Wolf Attack in Minnesota (VIDEO): Teen Says 'I Had to Jerk My Head Out of Its Mouth'
A wolf attack has taken place in Minnesota after a teenager was viciously attacked by the wolf as he participated in a trip with church friends on Saturday.
The 16 year old boy, Noah Graham, of Solway was bitten in the head by the wolf at West Winnie Campground on Lake Winnibigoshish in Minnesota.
Graham has recalled the attack, saying: "I had to reach behind me and jerk my head out of its mouth. After I got up, I was kicking at it and screaming at it and it wouldn't leave. But then after a while I got it to run away," according to Fox News.
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He added, "There was no sound at all. Didn't hear it. It was just all of a sudden there,"
Officials have confirmed that this is the first and only reported attack on a person by a gray wolf in Minnesota.
The campground was immediately closed off to visitors by the U.S. Forest Service, which runs the park. The wolf was later found and captured by trappers, who shot the wolf and took it to test for rabies.
Col. Ken Soring, told reporters on Saturday: "Our records do not reflect that we've had wolf attacks like this in Minnesota."
Noah Graham, 16, was reportedly near the beach on the campsite at around 4 a.m. He claims he was preparing to fall asleep with a group of friends from his church when the large grey wolf approached the group.
Before they could do anything the wolf jumped up, attacking Noah, clamping its jaws tightly around his head.
Noah's father, Scott Graham, has said: "The wolf just came up behind Noah, he didn't hear anything, and it just grabbed him by the back of the head and wouldn't let go."
Scott continued, "He had to physically pry the jaws of the wolf open…to get it off of him. And once he got it off of him and he was up, the wolf stood there growling at him. And he had to shout at it and kick at it to get it to go away,"
The boy was badly injured, and his skull required 17 staples to close the wound and stop the bleeding. The teen also suffered wounds behind his left ear.
The teenager is also undergoing a course of rabies shots as a precaution in case the wolf in this instance was a carrier of the disease.
