One last note

[hannahchan]

The day I left Alaska, this was headline of the front-page, above-the-fold story in the Juneau Empire:

Are stray dogs worse than bears?

Comments

[ranger_hotsauce]

I take it the article consisted of one word:
"No."

[hannahchan]

Not really. For the most part, bears don't fuck with humans, just so long as you leave the cubs alone and don't leave any garbage where they can get at it, and don't go out into their territory. I mean, it happens, but not often.

Wild dogs, on the other hand, are fucking mean. They form packs, have no fear of humans, and have been known to go after kids. Standard policy in a lot of small towns was to send out word one day to keep your dogs indoors; any that were found outside that day got shot.

Keep in mind, most people have big dogs in Alaska, and there aren't any vets in the small towns, so it doesn't take long before you're looking at packs of seven, eight shepherd-husky mixes roaming the streets, hungry. It's a bad scene.

[wasabi_poptart]

I understand there's a problem with stray huskies and malamutes interbreeding with wolves, too.

[hannahchan]

Yep. Depends on the town, but yep.

[noralita]

for eatin' ?

[hannahchan]

Ha! Bears are supposed to taste pretty good, if you catch them when they've only been eating berries. I wouldn't know, m'self.