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Wolves and Trail - Riding on horses

Endurance and Trail Riding
#21

Actually, I think that is only partially true in the case of wolves. Out here in the west, in mountainous country, the wolves were exterminated relentlessly in large part simply “because”.

People have a very weird reaction to wolves and always have…it seems they are much more “anti” wolf than bear or cougar, for instance. Of the three the wolf is the least likely to hurt you and, since they hunt in packs, actually the least likely to come after your chickens, cats, etc. Calves – probably – but wolves are far easier to scare off than cats & bears.

But, as we’ve already determined, you have a FAR better chance of your actual person being hurt by a deer or moose than a wolf…

#22

-------------Slight derailment--------------

Kyzteke,

What about grizzly bears in your area? We hunted in Boundary County last fall and were told there were 60+ grizzlys between Bonner’s Ferry and the Canadian border. They said not to leave the horses tied up in the woods unattended. Grizzlys had been attacking tied horses :eek:

I didn’t really believe them but didn’t want to find out. Have you heard of that up there?

-------------------derailment over------------

Carry on :smiley:

#23

[QUOTE=Piatt Farms;4480013]
Kytzke, apparently you have the same suicidal deer up there that we have here in OK. I just assumed ours were depressed from having been born in a state famous for red neck living. And kudo’s to you and your assessment of wolves. You took all of my lines.
Babalina, a gun is good but as others have said, unless your horse is “gun proof” you may end up getting dumped which could be dangerous with a loaded weapon. We have a rather healthy population of coyotes and bobcats around here…neither of which seem to be very fearful of humans given the number of times I see them watching me from across the field or edge of the woods near my house, so when I go out with the kids for a walk or a trail ride I bring the dogs. They may not give a dang about me, but a couple of 100lbs+ dogs making a half hearted dash at them, makes them scatter faster than just about anything else I’ve ever seen. I am partial to my Anatolian Shepherds but I’m sure just about any large breed would do.[/QUOTE]

Nah, your deer are depressed because they live in a “dry” state!

#24

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

#25

Nah, your deer are depressed because they live in a “dry” state!

Correction, that’s why I’m depressed… :slight_smile:

#26

Well, Bonner’s Ferry is only about 25 miles from the Canadian border and Idaho is only about 50 miles wide up in the panhandle, so that’s (quickly grabs calculator) 1,250 sq mile divided by 60 grizzlys = 20 Grizzlies per SQ MILE!:eek:

Wow, no wonder picking huckleberries up there is so dangerous!

Given the math (which I strongly suspect I did not calculate correctly…), I really doubt that is right. But we DO have grizz up here. But not to worry – they keep the moose down :wink:

Actually, they DON’T – last month I was at work in the middle of Sandpoint…we opened the blinds and there, 4 ft away was a mama moose & her yearling moose-let placidly munching on our shrubbery. Like something out of “Northern Exposure.”

So, as you can see, Nature is a precise and well-balance thing …see the bears are SUPPOSED to be killing off the wolves, except they can’t catch them, because the wolves are running after the cougars and they are both just too fast for those fat-a$$ grizzs.

But not to worry…there are still plenty of rednecks to go around…

And the OP thought she had it bad…

#27

OK – two new pieces of information relevant to this thread:

  1. Yes, my math is horrid. And they actually let me handle drugs :stuck_out_tongue: It’s ONE grizzly per 20 sq miles, which is still more than sounds probable.

  2. Apparently Idaho has a wolf “glut” or we are just being generous. According to an article in a local Idaho paper, Idaho Fish & Game has been contacting other states (14 so far) offering them “Free Wolves!!” if they will just promise to “manage” them. Officers from my fair state will trap & ship them free of charge!! Not sure if it’s Two for One, a Limited Time Only Offer or what, but it sounds like a hell of a deal to me.

So if you want to take advantage of this swell opportunity, let me know. I’ll put you on the list.

Maybe we could send afew more to Wisconsin? They only have 680. :frowning:

#28

Why would they need to trap and ship. The wolves are just running across the borders on their own.

#29

Well, if a state such as Maine or Connecticut wanted some, it would be a heck of along way to herd a wolf…so it seems trapping & shipping would be a more practical method of transfer.

At least, that’s my guess.

#30

I haven’t been lucky enough to see any of these wolves that stalk everyone else. I must not be in the right place at the right time. I thought once, leaving the ski hill, that there was a wolf by the side of the road eating a bird, but when we turned around it was gone. It could have been a Malamute. So no confirmed sighting here, although now I suppose a pack will rip me limb from limb next time I ride.

Anyway, you guys are funny! And my math isn’t dependable either.

#31

Remember that coyote they found in Central Park last year? They could turn loose a pack of wolves there and see if it cuts down on the muggings. That would be a good way to study if wolves did attack people in a “controlled environment.” (a la the book and movie “Wolfen.”)

#32

OP–
I wouldn’t worry about wolves when riding UNLESS you ride with a dog. Wolves are very very territorial and don’t appreciate other “wolves” in their area. They will probably leave you/your horse alone (although anything is possible), but they will make a play for a dog.

#33

Actually most of them will run from dogs unless it’s lunch size. Remember, they used to hunt wolves with dogs.

Believe me, a wolf knows the different between a dog and another wolf.

#34

I would love to hear an explanation of how, exactly, wolves are supposed to differentiate between different types of canine.
And if you would like to see the pictures of the pack of (not-small) hunting dogs that were killed by wolves in Grangeville in 2007, I will gladly share them. They were all over the newspapers regionally.
I’m not anti-wolf. I think the “Save Our Elk” people blow things way way out of proportion. I do not believe that wolves are very dangerous in most situations. I am way more worried about moose and bears when i am riding, as others on this thread have pointed out. But I’m not sunshine-and-roses about wolves either, and I think it is irresponsible to withhold anything from the OP. She asked for advice, I’m giving it. You don’t have to agree with it.

#35

I ride near moose a lot and have never had a problem with them. If I get too close they just trot off. I’ve never been threatened by a mosoe while I was on a horse. (Now I have been tree’d by a moose while hiking) but they always retreat when I’m on a horse.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/Wildlife/Moose.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/MooseJackson.jpg

As far as the Save the Elk people. The elk population in and around Yellowstone has drastically been reduced. Something, Grizzly or Wolf has reduced the number of elk. When there are lots of Prey animals. The predators will thrive. When the prey animal population declines, The predators starve or migrate out of the area. Who knows what the right balance is.

#36

I think that is how it is supposed to work. Populations of animals are supposed to rise and fall. It’s all about carrying capacity. If the prey has declined, the predators will decline next, and then the prey SHOULD be able to bounce back, although humans tend to make a cluster of things when they try to manage it.

People around here panic bc deer have declined and blame the wolves. But really, the population of deer is still up there, everyone just got used to years of them being everywhere. Now they actually have to hunt and aren’t guaranteed a deer and they panic and generate anti-wolf hysteria.

And yes, wolves will kill dogs, although they are also capable of leaving them alone. Bears kill dogs too.

#37

I am not very predator friendly. I guess that is because I grew up in India, where we loose at least 100 people a year to leopards and tigers. Leopards are the worst offenders. They are stealthy and have been known to sneak into a hut and carry one victim off without waking the other members of the family.

Now I live in CA where we can’t hunt mountain lions. You can hunt anything else , but not a mountain lion. So we have a ton of them. But they rarely attack horses and even rarer is an attack on humans. But it does occur. Anyways I have a healthy respect for predators. Wolves-I really don’t know much, but don’t like the odds of a pack of animals that can take down a full grown bison or an elk. But I guess they do know to leave a horse and rider alone-wild animals do figure it out. But unlike mountain lions, there appear to be no known attacks on humans at least in the U.S. in the recent past?

#38

I could see wolves approaching you, your horse bucking or rearing you off, in panic, and galloping off with the wolves in pursuit. I think in that situation they’d leave you alone even though you would be MUCH easier prey. I think, though, they’d go after the familiar 4-legged beast.

If you get a pistol, get a .22 LR rimfire. This won’t destroy your hearing, and any wolf shot with one isn’t going to press home an attack. As others have said, the noise alone would probably scare a wolf away.

#39

I think the ignorance over the true predatory nature of the wolf, how they hunt, what they think, what a true pack does is seriously lacking in those who’s only aim is to see every wolf dead.

Wolves by nature are solitary animals, they don’t want to run into humans, they don’t hunt little babies or small animals and they aren’t the cold blooded killers that many want others to think. Yes, if a wolf is older, sick, or hurt in some way and cannot keep up with the pack, they will take down a newborn calf or anything else that is easy prey to survive. They aren’t being malicious, they aren’t doing it ruthlessly.

Others have to see that we humans are encroaching on the home of wild life. Building buildings, tearing down trees and moving on in, so where do you want the deer, wolves, mountain lions and anything else to go? Will we not be satisfied and try to educate ourselves to coexist with the wildlife, or scream murder and gloss over the truth till all the wild life is gone or in a zoo?

I don’t think that a wolf would go after a horse and rider normally. Put a bell on your horse, wear bright colors, sing, go with someone else and make some noise, I bet they will slip into the shadows and stay far away from you.

#40

If there is not much game in an area, wolves have smaller litters or do not mate at all…something that was studied by both David Mech and Farley Mowat.

Yes they can kill. But if there are plentiful mice and rabbits, they will eat them, easy pickings. Farley Mowat ate the same diet:eek: in his study of wolves in Alaska, and marked his territory the same way.:lol: David Mech studied the Isle Royale wolves. You can buy their books on amazon.com and read what those 2 guys learned in coexisting with the wolves. Very funny and very informative books. They dispel a lot of myths.

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