Federal protection has led to wolves unafraid of people

Juneau Empire & AP ^ | February 26, 2006 | AP

[muawiyah]

Parks? No, everywhere ~ we have people who raise these things ~ they garden every sort of plant that deer love to eat.

The Vietnamese were keeping the deer in line until a whole bunch of former military people moved to Oklahoma City.

Then the deer took off.

You could always count on fresh venison from a Vietnamese buddy.

[TChris]

"It's totally inappropriate for wolves to be that close," said Carolyn Sime, wolf coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Well then, since this behavior is inappropriate, the pro-wolf folks had better hold a mandatory meeting with representatives of the wolf pack to explain the importance of respecting the minimum Distance for Observing Humans (DOH). Otherwise, they may find themselves at a disadvantage when negotiating acceptable herd losses at the next bargaining round.

[Little Ray]

Unfortunately, Deer are harder prey than livestock and children, and wolves tend to go after the easiest prey...

[Eska]

Maybe been here in alaska too long; everythinks not always blk & white. Every fall, we see a couple this years pups and they will about walk right up to ya; and yet never see the adults.

Always been lots of wolves in alaska but no disneyland either. Things worked best when they had bounties & a few state trappers from oldtimers I have talked to. Plenty of wolves for us all to know AK is still the place we want to call home. Yet, when they get out of control in local areas, no federal case about cleaning them out quick.

For all the money that has been spent on wolf sterilization/relocation; they could have had a long term bounty system in place. Imagine, you'd have native & rural white kids settin snares rather than playing video games.

Most rural alaskans I know realize old wolf belongs here as much as we do; just want a wolf control program in place for when their numbers get out of hand.

[midwyf]

"Any robust society needs its wolves as well as its lap dogs, probably more."

You try dealing with them, they breed like rabbits, they kill hundreds of head of livestock every year, numerous dogs. The elk population In Yellowstone is less than half what it was prewolf. Very few moose, in fact the Teton moose population has dropped by half.

[muawiyah]

So, we keep the kids inside for a few days.

[midwyf]

"So, we keep the kids inside for a few days."

Make that years, not days. Besides how do you plan to know when the wolves are around and whether it is safe to let the kids outside or not?

[Emmalein]

Do wolves have any natural predators?

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Don't wolves from different packs kill each other?

Also, I think mountain lions might kill loners.

[muawiyah]

The kids will grow up. In any case, there have never been many instances of American kids getting 'et by the wolves.

Besides, the wolves will be well fed by the deer.

BTW, deer in an heavily fenced environment don't bound off from the wolves as well as they might in a rural woods. I don't think the wolves would think children and puppies easier prey under those conditions.

[muawiyah]

Elk carry "mad cow disease".

[thackney]

Do wolves have any natural predators?

Yes, they are called hunters. They have been doing it for thousands of years.

[oldenuff2no]

Just find someold kerr dog with Parvo and kick it out in the middle of them. You won't have to worry about them for long.

[midwyf]

Nothing preys on them, but they do get in fights with each other, especially in places like the Lamar where there are so many. They also fight with bears for prey. Blacks are no match for a pack, the grizzlies sometimes win, sometimes lose. We also have a lot of grizzlies in the relatively small area.
The Yellowstone area packs are huge, some packs have exceeded 20 members.

[midwyf]

They are protected from hunters with very stiff penalties. One rancher had to pay several thousand and I think probabtion for killing one chasing his cows. Killing is allowed only if they are in the process of killing your livestock.

[midwyf]

Actually they lost most of last years pups to Parvo. Soem of the packs have several litters and a number of them died.
By the way these wolves are actually begging in Hayden valley, they are so accustomed to humans.

[thackney]

Only in some places. In other more sane places like Alaska, predator control is used to maintain game animal herds.

[HolgerDansk]

Liberal Strategy 101:

1. Bring back the wolf, farmers be damned.
2. Livestock killed, meat gets expensive, forced vegetarianism.
3. Game Animals killed, hunters decline, gun control.

We draw the line here, now.

[Myrddin]

I pity the elk hunters out west once the wolves expand their range.

Too late. The elk and moose herds in Idaho are being decimated. My rifles will be paper punchers as there just isn't much left to hunt.

[midwyf]

"Liberal Strategy 101:

Bring back the wolf, farmers be damned.
Livestock killed, meat gets expensive, forced vegetarianism.
Game Animals killed, hunters decline, gun control."

Boy you nailed it!! And unfortunately these people have a real program of giving "talks" at schools telling how bad ranchers are, and how good wolves and grizzlies are, and how humans are taking their homes. They often take wolves to show the kids what nice cuite cuddlies they are.
By the way how do you guys get stuff that is a copy and paste in italics?