My 500th blog post……….enjoy !!!
“What would you do ?” used to appear on the cover of a boys’ comic called “Boys’ World”. This was a publication, obviously, aimed at boys and first appeared on January 26th 1963. There were 89 issues before the comic was merged with Eagle in 1964. The last issue of “Boys’ World” came out on October 3rd 1964.
I used to buy “Boys’ World”, and this was mainly for its front cover which always featured a kind of puzzle. It was called “What would you do ?” and was based on somebody being in what Ned Flanders would call “A dilly of a pickle”. Here’s the situation:
The yellow box sets the scene, and the task is for you to solve the situation. Perhaps you might like to write your idea in the “Comments” section.
Here’s the yellow box enlarged:
I hate snow. It always makes its way into your clothes and then melts. That, though, is the least of Trapper Jacques’s problems. He has been cut off by the wolves, at least six of them, and he only has a single bullet left. They are hunger crazed after the fish-and-chip van broke down and they stand firmly between Jacques and his lovely little cabin with his new Liberty curtains. If Jacques tries to run they will chase him and bite him and then tear him to pieces. The same fate will eventually befall him if he tries climbing that tree in the background.
What can he do??
John Knifton 
Shoot the leader of the pack.
My same thought.
REPLY TO ROSALIENE BACCHUS
That must be a case of “Great Minds think alike”, rather than copying off each other!
To be honest, we know a lot more about wolves nowadays than we did in 1963, and that knowledge would probably produce a different answer today than the one we are going to be given.
REPLY TO A GREY:
That sounds reasonable, although the Devil’s Advocate in me says that you might find it difficult to decide which particular wolf that is. Presumably, the first wolf to get to you seems likeliest to be the leader, but if he isn’t, it may get a little messy!
What, then, is the correct answer?
You’ll have to wait until 06:17 BST on April 10th, when, as Salomé said to Herod, “All will be revealed”.
Congratulations on 500. Well done.
I think shooting one of them is a good idea and the leader probably would work but I’m not too sure.
Thanks very much. I had a look at some of the posts around 200-250 and I did not have the faintest memory of having written them. Perhaps it was the fairies!
Your solution to the wolf problem is duly noted. We all seem to be producing similar remedies. Let’s hope we’re all good shots and the rifle doesn’t jam.
I would shoot the first one for sure then I would throw down that beaver hat and hope they think it is a real one and while they are distracted make a run for it.
Alternatively I’d shoot myself and get it over with!
To be honest I’d be surprised if Trapper Jacques hadn’t got a real fur hat out there in the wilds, and you are right, it would give you extra time to run away, presumably to that lovely little cabin.
Congratulations on 500 posts!
Thank you very much, I appreciate that. Now all I need to do is to increase my audience ten times over until I get up to your number of followers!
Congratulations on achieving 500 posts! I guess I’d have to shoot one of them, although this is probably one of those situations where you stand perfectly still and do nothing. Does that count as two goes?
Not for a teacher, no, it doesn’t count as two goes!
Shooting one seems to be a very popular answer but just standing still, preferably with your back to the tree is quite an intriguing idea. I really don’t know what the wolves would do in that case, although I suspect it may be bad!
Excellent, so the job does have some benefits left! I wondered if wolves, like other animals, went for the movement although my distinct lack of knowledge of wolf behaviour is no doubt leading this train of thought! I await the answer!
I think that wolves, like any predator, will chase you if you run away, so that action more or less guarantees your fate. On the other hand, we know that wolves have only killed two people in North America since 1900 so perhaps if you stood with your back to the tree, and then took it from there, that would be the best thing to do.
What you do next, in my opinion, has already appeared in a previous blog post I wrote
“https://johnknifton.com/2017/01/12/wolves-2-how-to-fight-them-off/”
I’d forgotten all about writing it, but this post answers your question quite well, particularly towards the end.
So waving my arms and making myself rather large is going to scare them off. Well, its certainly possible – although I’m not that brave I’m afraid!
If you shoot one wolf, the rest might be hungry enough to have him for dinner instead of me. ?
I think the rest might well do that ! The only problem might be how you manage to make your excuses and disappear, a little bit like those people who watch the first ten minutes of a film at the cinema and then leave.
You might have a problem disappearing quietly between the members of a wolf pack, although if you have taken the precaution of having your pockets full of meat, you will reap the benefit of it in situations like this.
Congratulations on 500.
Assuming our hero had a successful hunting trip and has some of that meat on him, could throw pieces of that to the wolves (in a direction away from the cabin) and then escape to the cabin while they’re eating and fighting over it.
and next time carry more ammo …
Thank you very much for those kind words. They are much appreciated.
I presumed that Trapper Jacques was a hunter who was after fur rather than meat, but I think that you might have an idea there whatever the quarry. If it’s meat, then, yes, it might well work. If he just has skins then he could probably throw them down and they would surely be interested in them for a while.
And yes, always carry plenty of ammunition!
Thank you very much for those kind words. They are much appreciated.
I presumed that Trapper Jacques was a hunter who was after fur rather than meat, but I think that you might have an idea there, whatever the quarry. If it’s meat, then, yes, it might well work. If he just has skins then he could probably throw them down and they would surely be interested in them for a while.
And yes, always carry plenty of ammunition!
I believe that wolves are actually quite wary of human beings so I would suggest walking towards them – in as confident a manner as possible – while moving towards the log cabin. Shooting any one of them would probably scare the rest off – though personally I wouldn’t want to have to put this to the test.
I would agree with you there, although there always seems to be a difference in behaviour between North American wolves (only two or three people killed since 1900) and the Siberian ones. Wikipedia has, for example, “List of wolf attacks” and “Kirov wolf attacks” to look at. Most of them seem to me though, to be children, old people and “easy targets” . There also seems to be a process whereby wolves can develop a more confident attitude towards humans unless you shoot a few from time to time to encourage the rest.
A long time ago I wrote
https://johnknifton.com/2017/01/12/wolves-2-how-to-fight-them-off/
although I would love to hear from a proper wolf specialist what would be the best course of action in this situation.
I certainly suspect that the “correct” answer given on page two in 1963 will have been discredited by the time it is revealed on April 12th 2020.
I hope he did not think of killing himself, rather than being slowly killed by the pack 🙂 I was just joking 🙂 Very interesting question.
Hope you and your family are fine.
Take care, Regards
No, I don’t think he had ideas of suicide! We are all fine at the moment, thank you. My wife and I are on our own, “Self isolating” as it is called. My daughter and her husband are doing the same.
The secret seems not to have contact with anybody outside your own household, and to keep wearing a mask if you go for a walk, and to wash your hands for 30 seconds on a regular basis.
Best wishes, and take care yourself!
Congratulations on the 500 posts.
About the wolf situation, make noise, try to look big, throw that backpack at them so as to keep them busy for a while I make my run. I remember from a movie you should never lose eye contact with a wolf when it confronts u, not sure about that though.
Thanks very much for your congratulations. You are very kind.
I think that your ideas for the wolves are probably among the best yet, because I don’t think that the official solution in the comic from 1963 would actually work. Wolves are very loyal and I don’t think that they would dream of eating the pack leader, so its make yourself look big, shout a lot, and run faster than a wolf…..and that is fast, believe me!