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After almost half a year working in a hostel in Tbilisi, spring has come and it is far warmer than anywhere further west in Europe so I'm going to hitchhike around Georgia with my tent in warm areas.

I've hitchhiked a lot in countries some people consider dodgy and camped in random spots when it got too late to get more rides just a few times and I usually feel pretty safe.

But the one thing I do always worry about is packs of feral dogs. And of course their natural but just as dangerous cousins, wolves.

Do I need to worry about such animals in Georgia, and if so, in which parts? Or are there some tips to mitigate any risks?

Charlie Brumbaugh
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hippietrail
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  • Safety info on dingos in Australia: http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/dingo-safe.html – Andrew Grimm Apr 15 '12 at 10:27
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    I live in Bulgaria and here feral dogs are only an issue in populated areas. I've been told to watch out for wolves in the country, but I don't know much about where. – Henrik Hansen Apr 15 '12 at 10:46
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    Interesting question! I know that wolves are exactly zero risk in the USA, and I've camped in some very "doggy" regions in the USA and Mexico without concern. I'll be interested to see what other people say. – Greg.Ley Apr 16 '12 at 02:09
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    @Greg.Ley -- Feral dogs are definitely NOT zero risk in the U.S. I'm not sure what qualifies as "very", but here in Georgia (state) people have been attacked, and they pose risks to humans, game, and livestock both directly and as rabies vectors. – Russell Steen Jun 12 '12 at 20:01
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    wolf distribution : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Wolf_distr.gif - so apparently you may happen to encounter some in some parts of Georgia ... – mojzis Jun 13 '12 at 09:49
  • @RussellSteen - I didn't say feral dogs are zero risk, I said that wolves are zero risk. Big difference! I can see how my sentence structure was somewhat ambiguous in that separation. – Greg.Ley Jun 15 '12 at 18:03
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    @hippietrail - how did you get on? – Rory Alsop Aug 08 '12 at 15:17
  • @RoryAlsop: This time I didn't have any problems but I had pretty good luck hitchhiking and didn't get caught in any uninhabited spots... well I did later on in Bulgaria and though I saw some large lone dogs that time during daylight none showed up where I was camped that night. – hippietrail Aug 08 '12 at 15:24
  • I think the tags on that question should be adapted. wild-camping instead of camping, a regional tag (georia or kaukasus) – Danubian Sailor Jul 25 '13 at 17:01

1 Answers1

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According to @mojzis' link, there is a chance of wolves:

enter image description here

So perhaps the most useful recommendation would be to speak to locals in each area you travel to, to understand what areas are considered safe, and whether they have local guidelines on food storage, proximity to open areas, gun permits etc.

And of course that guidance would hold for any such area.

Rory Alsop
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