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We moved last summer and are fortunate to live near wolves now. I love listening to them howl and yip when excited. But they do keep their distance. Although I've heard them several times, I've only seen them twice, crossing the lake on the ice a few hundred yards from my house.
Our place in North Idaho has bears passing through on a regular basis, as well as one particular mountain lion. There's a wolf pack in the hills, and we can hear them at night when we're on our property; we've seen one cross the road, and a neighbor took a picture of one by their corral. I've been somewhat of a romantic, loving the thought of all this wildness so close to us, but after years of vacationing in the area I've become more sensitive to the views of ranchers and hunters; wolves (these days) can absolutely cause mayhem for a rancher, and they can attack people. So can bears and mountain lions when cornered, or if you get between them and their offspring, and they all present a lethal danger to your dogs. But the most dangerous animal roaming our woods is the moose. They're too stupid to scare! They won't eat you, but they can cause great bodily harm even so. We just hope we won't have any surprise encounters...
We have a moose that hangs out on the neighbor's property. Even so, I still think it is a cool thing tobe able to live right in the middle of what feels like a major animal thoroughfare--we just have to take some precautions. And I do love listening to the wolves at night!
I like hearing them. I like seeing them. We've always had them in Wyoming. It was just a money maker for certain people to say they needed to introduce this different strain.
But, I do not have a romanticized view of them. I take precautions for myself, for other people who come visit and may not be aware, and for the animals in my care.
We have wolves in our area up in our northern Ontario wilderness. The only thing I've heard about them, sadly, is that stupid people leave their dogs or cats outside and they disappear sometimes. Nature doesn't pick and choose what's a family pet and what's wild prey.
Bears are best left alone. They even wander into the city for food. Out in the forests, it's best to make lots of noise to alert them that people are nearby. They usually have a huge fear of humans unless they are startled, cornered, have cubs or feel threatened.
Cougars are around, but are rarely seen. They are the only thing (other than a rouge bear or an extremely rare starving wolf pack) who will stalk humans for food. That fact scares me, so I don't go alone into the woods in the wilderness.
Here's a great video that explains how re-introducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park had many positive results. I hope you watch it.
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All my life,I thought they are dangerous to be around. I never knew that people go camping in an area where wolves live.
what are your thoughts on that?
Well, I think it's objectively correct to say that wolves are dangerous to be around. It's also objectively correct to say that people go camping in areas inhabited by wolves.
Our place in North Idaho has bears passing through on a regular basis, as well as one particular mountain lion. There's a wolf pack in the hills, and we can hear them at night when we're on our property; we've seen one cross the road, and a neighbor took a picture of one by their corral. I've been somewhat of a romantic, loving the thought of all this wildness so close to us, but after years of vacationing in the area I've become more sensitive to the views of ranchers and hunters; wolves (these days) can absolutely cause mayhem for a rancher, and they can attack people. So can bears and mountain lions when cornered, or if you get between them and their offspring, and they all present a lethal danger to your dogs. But the most dangerous animal roaming our woods is the moose. They're too stupid to scare! They won't eat you, but they can cause great bodily harm even so. We just hope we won't have any surprise encounters...
We have a moose that hangs out on the neighbor's property. Even so, I still think it is a cool thing tobe able to live right in the middle of what feels like a major animal thoroughfare--we just have to take some precautions. And I do love listening to the wolves at night!
I'm not sure that they're too stupid to scare as much as they seem to understand that they are moose and not little whitetails. That cantankerous, "ain't skeered" moose mentality is why they were so sensitive to unregulated hunting pressure. Bison are the same way. They just don't run from much, and certainly not a weird-looking, fragile, little hairless ape.
All my life,I thought they are dangerous to be around. I never knew that people go camping in an area where wolves live.
what are your thoughts on that?
Outside of Alaska, Minnesota has the largest wolf population in the United States. There has been precisely one known wild wolf attack on a person in the state's history. So, attacks happen - but the ratio of attacks to nights spent camping by individuals within the range of wolves in millions to one in this state alone.
Of course, wild animals stoke some of our most primal fears. The far greater dangers are much more mundane; things like hypothermia, falls, lightning, falling trees, drowning, etc. This unfortunate situation results in excessive stress over animal attacks, and less vigilance against the greater threats to life and limb.
People living near the wolf release areas have lost livestock and family pets.
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How Wolves Change Rivers
