valygrl

I can't believe you guys are all accusing this guy of lying.

rumrunn6

I was tracking moose (to photo) in middle New Hampshire just after sunrise while my family slept in our tent and no one knew where I was when a 3 legged? wolf crossed my trail, he turned his head to look at me and I froze, he turned and walked down the trail I had just come from and that's when I saw his rear hip fall to one side with each step. I was lucky it was injured, and really stupid to be where I was with no defenses from natural predators.

indyfabz

I am skeptical because the story, at least as told, sounds fishy. In addition to the continuity flaw I pointed out and some points made by others, I note the following:

He shifted his bike into it's highest gear and began mashing the pedals all while grabbing and actiivating his pepper spray? A quick shift like that would likely cause an initial drop in speed, which you would think would have allowed the wolf to easwily catch him.

The wolf easily kept pace with him but didn't jump on his back and take him down, as wolves are want to do?

Where was this wolf when he was standing in the middle of the road waving his arms?

Despite allegedly sitting in the RV watching the wolf attack his gear, we don't hear mention of or see one photo.

Several blast of pepper spray, including at least one directly to the wolf's face, were not enough to deter it, but someone beaning it with a rock was enough to chase it away?

If you click on the "recent incident" hyper link, you will read this quote from the motorcyclist:

"It was bigger than the biggest dog I’ve ever seen."

Sounds a lot like:

“that is the biggest damn dog I have ever seen!”

PlanoFuji

Scepticism is a wonderful thing, it is just a shame it doesn't get applied in situations that matter.

In this case,

It would seem that normal healthy wolves would not be attacking adult human beings, though his lack of mention of shouting/talking and riding in a manner reminiscent of a herd animal (running) might explain that.

This might explain why the wolf didn't attack him while he was standing and shouting and waving his arms, while it did attack his bike (think horse/prey)...

Not everyone travels with cameras and those that do, don't nescessarily keep them within easy reach. For instance the cyclists camera (if he had one) was likely in the bags the wolf was chewing on. And even if the RV'ers had taken pictures, why would they have provided a copy to a cyclist they didn't know and probably never talked to again?

Dogs and wolves are essentially the same species since they can produce viable cross breeds.

Pepper (or in this case bear spray) does not have the instant debilitating effect so many assume, yet a rock (particularly a large one) can not only hurt more, it can kill.

ak08820

These are the situations where it is justified. Heinz Stucke, the legendary cyclist whose ride last over 40 years did start off packing one.

rumrunn6

I had a camera with me when I saw mine but I froze and didn't want to trigger an attack by having it misinterpret raising the camera to my eye as aggressive. even as he walked away I remained motionless. amazingly my underwear remained clean and dry

calyth

I remember watching a show saying that predatory animals, such as cougars / wolfs, may consider cyclists as prey because the movement patterns are different than what they normally perceive as humans.

I suspect that at minimum, in the backcountry, people should have a fixed blade handy for that kind of situation...

jamawani 

There are two areas of myth surrounding wolves - -
One is that they are bloodthirsty beasts always ready to kill innocent little girls.
The other is that they will not attack humans unless rabid or injured.

Both are myths - - both.
Nearly every culture that has coexisted with wolves has wolf attack stories.
These would not appear out of the blue were there not wolf attacks.
In addition, wolf attacks upon livestock might have been a survival issue in past centuries.
So the wolf threat was often magnified in folk stories.

But attacks on humans by healthy wolves have occurred and still occur.
This is especially true when and where they are not hunted.
Thus, they will lose their fear of humans.

Like any species, wolves have excess fecundity.
When there populations exceed carrying capacity -
young wolves cannot find territory not already claimed by a pack.

In WWI on the Eastern Front, the German and Russian armies agreed to a truce one winter -
Because wolf populations were so large and they were preying on troops.
Wolves attack children often in India - where hunting wolves is considered unethical.

The wolf is not a diabolical savage - but it's not a fluffy, bedroom toy either.

PlanoFuji

At least in Alaska, wolves are hunted. They should have a fear of humans as a result. While I don't necessarily think this wolf must have been ill (if the event occurred as described), I do believe that the wolf may not have recognized a bike riding human as human, particularly if said human didn't vocalize... If it did, it may never had viewed the human himself as food, but rather as a grocery store, go through the bags on the bike for food. Its also possible that the wolf had whatever it is some dogs have and just dislikes bicycles...

Does anyone know if this incident occurred in Alaska or Canada?

Essex

For the most part - solo predators are opportunistic feeders. This means if it sees something of value, and it's not going to cost too much in terms of expended energy - maybe I go after it? I've had marine animals and a polar bear stalk me. Scary, but for the most part apex predators aren't stupid when it comes to expending mass amounts of energy for little return, or possibly getting injured going after 'strange' sources of food. Like a cyclist, scuba diver, or guys on a snowmobile with rifles strapped to their backs.

I can believe some parts of the story, but the other parts like chewing away the panniers in the presence of cars, RV's and people just doesn't make sense. It's also summer in Alaska right now and there are easier sources of food than cyclist. Like trash bins, moose calves, berries, or even salmon runs etc.

axolotl

In the article he said he was about 60 miles west of Watson Lake, which is in the Yukon (i.e. Canada) east of Whitehorse, and not too far north of BC.

stevepusser

I would like to say that I preserve a healthy sense of skepticism. Lots of people claim to have seen Nessie, too. Have any pictures of the bike and damaged bags been posted? No excuses about not having time to snap a photo there. It would be easy to see if the damage matches those of an animal attack, and I'd be the first to apologize to the victim.

I can see a desperate old wolf that's been driven out of its pack going after food in panniers, though. Maybe it's a young one that's left its pack and has been seeing humans as a source of food, too. That's why people aren't supposed to feed coyotes here in California...

Remember, innocent people have been sent to prison for many years to life based on confabulated stories, without a shred of supporting evidence, just because the juries didn't believe a young child or teenager could tell those kind of lies.

Hmmm...I do cycle and camp alone in Cuyamaca Park, which does have a history of mountain lion attacks, including one fatality. https://www.sdcl.org/reusable_compone...al_attacks.pdf

I don't let it bother me.

indyfabz

At least one of them had a camera. (See photo of them.) And why would it likely be in a pannier? I think most people carry cameras where they are easily accessible. And the wolf was not chewing on the tent bag, not a pannier. And he gave the RV drivers a card with his info on it:

"I gave them a card for the ride and I hope they are reading this so that they know how much I am in their debt and how grateful I am that they stopped to save me."

"I don't know how I got unclipped or off my bike, but I swear I hurdled the handlebars without missing a beat or letting go of my can of bear spray."

Let's see....He's riding his bike faster than ever before is his highest gear, comes to a stop, unclips and hurdles his bike--all with one hand. Don't try that at home, kids.

And who was this brave motorist who got out of his/her car to face the vicious beast who was guarding the bike like a fallen animal?

Maybe it did happen and it's just his writing style that makes the account read like a "letter" to "Penthouse Forum."

License2Ill

Totally false. Bear spray is a lot hotter. The "dillution" has to do with the difference in volume of spray in the canister, not the heat or power. A 2% bear spray is still much more powerful than a 10% human spray because that is not how the heat is actually measured. Bear spray also must shoot farther and for longer blasts than typical otc human spray bottles.

https://www.udap.com/Worlds_Hottest_Pepper_Spray.htm

License2Ill

There's no way after reading that story that it doesn't sound absolutely fishy. A wolf looking to take down prey or even one trying to snatch a raw salmon from his spokes is not going to chase but not chase fast enough and go after tent poles, while he's riding hard but holding spray and spraying from the hip, yada, yada, yada....none of it makes actual sense without investigating anything more than what amounts to a silly story. On top of that, if you think you're going to get eaten by wolf, and it's at your pedal, and then it's chasing you, and chasing you some more, and you're standing in traffic, pedalling for your life while the wolf stalks you like a horror film in slow motion, you are going to be too shaky to get back on your bike and start riding again. It's all way too bogus to be remotely believable within the actual details. Lone wolf at that. This kid is hoping someone notices his ride.

Burton

So maybe a few people missed that the article was written by a third party that interviewed the cyclist after the incident.

That same author apparently managed to interview one of the motorists involved. https://m.spokesman.com/stories/2013/...t-down-alaska/

Yeah - some things can sound a little far fetched. A woman here reported sighting a bear - in an urban environment? The people she called initially laughed at her - till she pulled out her cell phone with photographs.

axolotl

Nice find, Burton. The link you posted has a link for another recent wolf story. That one had the following link for an article with photographs taken by a motorcyclist in BC who was chased by a lone wolf.

https://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06...akes-pictures/

Essex

Very interesting as one link has pictures. How'd the driver get the pictures from his motorbike??? Seriously. He's got the right hand on the throttle and he's using the left for taking pictures? Personally I can't do that while I am driving a motorcycle - say 700cc and up.

The second recounts from the narrative of the bike rider. And some direct info. At the end of the day I get the feeling that you get more hits on your charity blogpost with a good story. I still want to see pictures of the wolf-ravaged panniers.

For fun I've attached a crappy still pic. of a young male polar bear stalking a group of us near the North Pole, Canada. He's a top of the frame. He ran away after he was chased by our snowmobiles.

BobG

The same story is being discussed over at the Crazy Guy forum. One of Mac's riding partners, Gabe, has posted there confirming the incident.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum..._id=497911&v=b

Burton

Wolves aren't that dumb. They normally hunt prey much larger than themselves and rather than trying to take down a kill by force - they chase it to the point its too exhaused to put up a fight. Exactly what was happening in this instance. And not all stories have happy endings: https://www.alaskadispatch.com/articl...010-state-says

ModeratedUser150120149

Pretty obvious you have little knowledge of wolf culture, strategy and tactics. For those who have that knowledge the story is very plausible, if rare.

License2Ill

The parts that were not plausible didn't have much to do with the wolf running down the road, other than it being told like it a horror flick. Wolf culture doesn't have anything to do with whether or not the wolf caught the guy's pedals, then he pulled from the hip and sprayed while pedalling for his life at full speed being stalked, then losing his tent, blah, blah, blah....the embellishment was how much real danger he was in and how he really handled it. It was completely bogus in the details of riding, spraying, and being stalked, bitten, chased, getting caught, not getting caught, getting off the bike, spraying while riding while pedaling. Anybody that reads that story for value could see that it wouldn't stand up to any sort of investigation of the facts.

wolf culture..LOL...see what I mean about tall tales and negative, fear based reactions? It's all irrational bs.

Burton

Guess it at least partly depends on if you PLANNED on taking pictures with one hand while riding to the point that it decided the kind of camera you brought. Took a trip in 1979 with a Minolta Weathermatic 110 film camera. Bought the camera for the trip because it was waterproof, didn't need focusing and could be operated one-handed. The only other person on the trip with a camera brought a 35mmSLR and a couple lenses. Now THAT'S something you can't use one handed.

All my shots turned out fine and lots were taken one handed while riding. Bicycle or motorcycle wouldn't have made any difference.

Essex

I will have to try an experiment (slow) with me riding a bike (not using motorcycle) and trying a shot with the left hand pointed toward the side of the road.

Maybe, it's just my physiology but can't see how you get a shot while driving ahead with the right hand on the throttle. Maybe, the motorcycle rider just snapped random shots over, or under the arm without looking?

Far easier to have a passenger photograph on the bike while being actively pursued by Mr. Wolfie.

axolotl

This thread reminds me of Chico Marx's great line in Duck Soup: "Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"