The strange thing is that the wolf killed all the people, as wolves very seldom attack people, and when they do, they tend to do so in starved packs, be rabid or be habituated to humans. Since this is a single wolf attacking, it seems that the most effective use of resources would be an all forest campaign to get rid of rabies, as I assume the village doesn’t have a wolf breeding project going.
Leaving the task to a child can make a lot of sense precisely because of how scared they are—they desperately want to witness the monster (hence will work hard to find it), but also are terrified of it, so will be incentivized to make sure that those who can protect them will know of the danger—a grown up might simply ignore wolf signs, seeing as they could have been made by a big dog or something, and they have to finish hoeing the field today. Children are also more disposable than highly trained grown ups, so can also be used as a diversion in a pinch.
As to why they got eaten because they didn’t come, it’s a lot easier to pick off the villagers one by one when they aren’t wary, than to fend of a whole angry band of villagers actively hunting for it.
Can you explain how it picks them off one by one? I mean, how large a group do you need to pick off a wolf and wouldn’t most people be close to being in a group of that size naturally as a result of uh having a town.
Seeing as it’s been established that this wolf is capable of homicide, it stands to reason that killing 1 person is easier that killing more. To quote the Witcher “Every swordsman’s an arse when the enemy’s not sparse” (the original sounds much better :/). The context is a village. I’m assuming that they’re not that advanced technologically, as then they could use automated anti-wolf systems. Wolves tend to prefer forests and mountains, mainly because there are few humans there. So it stands to reason that this is a rather remote village where the denizens are more of the farmer/forester types. This kind of life involves a lot of time spent outside doing various chores, like tending to gardens, or chopping wood. One could posit that each household is surrounded by fences etc., but that actually doesn’t help that much, as a basic wolf enclosure needs a fence that is at least 8 feet high. While this is very much culturally dependent, I have the impression that most fences and walls tend to be lower, as they’re more of a marker than an impenetrable barrier. So it seems reasonable to assume that this obviously superior canine would both easily surmount any such obstacles and potentially even use them to hem in and dispatch solitary individuals.
Once the inhabitants are alerted (and actually believe the warnings!) then yes, they will probably group up for safety. At that point they should have the advantage due to their (I’m guessing) superior intellect and ability to use tools and close doors. So it’s in the wolfs interest to prevent this happening. Now I’m starting to wonder whether the initial startling of the boy wasn’t a cunning ruse to lower the villagers’ vigilance?
It does seem somewhat improbable for the wolf to finish off the whole population. That would require either a very small population (e.g. 2-3 families), a very stupid group of people (who ignore the conspicuous proceeding disappearances) or a very enterprising wolf. One potential solution would be to attack at night when everyone is sleeping. Though here the afore mentioned doors would probably be a hindrance. That being said, it’s not unheard of. Unless the doors were locked.
Nothing like adding a whole load of extra details to make the story seem more probable :D
The strange thing is that the wolf killed all the people, as wolves very seldom attack people, and when they do, they tend to do so in starved packs, be rabid or be habituated to humans. Since this is a single wolf attacking, it seems that the most effective use of resources would be an all forest campaign to get rid of rabies, as I assume the village doesn’t have a wolf breeding project going.
Leaving the task to a child can make a lot of sense precisely because of how scared they are—they desperately want to witness the monster (hence will work hard to find it), but also are terrified of it, so will be incentivized to make sure that those who can protect them will know of the danger—a grown up might simply ignore wolf signs, seeing as they could have been made by a big dog or something, and they have to finish hoeing the field today. Children are also more disposable than highly trained grown ups, so can also be used as a diversion in a pinch.
As to why they got eaten because they didn’t come, it’s a lot easier to pick off the villagers one by one when they aren’t wary, than to fend of a whole angry band of villagers actively hunting for it.
Can you explain how it picks them off one by one? I mean, how large a group do you need to pick off a wolf and wouldn’t most people be close to being in a group of that size naturally as a result of uh having a town.
Seeing as it’s been established that this wolf is capable of homicide, it stands to reason that killing 1 person is easier that killing more. To quote the Witcher “Every swordsman’s an arse when the enemy’s not sparse” (the original sounds much better :/). The context is a village. I’m assuming that they’re not that advanced technologically, as then they could use automated anti-wolf systems. Wolves tend to prefer forests and mountains, mainly because there are few humans there. So it stands to reason that this is a rather remote village where the denizens are more of the farmer/forester types. This kind of life involves a lot of time spent outside doing various chores, like tending to gardens, or chopping wood. One could posit that each household is surrounded by fences etc., but that actually doesn’t help that much, as a basic wolf enclosure needs a fence that is at least 8 feet high. While this is very much culturally dependent, I have the impression that most fences and walls tend to be lower, as they’re more of a marker than an impenetrable barrier. So it seems reasonable to assume that this obviously superior canine would both easily surmount any such obstacles and potentially even use them to hem in and dispatch solitary individuals.
Once the inhabitants are alerted (and actually believe the warnings!) then yes, they will probably group up for safety. At that point they should have the advantage due to their (I’m guessing) superior intellect and ability to use tools and close doors. So it’s in the wolfs interest to prevent this happening. Now I’m starting to wonder whether the initial startling of the boy wasn’t a cunning ruse to lower the villagers’ vigilance?
It does seem somewhat improbable for the wolf to finish off the whole population. That would require either a very small population (e.g. 2-3 families), a very stupid group of people (who ignore the conspicuous proceeding disappearances) or a very enterprising wolf. One potential solution would be to attack at night when everyone is sleeping. Though here the afore mentioned doors would probably be a hindrance. That being said, it’s not unheard of. Unless the doors were locked.
Nothing like adding a whole load of extra details to make the story seem more probable :D