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Wyomingben
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SASKATOON -- A man's evening jog became a struggle for his life in northern Saskatchewan when a timber wolf lunged at his head and sank its teeth into his leg. But Fred Desjarlais, 55, was able to fight off several attacks by the large predator and then wrestled it into submission long enough for a busload of co-workers to arrive and scare the beast away.
"I don't know what came over me or how I did it," Desjarlais said from his Saskatoon home where he was recuperating. "All I know is I had his head and I wasn't letting go until someone came to help me."
Desjarlais works for Cameco Corp.'s uranium milling facility in Key Lake, about 640 kilometres north of Saskatoon. He had just finished his shift at 7 p.m. New Year's Eve, and decided to jog the three kilometres back to camp instead of catching the shuttle bus, when he was attacked.
At one point, he and the wolf were face to face as the beast reared on its hind legs and looked down at him, he said.
"He had a big mouth and a big head," Desjarlais recalled.
"It was a bad attack -- it bit him twice really badly -- but Fred's a remarkable man," said Kimm Barker, Cameco's Key Lake safety officer. "It wasn't a very smart wolf because of all the people it could have picked, it chose one of the strongest."
Desjarlais was already into his run when he heard something and glanced back to see the animal creep out of the ditch and walk toward him.
"He was taunting me, (walking) in a circle around me. I looked around real quick and thought, 'I hope he's alone.' "
Desjarlais hollered and tried to scare the animal off, but it lunged at his head. He jumped to the side and dodged, but the wolf came back.
"That's when I knew he meant business," said Desjarlais, who eluded a second lunge. But the wolf quickly spun around and bit into his shoulder.
Desjarlais was wearing several layers of clothing which prevented the bite from breaking the skin, but it did leave significant bruising. The wolf then turned its attention to his lower body and bit him twice in the pelvis.
Both man and beast fell over and got back up. When his chance came again, Desjarlais locked onto the wolf's back, threw his arms around the animal's head and put it in a headlock.
"I pulled him down the way you would take down cattle (for roping) and I dropped onto his head, pinning him there," said Desjarlais, who held on for about 30 to 40 seconds before co-workers returning to camp on the bus spotted the pair.
"He was pretty much at the end of his string. His strength was draining," said Barker.
"I don't know what came over me or how I did it," Desjarlais said from his Saskatoon home where he was recuperating. "All I know is I had his head and I wasn't letting go until someone came to help me."
Desjarlais works for Cameco Corp.'s uranium milling facility in Key Lake, about 640 kilometres north of Saskatoon. He had just finished his shift at 7 p.m. New Year's Eve, and decided to jog the three kilometres back to camp instead of catching the shuttle bus, when he was attacked.
At one point, he and the wolf were face to face as the beast reared on its hind legs and looked down at him, he said.
"He had a big mouth and a big head," Desjarlais recalled.
"It was a bad attack -- it bit him twice really badly -- but Fred's a remarkable man," said Kimm Barker, Cameco's Key Lake safety officer. "It wasn't a very smart wolf because of all the people it could have picked, it chose one of the strongest."
Desjarlais was already into his run when he heard something and glanced back to see the animal creep out of the ditch and walk toward him.
"He was taunting me, (walking) in a circle around me. I looked around real quick and thought, 'I hope he's alone.' "
Desjarlais hollered and tried to scare the animal off, but it lunged at his head. He jumped to the side and dodged, but the wolf came back.
"That's when I knew he meant business," said Desjarlais, who eluded a second lunge. But the wolf quickly spun around and bit into his shoulder.
Desjarlais was wearing several layers of clothing which prevented the bite from breaking the skin, but it did leave significant bruising. The wolf then turned its attention to his lower body and bit him twice in the pelvis.
Both man and beast fell over and got back up. When his chance came again, Desjarlais locked onto the wolf's back, threw his arms around the animal's head and put it in a headlock.
"I pulled him down the way you would take down cattle (for roping) and I dropped onto his head, pinning him there," said Desjarlais, who held on for about 30 to 40 seconds before co-workers returning to camp on the bus spotted the pair.
"He was pretty much at the end of his string. His strength was draining," said Barker.
