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Algonquin Provincial Park is one of several
areas where people are encouraged to "howl" at the wolves in
hopes of a response from the wild wolves in the area. In
August, 1996, the Delventhal family of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, were spending a nine-day family vacation in
Algonquin and joined a group of Scouts in "howling" at the
wolves. They were answered by the howl of a solitary wolf.
That night the Delventhals decided to sleep out
under the stars. Young Zachariah was dreaming when he suddenly
felt excruciating pain in his face. A lone wolf had bit him in
the face and was dragging him from his sleeping bag. Zach
screamed and Tracy, Zach's Mother, raced to his side and picked
him up, saturating her thermal shirt with blood from Zach's
wounds.
The wolf stood menacingly less than a yard
away. Tracy yelled at her husband, Thom, who leapt from his
sleeping bag and charged the wolf. The wolf retreated and then
charged at Tracy and Zach. The charges were repeated. Finally
the wolf left. Thom turned a flashlight on 11-year-old Zach and
gasped "Oh, my God!" "The boy's face had been ripped open. His
nose was crushed. Parts of his mouth and right cheek were torn
and dangling. Blood gushed from puncture wounds below his eyes,
and the lower part of his right ear was missing." Zach was
taken to a hospital in Toronto where a plastic surgeon
performed four hours of reconstructive surgery. Zach received
more than 80 stitches in his face. Canadian officials baited
the Delventhals' campsite and captured and destroyed a 60-lb
wild male wolf. No further attacks have occurred since. (Cook,
Kathy; "Night of the Wolf" READER'S DIGEST, July 1997, pp.
114-119.)
Humans have been attacked by wolves in Alaska.
The late David Tobuk carried scars on his face from a wolf
attack on him as a small child. The incident occurred around
the turn of the century in interior Alaska. David was playing
in his village near a river. An old wolf came into the village
and bit David in the face and started to carry him off. Other
Eskimos saw the wolf dragging the child off and started yelling
and screaming. The wolf dropped the child and was shot by an
old Eskimo trapper who had a gun. (Interview with Frank Tobuk,
brother, Bettles, Alaska, December 1988.)
Paul Tritt, an Athabascan Indian, was attacked
by a lone wolf while working a trap line. Paul was setting a
snare, looked up and saw a wolf lunging at him. He threw his
arm up in front of his face and it was bitten severely by the
wolf. A struggle ensued. Tritt was able to get to his sled,
grab a gun and kill the wolf. Nathaniel Frank, a companion,
helped Tritt wash the wound with warm water. Frank took Tritt,
via dog sled, to Fort Yukon to see a doctor. The arm healed,
but Tritt never regained full use of it. Several years later,
the arm developed problems and had to be amputated. (Interview
with Paul Tritt, Venetie, Alaska, November,
1988)
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