Highest Rated Comments


wildbiologist_28 karma

There's a lot of people who want to get into the wildlife career field that might have some questions! :)

wildbiologist_25 karma

Cougar! They typically go for the neck and kill you before you even knew what was coming. Wolves would likely latch onto your bum and take you down that way. Wolves seem to mess around with you a bit more before you actually end up dying - but you would think the opposite if you ever watch a domestic house cat play with their food...

wildbiologist_23 karma

The idea of an "alpha wolf" is not totally false, but most of this information comes out of studying captive wolves, which do exhibit behaviours where one or two wolves (alpha male/alpha female) do show dominant behaviours over other members of their group. Most researchers that study wild wolves have dismissed the traditional alpha wolf idea, but wolves do have really interesting social dynamics.

Here is more if you're interested in reading about it:

https://www.wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/267alphastatus_english.pdf

wildbiologist_22 karma

Yes, both lol. They were when I was working with captive/rescued animals in a sanctuary setting. I was bit by a cougar when I turned my back on her and she was pissed off at me for some reason - was bit on the arm and scratched down the neck and back because she jumped me...still have the scars from that one. Wolf was similar, I turned my back and he was in a bad mood and nipped me on the buttcheek haha.

wildbiologist_18 karma

I am fine working with hunters to support wildlife conservation when we all have shared goals. I work a TON with northern indigenous communities where hunting/fishing is literally how they survive so I have no moral grounds to tell them to go vegan lol. But personally I don't hunt and I don't take jobs where I work that closely with hunters because I feel like my personal morals intersect too much with professional responsibilities, and there are other wildlife biologists more suited to that realm.

To your second question, I had quite a bit of wilderness/outdoor experience. I grew up in a very rural area on a large property and was always backpacking and camping for extended periods of time as a kid. I think that without that exposure to nature as a kid I wouldn't do what I do now.