From: asatj@acad2.alaska.edu
Subject: From Alaska...
Organization: University of Alaska
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 14:02:28 GMT

Greetings-

  My name is Alan Julliard, I have lived in Alaska since 1977 and have had some
experiences with wolves that I would like to share.
  In the winter of 1978-9, I lived alone in a remote cabin in Chugach State
Park.  It had been built by some friends of mine with the blessing of the Park.
I was able to obtain permission to occupy it because the Park officials hoped
my presense would discourage any illegal aerial shooting of wolves, which at
this time, was legal in other parts of Alaska.  The cabin was constructed of
disease-killed spruce, roughly 12' by 10' by 8', plenty of room for one.  There
was a table, bed, woodstove and a few shelves.  A kerosene lamp provided light.
Water was carried from a nearby stream or the river, about 50 yards away. 
Everything I had with me was carried in 10 miles on my back by fairly easy
trail from the nearest road and human neighbors.
  Truly, my "neighbors" were the wildlife of the area which included squirrels,
mice, moles, ravens, magpies, chickadees, owls, both black and grizzly bears,
moose, sheep, goats, lynx, hares, wolverines, coyotes and wolves.  It was my
habit to spend half of each day exploring the area, ranging from ice caves
below the glacier to high wind swept ridges to the valley floor nearby.  In
this manner I became very familiar with the animals in the area, their habits
and travels.  Some creatures, such as moose, were seen everyday, others only
once in months, such as lynx and wolves.
  In late November came the hard freezes (below -10 degrees F) that at last
froze up the creeks, lakes, swamps and the river.  Travel becomes much easier
once this happens, for both humans and animals.  Usually in the evenings, after
cleaning up dishes and stoking the fire, I would go out for a short ski or hike
down to the river, where I would be out of the forest and with moonlight could
make my way along the banks easily enough.  Shortly after the river froze (all
winter long there were some sections that never freeze; these places could be a
danger if hidden and I fell through more than once, though was never soaked
above my knees), these excursions in the dark ended abruptly one evening when a
loud chorus of howls erupted very close by the cabin.  I opened the door
but fear kept me from going out.  In my travels in the north , I had seen
wolves before and had heard howling many times, but I could tell these wolves
were very close by, probably down on the river where I usually went.  Though I
knew there were no documented cases of wolves killing a human in the wild, I
had no intention of becoming the first such case.  If anyone out there thinks
they might have done differently, I can only say you had to be there.  I did
not return their howls, as I have done other times, for I did not want to scare
them off.  I need not have worried about that, for not only did they continue
howling through the night (I finally fell asleep many hours later with the
chorus continuing on), but they stayed in the area for the next week, howling
every night, until they vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared.
  When I went outside the first morning after their arrival, I found that my
fear of stepping outside the night before was not totally unfounded.  The pack
had not only walked around the cabin walls but had even sniffed around the
door.  Tracks were everywhere in the snow and they had added their own urine to
the tree where I usually went in the mornings.  I followed their tracks up and
down the valley, seeing where they had gone, but never catching a glimse of the
pack itself.  It seemed that the pack was 5-7 members; I could tell this by the
size of their tracks and how they had a habit of staying in a line when in
the forest but spreading out on the open river banks and bars.  Though they put
their noses in many places, I never found that they had chased any animal or
made any kills.  They followed moose tracks up and down the valley, and they
followed my tracks as well; in fact, it seemed to be a game of theirs to follow
me, for I would find their new tracks following my old tracks where I had been
following their tracks.  Several months later, I did find a moose kill, but it
was so old and picked over (only hair and a few bone fragments left) that I
could not tell when it occured.  Ravens tend to clean up after wolves fairly
well and by following circling ravens, it is possible to find either the wolves
or a kill.
  In February, I had another interesting experience, one that continues to
haunt me to this day.  I was cutting firewood next to the cabin, using a bow
saw, when I looked up from my work to meet the eyes of a young wolf looking
straight at me about 20 feet away.  Its stance was somewhat bent down as if it
had been looking at something on the ground.  I sensed no aggression in its
expression, which seemed to be more that of curiosity and melancholy.  It was
thin for a wolf, its hair somewhat haggard, and not much bigger that most of
the coyotes I have seen.  We continued to stare at each other for about a
minute and then its fear got the best of it and it ran into the brush and
was gone.  I ran after it, crashing through the woods, and followed its tracks
to the river but it was long gone by the time I got there.  I followed its
original tracks back to the cabin and there discovered at least part of its
reason for the visit.  It was my habit and others to use the woods around the
cabin for a toilet, there being no outhouse.  This wolf had come and dug up
several of my "holes" and eaten the contents!  I was stunned.  No wonder the
wolf's tongue had been hanging out of its mouth when I spotted it; I had
assumed it was just panting.  And it was rather skinny.  I knew at this point
in my life that I lived in a far stranger world than I previously thought and
that there was a whole world of animal behavior that I know nothing about.  
  No, I did not leave any food out for the wolf, as I am a firm believer in not
doing this and, besides, I never saw sign of it after that.  I do not know if
it was part of the pack or not, or if it had been kicked out of the pack. 
There were 3 members of the pack with paw prints larger than my fist and none
that appeared to be very young pups.  Most of the wolves that I have seen have
been alone; it is rare to ever see the entire pack, except by airplane.  And
no, this time I did not feel the previous fear; this was one animal, pathetic
at that, in the daytime, far different than a pack at night.
  Since that time so long ago now, I have married, have a family and a
regularjob in the city.  However, I still get out a lot and still find signs of
wolves in the nearby mountains: kills, scat, prints.  They are healthy here,
despite the efforts of some, though as always shy and reclusive.  They do not
inhabit the city, unlike moose and even bears and coyotes, but they are never
far away.  That knowledge alone can get me through the most trying days.

Alan Julliard
asatj@acad2.alaska.edu
"isness is this business..."

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