Feral Dogs

"Experts say such attacks are extremely rare—and instances where more than one person is attacked are even more rare.

'You are more likely to killed by a bolt of lightening than by a dog,' said Adam Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. 'It's one in millions.'"
 
Boyd said:
"Experts say such attacks are extremely rare—and instances where more than one person is attacked are even more rare.

'You are more likely to killed by a bolt of lightening than by a dog,' said Adam Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. 'It's one in millions.'"
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And the statistics actually back those statements up.

"In the United States, there are an estimated 25 million lightning flashes each year. During the past 30 years, lightning killed an average of 58 people per year. This is higher than 57 deaths per year caused by tornadoes and average 48 deaths to hurricanes. Yet because lightning usually claims only one or two victims at a time and does not cause mass destruction of property, it is underrated as a risk. While documented lightning injuries in the United States average about 300 per year, undocumented injuries are likely much higher." -- National Weather Service

Compared to;

"There have been at least 20 deadly dog attacks in the U.S. this year, 22 in 2008 and 33 in 2007, Goldfarb said, compared with about 75 million owned dogs. Many dogs that turn vicious aren't necessarily pets but kept for hunting or breeding, or as guard dogs." - The article in the link.
 
Yeah, good idea. Shoot first, then say "here, Fido!" second. Or even better, stay at home with your doors locked and don't go out into the woods at all.
 
Boyd said:
Yeah, good idea. Shoot first, then say "here, Fido!" second. Or even better, stay at home with your doors locked and don't go out into the woods at all.
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I made almost the same statement about just staying home if you are so frightened on a duck hunting forum I participate on, regarding killing snakes. The thread started with a debate on killing venomous snakes, and ended up with numerous posts by idiots who proudly boasted that they killed ANY snake, on sight. Hunters have enough of an uphill struggle these days with how the public views them without nonsense like that being aired in public.

On the other hand, I have little sympathy for non-native species or escaped domestic ones in the wild. Good intentioned animal rights-types usually fail to see the forest for the trees when it comes to balancing what is best for the environment with the welfare of an individual animal.
 
You and others seem to be suggesting that there are dangerous dogs on the loose in the pines, and that a hiker's life could be in danger if they are not somehow prepared to defend themselves. Forgive me if I didn't understand. I use common sense, but if I really believed there was a significant risk of being attacked then I would just stay home.
 
Boyd said:
You and others seem to be suggesting that there are dangerous dogs on the loose in the pines, and that a hiker's life could be in danger if they are not somehow prepared to defend themselves. Forgive me if I didn't understand. I use common sense, but if I really believed there was a significant risk of being attacked then I would just stay home.
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I posted this in general to see if anyone has had any recent encounters with feral dogs in the Wharton area. I do believe a hiker should be properly armed (not meaning firearms) when walking into the wild. I had an encounter where I was chased by ferals when I was young. Shortly after a few more of my buddies had encounters. The last post was basically that I don't need magic numbers nor do I need a pinebarrens expert to tell me what I have encountered. The very last thing I need to be told is to stay out of the woods that I grew up in and still live in and frequent on a almost daily basis. There's 2 things that will keep me out of my backyard, One: DEATH. Two: JAIL. Non Native dogs and Non native people sure the hell aren't keeping me out lol
 
a couple of summers ago we were chased by what appeared to be a momma dog and 5 or 6 near adult pups. we were heading to friendship bogs from the vicinity of eagle tavern in the truck and saw the dogs in the woods. didn't think much about it until they caught up to us at friendship. they were barking an carrying on as the approached. we were taking pics of the ruins and hightailed it back to the truck..... the dogs chased the truck for awhile and then gave up. at the time we thought they might have belonged at the house along the road by the eagle tavern marker. thinking back, sure glad they weren't between us and the truck.
 
lakesgirl said:
a couple of summers ago we were chased by what appeared to be a momma dog and 5 or 6 near adult pups. we were heading to friendship bogs from the vicinity of eagle tavern in the truck and saw the dogs in the woods. didn't think much about it until they caught up to us at friendship. they were barking an carrying on as the approached. we were taking pics of the ruins and hightailed it back to the truck..... the dogs chased the truck for awhile and then gave up. at the time we thought they might have belonged at the house along the road by the eagle tavern marker. thinking back, sure glad they weren't between us and the truck.
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They were from that house. Jessica and I were looking for stones in the woods near the site of the tavern, and those dogs came from that house and followed us. It was around the same time you mentioned, and they were still very young. It was very early in the morning and with the woods all full of briers we did not move very quickly into the woods. They kept following us barking constantly and we eventually just gave up and left the area.

Guy
 
Here's another direction for this thread...I just finished a book called" One second after" it was about a terrorist EMP attack on the U.S. Really makes you think what can be accomplished with a small properly tuned nuclear weapon and a medium range missile launched from a ship. Anyway the American Humane Society estimates that there are 77.5 million dogs in this country. Imagine dogs being turned lose on a very large scale by people who can't feed themselves let alone their dogs in the event of a large scale disaster. Most people don't have the stomach to kill their dog let alone eat it, most would just turn them lose. Millions of dogs roaming the streets....How many rounds of ammo do you have in your gun cabinet? Just hypothetical.
 
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