Welcome back to Scary Animal Attacks!
Today’s episode takes us out the great frozen north of the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan
to a Uranium mine named Points North Landing.
The climate of this area is a continental climate which means that winters are extremely
cold and summers are warm and sunny.
The terrain is a rolling combination of prairie and boreal forest, so there is a mixture of
grasses and deciduous trees scattered throughout.
Wildlife abounds with diversity that includes caribou, moose, black bears and wolves in
addition to the normal variety of ground dwelling creatures like fox, squirrels and song birds.
There are abundant water sources with nearly 10% of the province being covered in lakes,
rivers, streams or reservoirs and agriculture is very productive in the south.
Most of the human population lives in the southern portion of the province so the north
is sparsely populated and humans that are there, are frequently working in mining, timber
or the energy industry.
This is exactly what brought Kenton Joel Carnegie, a 22 year old college student from the University
of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
He was studying Geological Engineering and on an internship at the service center for
a neary uranium mine about 350 kilometers from La Range.
In the late afternoon, around 5:30 PM, on November 8th of 2005, Kenton wanted to go
out for a walk around the edges of the camp.
He had to get permission to do this and was warned not to go, especially alone, but he
was not easily deterred as he enjoyed a little adventure now and then.
He indicated to a work cohort that he would be back by supper time at 7 PM.
He left the buildings behind and trekked across the open field outside of town as twilight
began to settle in.
The cold air chilled his nose and cheeks as he labored through the snow and appreciated
the solitude and peace.
Once he was about a kilometer away from camp and walking along the shore of a lake.
An approaching tree line beckoned to him and he crunched to the edge of it.
The trees in the area are predominantly Black Spruce and short, but tend to grow thicker
and closer together than larger trees.
Just as he reached the treeline, he glanced up and noticed an observer.
It was a wolf just a few meters ahead of him and it was standing broadside to him.
The wolf didn’t seem anxious but Kenton had seen wolves in the area and they weren’t
pleasant.
Nearby wolves and black bears frequented the camp dump and were aggressive and unafraid
of people.
They would sometimes approach people growling and demanding as animals who are accustomed
to human provided food sources tend to become.
Kenton decided he would not press his luck and chose to turn around and head back to
camp.
As he began to turn around, he noticed a second wolf appear over his back trail.
This wolf was positioned between him and his most direct route back to camp.
His level of concern began to rise.
LIttle did he know that the wolves had been tracking him ever since he left the camp.
One had followed in his boot tracks like a bloodhound and the other had parallel his
travel route concealed by the trees.
Kenton had unknowingly walked into an ambush.
With darkness setting in, Kenton increasingly wanted to be back at the safety of camp and
panicking, he made the worst choice he could have.
He decided to run.
He tried to run in a semi-circle around the wolf between him and his camp, back through
the trees a bit.
As he struggled to make the dash back to camp, the two wolves were joined in the pursuit
by two more wolves, one from each side of him.
Apex predators do not like to attack an animal that is looking at them, because they know
that the animal may see them and defend itself and harm them.
Wolves, in particular like to flush their prey using their speed to close in on the
vulnerable rear portion of the prey animal.
That is exactly what they did to Kenton.
As his strides lengthened to navigate the snow as quickly as he could go, the wolves
closed and bit into his thigh just a few strides into the chase.
Blood began to spatter the snow as the wolves tore his flesh as he rolled on the ground
trying to avoid their vicious teeth.
Kenton struggled to free himself and kicked and yelled as the pack encircled him.
One of the wolves clamped onto the calf muscle of his right leg and another bit his right
hand.
He broke out once again and ran a few more meters before being caught a second time and
brought down to the ground.
He again, kicked and hit and yelled at the wolves who were taking turns leaping in for
attacks at his legs and anything else they could sink their teeth into.
As he fought them his blood pooled below him in the snow.
Kenton broke free a third time and ran a few more meters toward the camp only to be caught
again.
He was now very terrified and realized he had to fight for his life.
Kenton kicked and stomped the wolves, only to be attacked from behind by another wolf
and tumbling to the snow.
He would turn to attack that wolf, and another would run in from behind him to attack from
his blind side.
His blood continued to pool and drip into the snow
Kenton broke loose once again and tried to separate himself from the now frenzied wolf
pack.
They quickly overcame him yet again and this time he was out of breath and tiring from
adrenaline.
A wolf attacked him and bit his nose, tearing the tissues and sending pain searing through
his body.
He had severe bites all over his legs, arms, face and hands at this point and was continually
being attacked from the rear no matter which direction he turned.
With his feet set wide apart he stood his ground defiantly as his blood covered the
snow and vegetation beneath him.
As he turned to kick one of the wolves, he lost his footing and fell to the ground.
All four wolves converged on him at that point and bit and tore at his flesh until he quit
moving.
Back at camp, Kentons coworkers noticed he was not back at dinner time.
By 7:30 PM they jumped into a camp pick up truck and went down by the lake to look for
him.
Upon arriving at the shore, the men saw the wolf tracks and returned to camp for a rifle.
When they came back to the lake, the men located Kenton’s remains a short distance away using
a flashlight.
There were no wolves around it but it was surrounded by wolf tracks in the snow.
A short distance away from them the impromptu rescue team could hear wolves howling.
The men went back to camp to get a group of people together to document the attack and
recover Kentons body.
As they returned to the kill site, they could see two sets of eyes glowing in the dark as
they worked on loading Kenton’s remains.
An investigation was opened and much of the track evidence was disrupted by the search
and recovery efforts.
Since none of the men had been an eye witness the coroner concluded that Kenton had died
from fatal injuries inflicted during a predatory attack but stopped just short of confirming
it as a wolf attack.
Black bears had not been seen for over a month in the area and would be hibernating at this
point of the year.
Coyotes nor mountain lions had not been seen, nor had been known to frequent the area.
That only leaves wolves and given the amount of wolf tracks in the area, and the known
population around camp, that leaves only one culprit.
The authorities opened the investigation up to a jury and the jury agreed that Kenton’s
death was caused by a predatory wolf attack.
Experts indicated that even though Kenton’s death was a terrible tragedy a single human
death was no cause for alarm.
Kenton’s parents created a memorial scholarship in honor of Kenton at Waterloo University
and expressed concern that authorities were overlooking more significant policy problems.
They pointed out that biologists at the camp had failed to notice the wolf pack’s dependence
on human food sources had caused them to lose their fear of humans.
An electric fence was erected around the camp’s dump to keep bears and wolves out.
Several years later, a young man was mauled by a lone wolf as he took a break outside
only 100 meters from camp.
He survived and authorities ordered nearby wolves shot and food disposal systems be installed
at the camp to prevent further enticement.
Prior to Carnegie's death, there had been only one confirmed case of fatal wolf attack
in all of North America.
Carnegie was returned for internment at Thornton Cemetery in Oshawa, Ontario.