So. For a great many years I've wondered what it would be like to encounter a wolf while walking in the woods at night.
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So. For a great many years I've wondered what it would be like to encounter a wolf while walking in the woods at night.
Now I know. It's genuinely unnerving in a manner I have never felt before while out in nature. Frankly. It was intimidating as hell.
Dog and I had an encounter with -I think- a single wolf a couple hundred meters from home.
Thread to jot down my thoughts / the events ->
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So. For a great many years I've wondered what it would be like to encounter a wolf while walking in the woods at night.
Now I know. It's genuinely unnerving in a manner I have never felt before while out in nature. Frankly. It was intimidating as hell.
Dog and I had an encounter with -I think- a single wolf a couple hundred meters from home.
Thread to jot down my thoughts / the events ->
First of all: I like that we have wolves in Denmark. Tonight I realized that I don't have an urge to (again) see them in person.
One of my favorite things is walking out late at night, or at least when it's dark. The world is a bit quieter, the stars or moonlit clouds are out. It's tranquil. And as it goes dog and I were out enjoying the rhythm of the night.
As clouds covered the moon, and fog was coming in, my headlamp didn't illuminate beyond the immediate.
/2
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First of all: I like that we have wolves in Denmark. Tonight I realized that I don't have an urge to (again) see them in person.
One of my favorite things is walking out late at night, or at least when it's dark. The world is a bit quieter, the stars or moonlit clouds are out. It's tranquil. And as it goes dog and I were out enjoying the rhythm of the night.
As clouds covered the moon, and fog was coming in, my headlamp didn't illuminate beyond the immediate.
/2
@Pepijn humans don't own everything, and that's ok. It's good to know where nature is setting limits for us.
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First of all: I like that we have wolves in Denmark. Tonight I realized that I don't have an urge to (again) see them in person.
One of my favorite things is walking out late at night, or at least when it's dark. The world is a bit quieter, the stars or moonlit clouds are out. It's tranquil. And as it goes dog and I were out enjoying the rhythm of the night.
As clouds covered the moon, and fog was coming in, my headlamp didn't illuminate beyond the immediate.
/2
Dog and I were at an entrance to our woodland (see photo). As I looked to step over the chain two eyes reflected the light of my headlamp even though the main beam wasn't enough to illuminate the area surrounding it.
My first thought was a couple of deer (we have a LOT of those, for now) but it felt a bit off. As I turned the headlamp to max I also shouted "hey deer!", which is always enough to get them to run.
Instead the eyes appeared to move a little bit towards me.
/3
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Dog and I were at an entrance to our woodland (see photo). As I looked to step over the chain two eyes reflected the light of my headlamp even though the main beam wasn't enough to illuminate the area surrounding it.
My first thought was a couple of deer (we have a LOT of those, for now) but it felt a bit off. As I turned the headlamp to max I also shouted "hey deer!", which is always enough to get them to run.
Instead the eyes appeared to move a little bit towards me.
/3
At this point I looked at dog. Dog had its tail between their legs and stood very close to me. Not a common thing.
Also at this point I thought "oh fuck wolf" (and also "oh cool wolf!") and went down a mental list to discard every other animal it could be. It could only be a wolf (or a really big dog, but considering there's been many wolf sightings here and no wild dog ones that wasn't likely).
The moon breaking through the clouds solved it. I could see a vague but clear outline.
/4
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At this point I looked at dog. Dog had its tail between their legs and stood very close to me. Not a common thing.
Also at this point I thought "oh fuck wolf" (and also "oh cool wolf!") and went down a mental list to discard every other animal it could be. It could only be a wolf (or a really big dog, but considering there's been many wolf sightings here and no wild dog ones that wasn't likely).
The moon breaking through the clouds solved it. I could see a vague but clear outline.
/4
The animal again did a step towards us. While staring directly at my soul.
If you've comfortable being out in nature at night, you might know that uncomfortable feeling you're being watched. And then at the same time feeling oddly secure in your winterjacket or so. At this point I felt more like dog than as someone comfortable in their thick outdoor clothes. My startrek hoody didn't do anything to make me feel comfy either. My body started a fight or flight response. Really weird feeling.
/5
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The animal again did a step towards us. While staring directly at my soul.
If you've comfortable being out in nature at night, you might know that uncomfortable feeling you're being watched. And then at the same time feeling oddly secure in your winterjacket or so. At this point I felt more like dog than as someone comfortable in their thick outdoor clothes. My startrek hoody didn't do anything to make me feel comfy either. My body started a fight or flight response. Really weird feeling.
/5
Dog decided to be helpful and start a high-pitch meeping sound. This did not help my adrenaline level or whatever the chemicals bubbling about with a fight or flight response.
I was / am pretty sure wolves in Denmark don't attack adult humans. Meeeeeeping shoe-box sized dogs: not sure.
Wolf was still staring. The events in the previous five comments maybe covered half a minute.
Distance was about 25 meter (animal stood next to a distinct bush, so I just measured it from a drone photo)
/6
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At this point I looked at dog. Dog had its tail between their legs and stood very close to me. Not a common thing.
Also at this point I thought "oh fuck wolf" (and also "oh cool wolf!") and went down a mental list to discard every other animal it could be. It could only be a wolf (or a really big dog, but considering there's been many wolf sightings here and no wild dog ones that wasn't likely).
The moon breaking through the clouds solved it. I could see a vague but clear outline.
/4
@Pepijn I am *so* envious! Sadly, we have no wolves in Scotland any longer.
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Dog decided to be helpful and start a high-pitch meeping sound. This did not help my adrenaline level or whatever the chemicals bubbling about with a fight or flight response.
I was / am pretty sure wolves in Denmark don't attack adult humans. Meeeeeeping shoe-box sized dogs: not sure.
Wolf was still staring. The events in the previous five comments maybe covered half a minute.
Distance was about 25 meter (animal stood next to a distinct bush, so I just measured it from a drone photo)
/6
It started to daze the wolf was not just a parallelized dork-deer but an apex-thingy assessing us. Maybe as a threat or prey (dog snack?). No idea. It was clear the animal was in a very different mind-space than random deer.
Here I figured I'd better start doing the things one is advised to do with wolves: apex the apex predator.
I was already staring at it, with my headlamp. So next was mustering my white-male-energy and loudly insult the animal in order to assert dominance:
/7
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It started to daze the wolf was not just a parallelized dork-deer but an apex-thingy assessing us. Maybe as a threat or prey (dog snack?). No idea. It was clear the animal was in a very different mind-space than random deer.
Here I figured I'd better start doing the things one is advised to do with wolves: apex the apex predator.
I was already staring at it, with my headlamp. So next was mustering my white-male-energy and loudly insult the animal in order to assert dominance:
/7
YOU'RE JUST A GLORIFIED POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODLE! GO AWAAAAAAAY!!!!!
(was the best I could think off, afterwards I realized RAAAAAAAAAAAAR would've been better)
The animal let out a quiet but weirdly audible low growl that fricking terrified me. No more steps towards us though.
/8
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So. For a great many years I've wondered what it would be like to encounter a wolf while walking in the woods at night.
Now I know. It's genuinely unnerving in a manner I have never felt before while out in nature. Frankly. It was intimidating as hell.
Dog and I had an encounter with -I think- a single wolf a couple hundred meters from home.
Thread to jot down my thoughts / the events ->
@Pepijn What an experience. Such a vivid account too. Thanks for sharing this.
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YOU'RE JUST A GLORIFIED POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODLE! GO AWAAAAAAAY!!!!!
(was the best I could think off, afterwards I realized RAAAAAAAAAAAAR would've been better)
The animal let out a quiet but weirdly audible low growl that fricking terrified me. No more steps towards us though.
/8
As I kept on shouting and looking at the animal I backed away until the line of sight was broken.
Then I turned and walked away at a steady pace while looking towards the animals spot.
We soon hit the open fields and didn't see it again. Dog REALLY wanted to go home and pulled at the leash until we were inside.
I returned by bicycle and with more powerful flashlights to see if I could find the wolf. No luck.
Fricking terrifying. Do not recommend.
End of story.
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YOU'RE JUST A GLORIFIED POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODLE! GO AWAAAAAAAY!!!!!
(was the best I could think off, afterwards I realized RAAAAAAAAAAAAR would've been better)
The animal let out a quiet but weirdly audible low growl that fricking terrified me. No more steps towards us though.
/8
@Pepijn Thou shalt not underestimate poodles. The ones @jkirkendall posts about have quite different vibes than your wolf though.
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@Pepijn I am *so* envious! Sadly, we have no wolves in Scotland any longer.
@simon_brooke Not sure if you should be. It was honestly unnerving in a manner I don't remember having felt before.
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@Petermid Wel met een fiets, dat voelt veiliger.. En ze vallen denk ik echt geen volwassen mensen aan.
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As I kept on shouting and looking at the animal I backed away until the line of sight was broken.
Then I turned and walked away at a steady pace while looking towards the animals spot.
We soon hit the open fields and didn't see it again. Dog REALLY wanted to go home and pulled at the leash until we were inside.
I returned by bicycle and with more powerful flashlights to see if I could find the wolf. No luck.
Fricking terrifying. Do not recommend.
End of story.
@Pepijn cery unnerving!
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@CuriousMagpie I have a physical copy here! I remember it as book that creates a lot of emotions. I'll add it to the to-read pile again.
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@simon_brooke Not sure if you should be. It was honestly unnerving in a manner I don't remember having felt before.
Wolves are scary. We have them in our woods too, at least when we're not around they showed up on a camera feed, and it does make you reconsider a little bit if you want to have the kids playing freely out of sight.
To be clear, I also like having them in DK, but maybe not like right next to me.
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As I kept on shouting and looking at the animal I backed away until the line of sight was broken.
Then I turned and walked away at a steady pace while looking towards the animals spot.
We soon hit the open fields and didn't see it again. Dog REALLY wanted to go home and pulled at the leash until we were inside.
I returned by bicycle and with more powerful flashlights to see if I could find the wolf. No luck.
Fricking terrifying. Do not recommend.
End of story.
@Pepijn was driving home last night and pulled over for a wee, and while I stood there, about a hundred feet down the road I saw what might have been a coyote but pretty sure was also a wolf.
It was slinking across the highway away from me, so I didn't really worry, but I had a similar kind of uneasy feeling. Are there more? Are they watching me?
Very familiar stretch of highway so I was totally comfortable before I saw it, but it was a definite reminder of who owns the friggin night.
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So. For a great many years I've wondered what it would be like to encounter a wolf while walking in the woods at night.
Now I know. It's genuinely unnerving in a manner I have never felt before while out in nature. Frankly. It was intimidating as hell.
Dog and I had an encounter with -I think- a single wolf a couple hundred meters from home.
Thread to jot down my thoughts / the events ->
@Pepijn this does put a bit of a damper on our idea to get sheep and have them graze in that area.
