
    #1191653

    Quote:


    You can make all of the analogies that you want, Wolves are good for one thing only and that is killing. Go hug your wolf today and give it a big kiss.

    Maybe you would change your mind when they kill your cattle?


    …killing deer not humans! 1 deformed wolf is hungry so it chomps on a guy and you think that’s the norm for wolves?! The State of Mn started a wolf hunt for one reason. To control the herd (which it correctly has done…). They didn’t do it because they think if there becomes too many wolves they are going to start raiding our cities! You (and your farmer pals…) need a reality check…Wow…

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191654

    while I agree that complete annihilation/elimination is reckless and irresponsible

    we didn’t completely eliminate them thirty/forty/fifty years ago, yet we didn’t have this level of problems then either; because they were managed at a much lower population level

    management of the population at the current numbers is also appearing to be reckless and irresponsible

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Posts: 0
    #1191656

    I bet the #1 killer of people is… people.. ‘splain how we solve that??

    Knee jerk reactions to incidents like this are just silly

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191655

    wasn’t allowing wolf populations to burgeon to current levels also the result of a knee jerk reaction ?

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18625
    #1191657

    I’ve been bitten by rabbit, field mice and garter snakes, not to mention several species of fish. How dare they! I want them all annihilated this instant!!!!!!!!!!!!

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191660

    I’m holding my farts in

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #1191663

    Quote:


    we didn’t completely eliminate them thirty/forty/fifty years ago, yet we didn’t have this level of problems then either..


    Based on what? What problems?

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191664

    Based on the fact that we still have wolves, we therefor didn’t ever eliminate them

    “Level” of problems is: “number of” livestock losses and level of depradation of other wildlife populations (i.e. deer, moose, elk) << yes there will always be some, but is there really any doubt that wolves have much more impact now than 20 to 50 yrs ago

    maybe the population was lower than optimal 50 yrs ago, but I believe it’s significantly higher than optimal now

    swlund
    Cuba City, WI
    Posts: 395
    #1191665

    We need to be able to keep wolves in a range that is manageable. I don’t think we need to eliminate the wolves BUT we have TOO many. That is my take on the problem. It saps our DNR resources that could go for many more things than paying damage claims.

    lhprop1
    Eagan
    Posts: 1899
    #1191669

    Quote:


    I bet the #1 killer of people is… people.. ‘splain how we solve that??


    The #1 killer of people is Chuck Norris. Therefore, a clone of Chuck Norris is the only solution to the problem, but would the world be able to exist with two Chuck Norrises?

    DaveB
    Inver Grove Heights MN
    Posts: 4469
    #1191671

    Maybe this wolf’s pack was already hunted and he was left to fend for himself. Who wants a trophy of a jacked up wolf?

    I am not anti wolf hunting, just throwing something out there.

    desperado
    Posts: 3010
    #1191672

    Quote:


    Quote:


    I bet the #1 killer of people is… people.. ‘splain how we solve that??


    The #1 killer of people is Chuck Norris. Therefore, a clone of Chuck Norris is the only solution to the problem, but would the world be able to exist with two Chuck Norrises?


    Most likely, yes; as they’d probly just kill each other

    (now if only the wolves would become cannibalistic, then they would regulate their own population … probably much better than we do)

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18625
    #1191675

    I’ve noticed that wolfs seem to disappear once the deer numbers drop dramatically…..

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