Posted on 02/26/2006 6:42:20 PM PST by george76
Some ranchers say the wolves in the Madison Valley have grown increasingly brazen and are apparently unafraid of people.
State wildlife officials say such behavior is to be expected, given the federal protection the predators have had in the decade since being reintroduced in the Yellowstone National Park.
Jack Atcheson Jr. said he was spooked on a recent hunting trip, when three men and three mules got within 47 yards of a wolf that was staring right at them.
The Butte hunting outfitter, who books international trips, said he had never seen wolves in Alaska, Asia or other places act so boldly around people.
"It was approaching us with the wind right in its face — we were standing around the animals, but he was focused on us," Atcheson, 55, said. "He was not afraid at all."
The wolf finally stopped when one of Atcheson's hunting partners chambered a rifle, while Atcheson snapped a photo. Even then, the wolf merely lay down and stared at the hunters before eventually walking away.
Sunny Smith, manager of the CB Ranch near the Madison Range, said the wolves are "just like domestic dogs."
And with calving season just weeks away, that lack of fear has ranchers worried about the prospect of the wolves attacking livestock.
Barb Durham, a rancher whose herding dog was killed by wolves in 2004, said if ranchers had had more leeway to shoot wolves when they were hanging around ranches that year, federal officials might have needed to kill only a couple wolves instead of eliminating the whole pack.
Wolves have already wandered around their bulls this year, although none of them attacked, she said.
"They have no fear and that's been our contention all along," Durham said. "We don't hate wolves; we just want them to be a natural, wild predator and to be afraid of humans.
"If you don't let us educate them, then there's always going to be conflicts."
Wolves in Montana remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, but their recovery has led the federal government to turn management of the animals over to the state.
State officials said stories such as Atcheson's are a major concern.
"It's totally inappropriate for wolves to be that close," said Carolyn Sime, wolf coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
But she added that it's not that surprising. Wolves in Alaska have been hunted, trapped and harassed for years. And if they spot a human, they immediately run away.
Montana wolves, however, have been protected under federal law for years. Most of them have never been shot at or harassed, and none of them have been hunted.
Sime said elk in the valley pastures are also attracting wolves to the area, and thus closer to homes and livestock.
"If you look at where wolves are setting up, it's not in the backcountry, it's in the valley bottoms and foothills where people live and raise livestock and where ungulates spend winter," she said.
Sime reminds ranchers that with state oversight of the wolves, they have more flexibility to kill or harass wolves that are causing problems. It doesn't allow wolves to be killed on sight, but ranchers don't need a special permit to shoot a wolf that's about to attack livestock.
She said officials hope people take more aggressive action when a wolf is acting brazenly. In Atcheson's incident, he could have fired a rifle shot over the wolf's head to scare it.
"If wolves have uncomfortable experiences around people and livestock, that would be a good thing," she said. "By harassing them now, we may prevent problems later."
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.
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.
Unfortunately, Deer are harder prey than livestock and children, and wolves tend to go after the easiest prey...
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.
"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.
So, we keep the kids inside for a few days.
"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?
Do wolves have any natural predators?
Also, I think mountain lions might kill loners.
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.
Elk carry "mad cow disease".
Yes, they are called hunters. They have been doing it for thousands of years.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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?
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