W.I.S.E.: Human-Habituated Wolves In Idaho
January 19, 2010
1) Within the pack’s territory prey is becoming scarce not only due to increased predation on native prey animals, but also by the prey evacuating home ranges en mass, leading to a virtual absence of prey. Or wolves increasingly visit garbage dumps at night.
2) Wolves in search of food began to approach human habitations – at night!
3) The wolves appear in daylight and observe people doing their daily chores at some distance. Wolves excel at learning by close, steady observation. They approach buildings during daylight.
4) Small bodied livestock and pets are attacked close to buildings even during the day. The wolves act distinctly bolder in the actions.
5) The wolves explore large livestock, leading to docked tails, slit ears and hocks. Livestock may bolt through fences running for the safety of barns. When the first seriously wounded cattle are found they tend to have severe injuries to the udders, groin and sexual organs and need to be put down. The actions of wolves become more brazen and cattle or horses may be killed close to houses and barns where the cattle or horses were trying to find refuge. Wolves may follow riders and surround them. They may mount verandas and look into windows.
6) Wolves turn their attention to people and approach them closely, initially merely examining them closely for several minutes on end. This is a switch from establishing territory to targeting people as prey. The wolves may make hesitant, almost playful attacks biting and tearing clothing, nipping at limbs and torso. They withdraw when confronted. They defend kills by moving toward people and growling and barking at them from 10 – 20 paces away.
7) Wolves attack people. These initial attacks are clumsy, as the wolves have not yet learned how to take down the new prey efficiently. Persons attacked can often escape because of the clumsiness of the attacks.
I have summarized the information above as provided by Dr. Geist in his publication. Please follow the link and read the important information about this 7-step process.
Yesterday I posted an article that appeared in the Missoulian in 1916 about wolves killing 113 people and 2,000 animals in one year in Korea. One thing in that article that I failed to point out to readers was an account of how wolves would attack people.
In attacking a man it will follow him for a time and occasionally leap over his head, seeking to unnerve him and cause him to fall to the ground, when it will immediately attack and kill. Oftentimes it will summon its mates to assist in attacking.
Compare that account of nearly 100 years ago with Dr. Geist’s stages 6 and 7 above.
The Western Institute for Study of the Environment posted more of this same information yesterday, along with real life accounts in Idaho of the implementation of these stages by wolves taking place there in the state. WISE also provides links to several articles dealing with human habituation by wolves and coyotes and the consequences that can follow. (required reading)
In a newspaper account of the Lewiston Tribune, January 15, 2010, Eric Barker describes what an Idaho outfitter experienced while waiting for a school bus to arrive and pick up his children.
Popp took his children to their bus stop Monday morning and sat in his jeep while his 6- and 8-year-olds had a snowball fight. The bus pulled up, stopped and flashed its lights. The kids got on and the bus driver pulled into a driveway to turn around. When the driver backed up, the bus emitted warning beeps. After it pulled away, three wolves came out of the woods and walked down the road toward Popp.
He started his jeep and drove toward the animals. They left the road and Popp followed their tracks to see where they had come from. He said it was clear they were sitting in the woods about 30 feet away from the road prior to the arrival of the bus.
“While we were there at the bus stop and those kids were snowball-fighting I know they could hear, and they just sat there,” he said. “They are really becoming habituated to all the sights and sounds that are out there.” …
Dr. Geist responded to this account by saying:
This is absolutely classic! Wolves targeting people sit and watch people. Unlike dogs, wolves and coyotes are refined observation learners.
The a) to h) steps [seven stages] you published below are my addition to Will’s book [Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages] (Appendix B.my authorship was left out by oversight); the original paper given in 2005 is now in press, belatedly. A very similar progression was reported in 1999 for urban coyotes targeting children in urban parks by Bob Timm and Rex Baker. Over 200 attacks on children are reported. We are currently co-authoring a paper on this. So, wolves and coyotes target people in an identical manner!(emphasis added)
It is imperative for people venturing into the outdoors and/or living in wolf and coyote populated regions to understand the entire seven stages of behavior. Separately each stage is quite innocuous, with the exception of the final attack. This isn’t an attempt to try to scare people. This information could save a life.
If one will recall documented accounts of encounters with wolves and coyotes, you’ll find that some or all of these stages have been documented. Because the seven stages are spread out over time, what we as humans witness are often just one of the seven stages. Aside from the actual attack itself on humans, livestock and pets, the rest of the stages seem somewhat harmless and as Dr. Geist describes them as “almost playful”.
If we can understand the seven stages and learn to recognize them, it might save a life. The next time you read about or witness an encounter with a wolf or coyote, think about the seven stages and see if you can make a determination as to which stage of behavior is being displayed. This behavior might also give you an indication of the health of the pack and the ecosystem near you.
Tom Remington
Thanks to you, Dr. Val, George Dovel and I could go on and on. We just try and get people to understand, when a predator gets hungry it is going to eat something. It dont really matter if it is one of there own. I live here in country that used to be some of the best deer, elk, bird country you could ask for. Due to paradators these anamials are leaving the natural cover and going back into the open fields and range. Elk have moved to the west into open country 200 miles. I receive calls and emails every week of wolves hanging around small towns, schools and ranches. This is when the pets and live stock start missing. I am sorry to say that pradators kill to eat. When we have to many that is when the trouble begains.
Thank You Mr. Remington for such a well written and informative article. This is undeniably the best information we the general public need to see.
Thank you for this information. We live in northern MN and late last summer a wolf was pushing against my daughter and her dog’s tent and she called me out by walkie talkie. It was late dusk and I saw the tall wolf trot off into the woods as I approached. I went back in but it wasn’t but 10 minutes that she heard an entire pack excitedly running toward our yard. I ran out and yelled while my husband brought the gun and shot a warning shot into the night. Our daughter and her dog slept inside from then on.
This winter, wolves have been approaching our home at night and tipped over the garbage and we found they had dragged a bag off 700′ and tore it apart.
We let our dogs out on a lead while we usually stand outside with them for potty break. A couple of months ago, I heard a sound about 400′ away and I could hear it move along the edge of our yard – shining the flashlight at the sound I saw it’s eyes shining back at me. It skirted the perimeter and still was about 400′ away from me.
The dogs have been barking and turning around instead of going for potty break several times in the evening recently.
In the last two weeks…
I have been working in our log home sanding with a grinder till 7:00 – 7:30pm every evening. I have come out into the dark more than once and had the hair stand up on the back of my neck. One of those occasions, I came in and my husband said there’s something out there – the dogs have been going nuts barking at something.
We were outside with the dogs a couple of days after that and our small lab mix saw something near the cabin in broad daylight that she was growling and hair on her back standing straight up but she did not advance toward it. We went inside immediately.
Three nights ago, I was sanding on a ladder inside the cabin about 7pm (late dusk) and I heard loud steps run up onto the front porch – the front door was cracked. I stopped the grinder, listened and it crossed my mind it may have been a wolf but I dismissed it as imagination.
The next morning, I husband called me outside to look at the largest wolf tracks we have ever seen. We tracked it up the path to the cabin and then the tracks disappeared and reappeared from the edge of the steps back toward our small cottage. It came up to the cottage as well. There may have been another set of prints of a smaller wolf with it but we can’t confirm that.
I can see the stages of escalation pretty clearly over these last 9 months. We’ve had one pack splinter into two. This winter we saw a pair running up our river together and they may be splitting into three packs this spring. Wisconsin, our neighboring state allowed too many deer to be taken this last season. I do not know the status of the Minnesota deer population but I know the moose are in serious decline due to the warming of our weather.
After reading your article I would very much appreciate your thoughts if you and others on this site read this long thread. Thank you, Angie Silberberger
Angie – Sorry I didn’t pick up on your comment prior to this. It is obvious you are in the middle of a situation that requires your vigilance and attention. I would presume the wolves in your area are hungry. This hunger could be caused by a number of things, including too many wolves, not enough food, etc.
Generally speaking wolves will not move into human habituated areas unless they are forced, usually be hunger, combined with young males being forced out of the pack, etc. Once they have become habituated only trouble ensues.
The wolves have become brazen as demonstrated by coming onto your porch. They obviously lack any fear. Without knowing all your details, my guess is the next step would be attacks on your pets and livestock if you have any. This will progress into what Dr. Geist describes as a “playful” attack on a human. They are testing the response.
Hunger is the driving force behind what wolves do and their natural instinct to kill. Some are offended by this but truth should not be offensive. The wolf is a vicious apex predator that sometimes kills for the mere enjoyment of doing such.
Until we can educate enough people in order to effect some changes in how we manage these creatures, you and your family need to be on your toes and don’t assume everything is fine. Be vigilant.
I’m not intending to frighten you only to make you aware. I don’t want to read about another statistic in the local newspaper.
I don’t think hunger drives habituation in all cases. Where we live in central Idaho, the elk have been hanging out in town, and the wolves followed them. Wolves are curious and when they try something new and if nothing bad happens, they will try it again and it proceeds from there. No wonder humans were able to domesticate them (dogs.)
Wolves don’t belong running around in people’s neighborhoods. We need to give them the fear of man they are losing.
why is it that other states like alaska and minnesota have no problems with wolves but the people of idaho do? i think its mainly hunters who are upset that they cant kill the elk themselves.
The wolves in Idaho I’m told are not the original species of wolves of the past and that is why they are so large. These animals come from a region in Canada farther north, is that true?
Duane – The best reason to give to your question is that when wolves are forced or choose to habituate human populated areas, there are problems. Where wolves live in Alaska is far less densely populated than Idaho. And, who says Alaska and Minnesota don’t have problems with wolves?
Brian – We believe for certain that the introduced wolves to the Idaho, YNP area were the Canadian gray wolf from regions considerably farther north. There is ample historic documents as well as tons of anecdotal evidence that there was still the “native” wolf living and making a come back on its own before the introduction. And yes there is historic evidence to suggest that in many of those areas, if not all, where wolves were brought in from Canada, the “native” wolves were a different subspecies of wolf than the Canadian gray.
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