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everything I have read is that wolves dont kill for sport, but they will kill more than they can eat and just leave the meat to go to waste.
The meat is not wasted.
There is an entire ecological niche based around feeding off the abandoned kills of large predators. Here is a particularly interesting article on the restoration to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem of abundant wolf kills, and the how this has restored a long-disrupted aspect of the local ecosystem.
This is no surprise, really -- millenia of abundant wolf-kills in an area is inevitably going to lead to a variety of animals exploiting that convenient food source. Removing it, by removing the species that provides, is understandably going to cause a cascade of effects on other species, each of which will ripple through the ecosystem.
Moose can still be very dangerous. Moose are massive, ornery, and very unpredictable.
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Originally Posted by Yooperkat
Oh, I agree that moose can be violent. They are huge, and very protective of their little ones.
A healthy adult moose is a very tough target for wolves, and they know it. Unless they are mired in snow unable to move quickly or attacked on the run, usually they survive. Many years ago famed wolf expert L. David Meche found in his research that a healthy adult moose that did not run but stood it's ground and vigorously defended itself when attacked by wolves was never killed. The wolves simply do not dare to close in and risk being kicked by those huge powerful hooves that can smash and crush bones. Wolves will sometimes be successful at killing a calf by harassing the cow and keeping her busy and separating the calf from it's mother and killing it, all the while being very careful of staying away from those powerful hooves and those kicks that can kill.
As someone who lives in a rural state, I can assure everyone that the people who advocate shooting wolves indiscriminately are certifiable morons whose knowledge of science could dance on the head of a pin. Think James Watt, for you old-timers.
A healthy adult moose is a very tough target for wolves, and they know it. Unless they are mired in snow unable to move quickly or attacked on the run, usually they survive. Many years ago famed wolf expert L. David Meche found in his research that a healthy adult moose that did not run but stood it's ground and vigorously defended itself when attacked by wolves was never killed. The wolves simply do not dare to close in and risk being kicked by those huge powerful hooves that can smash and crush bones. Wolves will sometimes be successful at killing a calf by harassing the cow and keeping her busy and separating the calf from it's mother and killing it, all the while being very careful of staying away from those powerful hooves and those kicks that can kill.
I do not know who this so-called "wolf expert" may be, but he is definitely wrong about wolves taking moose. A healthy wolf pack is anywhere from 12 to 24 in number, and they can and do take moose regularly in Alaska. So much so that they are decimating the moose population in certain areas of Alaska. Thus requiring the State of Alaska to take drastic measures to cull the wolf population in those areas. Wolves will naturally take easier prey, when they can get it, but a wolf pack can and do take down moose.
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Originally Posted by cometclear
As someone who lives in a rural state, I can assure everyone that the people who advocate shooting wolves indiscriminately are certifiable morons whose knowledge of science could dance on the head of a pin. Think James Watt, for you old-timers.
I do not know of anyone who advocates shooting wolves "indiscriminately." However, I do support culling wolves that encroach on towns and cities during the winter, or when the wolf population becomes so large that they threaten to depopulate the food source in an area. People, and their pets, should not have to live under the threat of wolf attacks. Nor should people dependent on wild game for their food be starved out by an uncontrolled growing wolf population.
From the article:
"Who are we to decide exactly how many wolves should be able to live? The gray wolf population isn’t even a fraction of its historic size back when they inhabited most regions of United States. State governments needs to let go of this unnecessary and merciless desire to control the population of animals who are just trying to simply survive."
How would you like 100 million buffaloes running through your neighborhood?
Wolves. I say kill 'em.
I live in a state where wolves are becoming a problem. Kill 'em.
I bet that Liberals will take the wrong position on this.
Wolves serve a useful purpose in nature. Like other animals, given man's influence, populations need to managed through selective hunting.
I hunt "naughty" animals like hogs and coyotes. Other species should have specific seasons and tags such that the DNR in each state can monitor the populations and keep things in balance.
Where I live, deer and turkey are like rats- they are everywhere. Mountain lions have returned to the state (as there is a smorgasborg of prey) which is probably a good thing, as they keep other species in check. Will we eventually have wolves return? Probably.
Wolves serve a useful purpose in nature. Like other animals, given man's influence, populations need to managed through selective hunting.
I hunt "naughty" animals like hogs and coyotes. Other species should have specific seasons and tags such that the DNR in each state can monitor the populations and keep things in balance.
Where I live, deer and turkey are like rats- they are everywhere. Mountain lions have returned to the state (as there is a smorgasborg of prey) which is probably a good thing, as they keep other species in check. Will we eventually have wolves return? Probably.
I agree, wolf populations do need to be managed in certain areas. If left unchecked, wolves will eat everything in their territory, down to the mice, until they begin to starve to death. That is how nature handles over population. It is far better to manage wolf populations so that they stay in sustainable numbers.
In his folly, man has really been jacking with the balance of things. "Science" is a dangerous new toy to play with. Wolves have been RE introduced, after a long absence, so, of course it tossed the scales. Whoda thunk. When you suddenly toss an apex predator BACK into the mix, like that, and stiffen up and ompetition with the other critters( bears and Mt Lions etc) in an area where game herds can't support it all, gee, wonder what bappens?
Personally, I like wolves. I think they are a beautiful example of a prime predator. But, for that same reason, they must be controlled. Yes, nature can do that. However, octen not until food sources have been wiped out and every critter is starving. We through the system out of balance by removing wolves to begin with, nature compensated, over time, then, we threw it out of balance again by putting wolves back in the mix. Sure...THAT makes sense. Sheesh.
So, we can remove certain numbers of wolves to try and control the balance. We should. But, it's just buying time. We can't control this. Doesn't mean we can't try, but, every time man has introduced species, or re introduced them, playing with wildlife, it has been a miserable, often very damaging, failure.
Cane Toads, rabbits, different snakes and birds, coyotes, wolves, just toss em' in and see what happens. Yea, watch and see
I do not know who this so-called "wolf expert" may be, but he is definitely wrong about wolves taking moose.
Meche has long been regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on wolf behavior, he has been around since the 50's. In one of his earlier books is an aerial photo of a moose in an open snowny field surrounded by a wolf pack of 15 or 16 animals. The moose was not killed or even harmed. It stood it's ground and each time a wolf closed in it was attacked and driven off. After only 5 minutes the wolves quit and left, unwilling to risk being kicked.
Meche, Doug Smith, and other researchers have found that when a large, dangerous animal, when attacked by wolves, does not run but stands it's ground and defends itself it's chances of survival goes way up. Wolves do not like to risk the very real chance of being kicked or gored. The worst thing the animal can do is to panic and run and try to break through the wolves, it then becomes vulnerable to being biten, seized, and killed. Moose and bison often will not run from wolves but stand and defend, deer, caribou, and elk prefer flight to fight, but not always. Many a bull elk has saved himself by facing the wolves with those big sharp antlers and powerful hooves and backing them off.
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