11 July 2013

Idaho Cyclist Pursued by Wolf on Alaska Highway

— Growing up in the Yukon, Melanie Klassen had seen numerous bicycle tourists pedaling the Alaska Highway, but never one with a canine companion running behind him.

"I thought it was odd until I saw the panicked look on the biker's face - as though he was about to be eaten," she said in a telephone interview.

"That wasn't a dog; it was a wolf."

The cyclist, William "Mac" Hollan, 35, of Sandpoint, Idaho, verified Klassen's observation of Saturday's incident: "At this point I realized I might not be going home, and I began to panic at the thought of how much it was going to hurt."
The wolf nipped at the bike's rear packs the way it would bite the hamstrings of a fleeing moose in the drawn-out ordeal of subduing large prey.

Hollan, who was prepared for grizzly encounters, blasted the wolf with bursts of bear spray on several occasions. He said the wolf would fade back 20 feet or so and then move up again.

Full story here.

8 comments:

ProudHillbilly said...

That's called developing your sprint muscles.

Bob said...

Not much of that sourdough spirit in any of these unarmed folks, is there?

Rev. Paul said...

PH, you'd think he'd try to outrun the wolf. At least, I would have.

Bob, none at all. Apparently he's never been chased by anything larger than a cat, to judge by his example.

threecollie said...

I will be staying in balmy, if soggy, NY, thank you! Wow!

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Interesting, I wonder if the wolf had rabies?

We had fox in Virginia that would come at you and keep coming to hurt/kill, it had rabies and put up a fight like you wouldn't believe. It's not uncommon there.

Rev. Paul said...

threecollie, the cyclist should have been armed. Would almost have been a non-story, had he been packing.

Sandy, it's possible, but we may never know.

Corey said...

I would of peddled that bike until my legs fell off.

Rev. Paul said...

Corey, that was my thought. Of course, I'd have been armed, too. Nothing says "back off!" like a .45 in the snout.