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| With apologies to the 1961 American musical romantic drama directed by Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins |
Reply by Ed Rogers
The stalking happened in 1969 or 1970, in the same place as my 2013, story, “Things that go boom,” about blowing up a beaver dam in Washington State. The stalking took place before we blew the dam. Lee, the friend I wrote about in that story who taught me how to make a living from nature, showed me how to harvest the soft bark from cascara trees, which can be used to make castor oil, among other things. [You cut two straight lines down the trunk, four inches apart to leave a strip intact to grow back around the tree. You cut around to the rest of the circumference at the bottom and the top, and then use your hands to pry the bark away from the trunk. You cut the removed bark up and bag it, to take it home and dry it. Unfortunately, it’s a lot of work for little profit.]
Well, the day Lee was teaching me about cascara, we were on the far side of the beaver dam and had filled two bags each with bark, which was all either of us could carry. We hadn’t gone far toward camp when we heard the pack of dogs. They sounded like they were running a deer, but they were coming right at us. We of course picked up our pace.
Because we never carried a gun when we went out, we were somewhat defenseless. The pack must have lost our trail briefly, because at one point they were moving away from us. But then, suddenly, we could hear them coming toward us again.
We dropped our bags of bark and ran, crossing the creek below the dam and entering Lee’s camp. He had a single-shot 12-gauge shotgun in his camper. He came out with the gun just as the dogs reached the far side of the creek and shot into the air. Lucky for us, they turned and ran away. But we never went back on that side of the creek again. We would hear the dogs sometimes at night, howling in the distance.
| Copyright © 2020 by Paul Clark, Ed Rogers |
Thank you, Ed, for participating in this new column by answering Paul's question about that pack of wild dogs you mentioned in a comment. And, as a sort of balance, I have scheduled an "Adventure from Bulgaria" for tomorrow in which Valeria Idakieva talks of being followed by three dogs for three days and two nights in some mountains in southwest Bulgaria. (They were friendly dogs, fortunately.)
ReplyDeleteEntertaining story. I've never seen an aggressive dog pack in all my wanderings. WTF?
ReplyDeleteWashington State still has wild areas. My friend Lee said that over the years people settled in the mountains around Kitsap Co. and when they left they left their animals. It was my first and last--once is enough for anybody. However I saw a pack chase a deer across the Warrior River in Alabama. I was working on a tugboat on the river when a deer hit the water with about five dogs right behind it. The deer made it across and so did the dogs.
ReplyDeleteAh. I meant aggressive to people. Packs of dogs chasing deer is as natural as pregnant teenagers. I have seen a little good wilderness in the northwest, including in the Picket Range and the Wallowa (sp?) mountains.
DeleteAmazing story, Ed. I second Chuck; I've encountered many, many dogs while hiking and trail running, but never had any make an effort at taking me down. So how did it feel to realize you weren't at the usual human position at the top of the food chain?
DeleteDid I forget to say how fast we were running, Paul. I agree it isn't a everyday thing. I have found that most wild animals try to avoid humans but there is no telling what generation of living without human contact these dogs were and it was winter, hunger may have been behind the chase. It is strange now that I look back on it that the dogs never came into the camp even when no one was there.
ReplyDeleteAmazing to think that in meeting a pack of truly wild dogs you may have had one of the rarest outdoors experiences in the country. Most people who spend much time outdoors see bears on occasion, very few see bobcats or mountain lions, it is almost a miracle to encounter dogs so wild they won't even raid a camp. You had a Jack London 'Call of the Wild' moment.
ReplyDelete"dogs so wild they won't even raid a camp"? WILL even raid a camp?
DeleteNever mind. I re-read Ed's comment and get your point now.
DeleteGreat story, certainly pucker-worthy! When I lived in what was known as the "student ghetto" there were packs of pet dogs that roamed at night, back when people just let them out at night. There were a couple minor attacks in the paper. One night I was walking with my girlfriend and they ranged around us and finally lined up right in our path, growling. I was studying animal behavior and remembered apes will wave their arms and scream to frighten predators, so I gave my best roar and ran right at them, waving my arms. It was like they turned back into pets and ran for cover! My girl thought I was brave-but I knew I nearly dirtied my shorts!
ReplyDeleteFunny account, Roger! And I remember Hannibal Lecter's walking among ravenous boars in one of the Hannibal movies (the one just titled Hannibal, I think). In his case, it was something about his not giving off any scent of fear that rather made the boars fearful. They receded from him to avoid his approach.
DeleteFunny account from both of you, Roger and Morris. The idea of ravenous boars backing off from anyone--or just about anything--is a far-fetched idea that would happen only in movie. Apparently a ridiculous movie, I assume? In real life, "Torn Apart By Hogs" would have been the title of the sequel.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that Hannibal movie and I'll pay attention to the scene more closely the next time I watch it. Not sure they were "boars" or how "ravenous" they were portrayed as being. Or why there was a pen of such animals anyway, and why Hannibal Lecter might have been walking through it.
DeleteYour comment reminds me of the numerous scenes in a couple of Italian TV crime series I've watched in the past few months (Gomorrah & Zero...Zero...Zero), in which the mobsters' favorite method of disposing of bodies seemed to be to feed them to hogs.
Growing up in SW Virginia I was told tales of hogs eating people, mainly in neighboring North Carolina, although I've never known of it actually happening. I've only seen one hog in the wild, a lone large male, and while it didn't act aggressive, it sure didn't act at all afraid. It looked like something a very large black bear would stay away from, to give a frame of reference.
ReplyDeleteWith that background, our exchange piqued my curiosity so I looked up some hopefully accurate information from biologists' research. According to one very authoritative sounding study, in the past 50 years there have been 412 total attacks on people worldwide by wild hogs, with four fatal attacks in the United States. Interestingly, more than 80% of attacks were by lone, large boars--like the one I encountered. Glad I didn't know that at the time or my fear--unlike Hannibal's lack thereof--might have triggered an attack. Bottom line: Attacks are very rare, but they happen, and people do get killed.
As for the question 'do hogs eat people?' the answer is a surprising and resounding yes. Hogs, according to experts, will eat anything, including people. Most victims are farmers who fall or die (heart attack, for example) while tending their domestic hogs. Apparently if you hit the ground around hogs you are now viewed as food. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian and raise vegetables instead of hogs: people don't get eaten by broccoli. And Wiki notes some serial killers and the Mafia have been known to dispose of bodies by feeding them to hogs.
Glad you enjoyed the Hannibal movie, Morris. I watched maybe 20 minutes of one; in my opinion it would have been greatly improved if he had been eaten by hogs. Different interests in film viewing apparently. May I recommend 'Ford v Ferrari' as a pleasing alternative to movies where people end up as hog food?