Percy Jackson: Interview Outline: Section 9 His story of the wolf that is in Jim Reardon's book "Alaska Wolf Man." (Lorenz Schuerch Jr. reads the section) Tape Reference Number: H2002-09-14 Percy Jackson talks with Bill Schneider and Eileen Devinney in Kiana, Alaska on January 28, 2003.

Bill Schneider: Okay. We're back on. Lorry Schuerch has joined us, and Lorry was mentioning last night about an account in Jim Rearden's book, Alaska's Wolf Man?

Lorry Schuerch: Alaska's Wolf -- Wolf Man.

Bill Schneider: And you had a section that you wanted to read because it relates to the story that Percy was telling earlier. So why don't you go ahead and read that and then we'll get Percy to give us more detail on it.

Lorry Schuerch: Okay. It starts here on this -- on the 30th chapter, according to Rearden's book, it says the normal behavior of wolf encountering a man, I know for one instance when a wolf attacked an Eskimo. I investigated and know that this wolf wasn't fooling. But the facts go beyond that. And it says here, Punyuk, P-U-N-Y-U-K. What was that guy's real name?

Percy Jackson: Punikuk

Lorry Schuerch: Punikuk.

Percy Jackson: Uh-huh.

Lorry Schuerch: "Punikuk was an Eskimo who lived in Noorvik on the Kobuk River in Arctic Alaska. I was living in Kotzebue 60 miles away at the time he was attacked. Marge Swenson teacher/nurse at Noorvik had a daily radio schedule with Kotzebue. She asked during the schedule for me to come to Noorvik and investigate the attack. I hired a dog team and drove to Noorvik, taking two days for the trip. It was January, it was cold,stormy, and mostly dark, as it is at that time of the year. I arrived four days after Punikuk had been attacked."

And just to go on further here, and skip a few deals, he said "Punikuk was 63 years old and only a few words of English. His married daughter, who assisted Marge Swenson at the school, acted as an interpreter. Here's how she translated the story:

"Punikuk was living in the stove-heated tent trapping on a ridge between Kobuk and Selawik Rivers. He had sled dogs tied to the willows near a tent. During the early evening, that far north it gets dark about two, two o'clock at that time of the year. He heard his dogs growling and making a fuss. Stepping outside, Punikuk saw what he took to be one of his dogs running loose in the dark, but the moon and the stars reflected from the snow that gave him an amount of light, he picked a chunk of ice from a pile he kept for melting -- for melt, for cooking and drinking, and tossed it at the dog, ordering it to come. The ice -- when the ice hit the animal, it rushed Punikuk, jumped up with its front feet on his shoulders and bit the top of his head. Of course, Punikuk realized instantly that it was not one of his dogs, both from its behavior and size. It was twice as big of any of his dogs. He was dealing with a wolf." Now, this book goes on to tell about his injuries, and -- and, and eventually dying.

Bill Schneider: Right.

Lorry Schuerch: And it -- I wonder, Percy, if you know anything about this story, this particular story? Do you remember anything about this attack?

Percy Jackson: Yeah, I told them.

Bill Schneider: Yeah, we talked about that a little bit.

Lorry Schuerch: Uh-hum. It said here that -- it says here, in here someplace that the -- that the wolf was -- was -- had, "the trail zigzagged to the village of Kiana, approximately 12 miles from his camp. And that the vil -- that the wolf was killed after eating some of the Malemute puppies. The day after his story, I went to Kiana and the wolf had been skinned. I found a carcass and cut off the head. The animal was an adult in excellent condition, having weighed about 100 pounds. I turned the wolf's head over to Dr. Bauer of the Alaska Native Health Service in Kotzebue and he sent it to a laboratory somewhere."

Bill Schneider: Yeah, that we -- I think we have -- I think we have those details. Percy -- Percy gave those.

Lorry Schuerch: Uh-hum.

Bill Schneider: And then Percy also provided some interesting details about wolf behavior, and how -- how you can defend yourself against wolves.

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