Appeal Tribune
❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019 ❚ 1B
Sports
Oregon ‘wolf encounters’ are on
the rise, here’s what to know
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA
TODAY NETWORK
The number of people coming across
wolves in Oregon’s outdoors is gradually
increasing as the carnivores continue to
spread across the state.
Reports of seeing or hearing wolves
have increased 54 percent since 2011, in-
cluding 434 reports statewide in 2018,
according to the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife. But this doesn’t need
to be something scary, said Oregon wolf
program coordinator Roblyn Brown. It’s
all about people getting comfortable
with the idea and knowing what steps to
take if they come across a wolf in the
wild.
“There are already a lot more encoun-
ters,” Brown said. “So, it’s happening
now. But what we’re also hearing is that
a lot of people aren’t sure how to process
it — they’re not sure what’s going on be-
cause we’re so unfamiliar with wolves in
this state.”
Brown gave the example of Minneso-
ta, where wolves have maintained a
population over 2,000 and are generally
taken for granted. “In Minnesota people
are used to wolves — they’re not typical-
ly concerned because they’re familiar
with them,” Brown said. “In Oregon, this
is something new, and anything new,
especially an animal that’s always been
the ‘big bad wolf ’ will lead to fear. But we
really don’t need to be scared, it’s just
about knowing how to process it.”
Brown and the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife have produced a
video, and are increasingly talking
about, how to handle an encounter with
a wolf.
As Oregon’s human and wolf popula-
tion both continue to grow, meetings are
inevitable. Here are ideas on how to
handle encounters for hikers, hunters
and everyone who goes outside.
Where are wolves located?
The most likely place to have a wolf
encounter is northeast Oregon, where
the vast majority of the state’s animals
reside.
They’re typically not found in the
high mountains or towns, but in the elk
and deer filled forests in between,
Brown said.
“We’ve heard about them happening
when people are hiking, hunting, berry
picking, in a lot of different situations,”
Brown said.
Wolves are also beginning to show up
in increasing numbers near more pop-
ulated areas in the forest around Mount
Hood, Central Oregon and southwest
Oregon.
As Oregon’s human and wolf population both continue to grow, meetings are inevitable. ODFW
Let the wolf know you’re there
The most important part of a wolf en-
counter is to let the animal know you’re
there, Brown said.
“It’s very possible that if you see a
wolf, it doesn’t know you’re there,”
Brown said. “It’s possible that it doesn’t
see you or doesn’t smell you.”
Brown said waving your arms or talk-
ing should do the trick.
“In almost all circumstances — and
this is my experience as well — once a
wolf knows you’re there they’ll tuck tail,
turn around and leave the area.”
The video showing a wolf encounter
by Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife intern Story Warren is instruc-
tive. She’s walking through the forest
when a wolf trots out, completely oblivi-
ous.
“As the wolf moved in my direction, it
was clear the wolf didn’t know I was
there,” Warren says. “As it got closer, I
said something quietly to alert the wolf.
As soon as I did, the wolf stopped in its
tracks trying to figure out what made
the noise. It turned and ran as soon as it
realized I was there. Running away is a
wolf ’s typical reaction to humans.”
Brown said this was particularly rele-
vant for hunters who are concealed
from view, especially in areas rich in elk
and deer.
What if they start making
a ‘bark-howl’
If you’ve come across a wolf that’s
protecting pups, or you’re near a den or
other important area, a wolf might make
a “bark-howl,” Brown said.
The video has audio of it, but the
noise sounds a lot like a normal dog’s
bark combined with occasional long
howls, with a few rapid-fire barks in be-
tween.
“It’s a normal reaction when they’re
concerned about something — but it’s
not an aggressive thing,” Brown said.
“You might hear it and never see the
wolf. The best thing is to move out of the
area. Don’t be worried. I’ve heard it mul-
tiple times and never felt concerned.”
It’s possible the wolf may follow a
person out of the area at a distance,
Warren said, “until they are out of the
area that the wolves feel protective of,
like a den or feeding site.”
Keep dogs close or leashed
A big variable in a wolf encounter is
the presence of a dog.
Wolves are territorial to other ca-
nines, and will protect territory, espe-
cially if a dog wanders near pups or a
site where wolves have killed prey.
“Wolves will protect their territory if
they feel the dog is a threat,” Brown said.
The best thing people can do is keep
their dog close and leashed.
“If the wolf associates the dog with
the human, they should turn around
and leave,” Brown said.
What if a wolf is being aggressive?
In the rare circumstance where a wolf
has seen and smelled a human but still
is approaching or being aggressive,
Brown said people could take a number
of actions including:
❚ Stay calm
❚ Back away slowly while facing the
animal
❚ Leave the wolf a way to escape
❚ Pick up small children without
bending down
❚ Raise your voice and speak firmly
❚ If the wolf approaches or acts ag-
gressively, wave your arms and make
yourself look larger. Shout, make noise
and throw any available objects.
❚ In the unlikely event that you are at-
tacked by a wolf, fight back. Try to re-
main standing and use rocks, sticks,
tools, camping gear and your hands to
fend off the attack. Keep the animal
away from your neck and head.
❚ Bear spray or mace is very effective
at discouraging wolves
“We’re going to have more encoun-
ters,” Brown said. “The idea is to start
getting comfortable with the idea. If you
see a wolf, be excited about it. There’s no
reason to be scared. You don’t need to
change your behavior — watch from a
distance and pay attention to what it
might be telling you.”
Wolf reports from the public
The number of wolf reports from the
public have increased with the state’s
population. The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife tracks public reports,
which can include: scat, tracks, howling
heard and sightings.
“Keep in mind that areas that have
had wolves for quite some time no long-
er generate as many reports, since peo-
ple are used to them there,” Brown said.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors re-
porter, photographer and videographer
in Oregon for 11 years. To support his
work, subscribe to the Statesman Jour-
nal.
Urness is the author of “Best Hikes
with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking South-
ern Oregon.” He can be reached at
zurness@StatesmanJournal.com
or
(503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at
@ZachsORoutdoors.
Wirth Lake and Walling Pond will soon be full of keepers
members of the hunting fraternity:
Washington has approved the mixing
and matching of attire in combinations
featuring both hunter orange and hunt-
er pink.
Imagine a safety-vest-orange and
florescent-pink camo outfit from Neon
Leon’s Sporting Goods.
On second thought, let’s not go there.
Don’t expect forest fashionistas in
Oregon anytime soon.
Only hunters 17 and younger are re-
quired to wear florescent orange.
Although the state encourages it for
anyone taking to the field during hunt-
ing seasons.
And now, on a personal note ...
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
Here is a real Halloween treat with no
trick.
A truck was scheduled to arrive on
Oct. 31 from Desert Springs Trout Farm
near Summer Lake to deliver goodies at
two water bodies inside the Salem city
limits.
Walter Wirth Lake in Cascades Gate-
way Park was scheduled to get 2,300
keeper-size (8 inches) and 67 “keeper-
plus-size” rainbow trout, while Walling
Pond was due to get 267 keepers and 33
larger trout.
Cascades Gateway Park is on the east
side of Turner Road with the park en-
trance driveway just past the Walmart
parking lot.
Walling is at 16th and McGilchrist
streets with parking off 16th.
The larger of the two, Wirth, offers
better bank access as well as amenities
such as an accessible fishing platform,
bathrooms, hiking trails, picnic tables
and even a disk golf course.
For an overview, go to the City of Sa-
lem web page for the park at https://
www.cityofsalem.net/cascades-gate-
way-park
Walling can charitably be described
as somewhat more, ahem, primitive.
Wirth (1,000 keeper-plus) and Wall-
ing (400 keeper-plus) are also sched-
uled to be stocked the week of Nov. 11.
And Wirth also is on the schedule to
Repeat performance,
unfortunately
The trout-stocking season generally draws a good crowd at Walter Wirth Lake
in Salem’s Cascades Gateway Park. HENRY MILLER / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
get 1,300 keeper-plus rainbows the
week of Nov. 25.
Pink is the new orange
Remember the May 4 column about
how Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed
a bill adding “hunter pink” to the high-
visibility options for hunters in the Ev-
ergreen State?
It’s now on the books.
On Oct. 17, officials with the Washing-
ton Department of Fish and Wildlife ap-
proved rules for wearing hunter pink,
becoming the 10th state to adopt the
high-visibility garb.
For those out-of-state hunters from
the Beaver State who hunt in our neigh-
bor to the north, details are online at
wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/requirements/
ethics-safety/hunter-orange.
Of note for the fashion-forward
My brother, Jim, and his life partner,
Jan, evacuated their home of about two
decades near Sebastopol, Calif., on Oct.
26 because of the massive and rapidly
spreading Kincade Fire.
Jan emailed early the next morning
to say that both arrived safely at her
daughter’s home in Danville on the east
side of San Francisco Bay.
The next day, Jim opted to return to
Santa Rosa to go to work.
It was the second he’s gone to work
during mass evacuations with fires rag-
ing in Sonoma County. He did the same
thing during the October 2017 Tubbs
Fire.
He’s a nurse at a hospital.
Yep, that’s Jim, my brother.
Henry Miller is a retired Statesman
Journal outdoor writer. He can be
reached HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com