This is reprinted from The Vancouver Province, July 4/00: Staff Reporter The Province; with Canadian Press Two wolves found on Vargas Island after kayaker Scott Langevin was savagely attacked therehave been shot and will be tested for rabies, according to a television report. The attack is believed to be the first documented case of an attack by a wolf on a human being in B.C. "What a way to be famous," said Langevin in a BCTV interview. Langevin, 23, is in Victoria General Hospital recovering from the mauling, which required 50 stitches to reattach his scalp. He was surprised by the attack while he slept in his sleeping bag near a beach campfire on the island, off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino. The University of Victoria studend survived by fighting the wolf and attracting the attention of other campers. He said he awoke to the wolf biting him and trying to drag away his sleeping bag. "I decided to try roll around to the other side of the fire," explained Langevin, who was hoping to get a log or stick to aid in his fight for survival. But the move backfired as the wolf "started biting the back of my head." "I'm sure I hit him a few times but it wasn't enough to get him off," he recalled. The wolf left after Langevin's friends started shouting. They called for help on a marine radio. Boaters Dave Leblanc and Doug Leys responded to the call at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Leblanc, 43, said he knew by the tone of the voice on the radio that the situation was serious. Leblanc, who has coast guard experience, said he and Leys had sketchy directions but headed for the beach where kayakers would most probably camp. After a 20-minute ride through the night, the pair arrived to find about eight people on the beach signalling with flashlights. Langevin was losing blood quickly but was conscious when he was loaded aboard the boat. He was eventually airlifted to Victoria. The brush with wildlife could have been tragic had the kayakers not been so well equipped, said Leblanc. "If they hadn't had radios, he well could have died." A kayak guide who leads trips to Vargas Island guessed yesterday that the wolf who attacked Langevin may have become habituated to human beings. "I've heard people were feeding the wolf -- people not in the know," said Kim Crosby, 38, of Nanaimo's Wildheart Adventures, who had an encounter with a wolf on Vargas last month. He was guiding two other kayakers when they saw the wolf. "After we had our lunch, it came out of the woods towards us, not being aggressive, just being inquisitive. For a wolf that's very strange behavior. "This wolf came right up to us and we decided it was time to split." ______________________ Ian Cohen / Icon Architecture *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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