Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We've always had wolves. Anyone who bothers to read the 1300 page report of testimony from the hearings will see that. Anyone who lives here and spends time in the out of doors knows.
What we got was the introduction of a non-native species.
We'll deal with them. Get along with some. Have to eliminate some.
What we got was the introduction of a non-native species.
According to most hard nosed scientists, this is bunk, propaganda put out by the anti wolf groups. The Gray Wolf, Canis Lupus, has many subspecies worldwide, but in Western North America, it is pretty much the same animal, with only minor differences between subspecies. The Northern Rocky Mountains wolf, C. L. Irremotus, the original native subspecies, is one of the largest. The introduced Mackenezie Valley wolf, C. L. Occidentalis, is also one of the largest subspecies, and this is what much of the fuss is about. However, the wildlife biologists tell us that there is little, if any, differences between Irremotus and Occidentalis, that they are virtually the same animal as far as size, social structure, hunting tactics, prey selection, etc. are concerned. Claims that C. L. O. is a much larger animal are simply not true.
We've always had wolves. Anyone who bothers to read the 1300 page report of testimony from the hearings will see that. Anyone who lives here and spends time in the out of doors knows.
What we got was the introduction of a non-native species.
We'll deal with them. Get along with some. Have to eliminate some.
But re-introduction? Laughable.
Well, if you want to be obtuse.....most any special expansion is non-native if you look back 300million years or so.
Dang wolves going to hone in on the T-rex territory.
We've always had wolves. Anyone who bothers to read the 1300 page report of testimony from the hearings will see that. Anyone who lives here and spends time in the out of doors knows.
What we got was the introduction of a non-native species.
We'll deal with them. Get along with some. Have to eliminate some.
We've always had wolves. Anyone who bothers to read the 1300 page report of testimony from the hearings will see that. Anyone who lives here and spends time in the out of doors knows.
What we got was the introduction of a non-native species.
We'll deal with them. Get along with some. Have to eliminate some.
But re-introduction? Laughable.
There were certainly sightings, but there was not a sustainable population. That's what they're referring to. Also, the gray wolf has always been native to North America.
Besides, since a gray wolf will travel up to 160 miles in a week in search of food, sightings really don't mean a lot. Compound that with the fact that every other person who sees a coyote 'wants' it to be a wolf (and reports it as such; the same way people report juvenile golden eagles as bald eagles).
Last edited by Beenaroundabit; 02-24-2014 at 08:04 AM..
Besides, since a gray wolf will travel up to 160 miles in a week in search of food, sightings really don't mean a lot. Compound that with the fact that every other person who sees a coyote 'wants' it to be a wolf (and reports it as such; the same way people report juvenile golden eagles as bald eagles).
On another amusing related note, someone will report that a "mountain lion" is prowling their neighborhood. Upon investigating, instead of a cougar, the prowler usually turns out to be just be a big tom bobcat. A bobcat is only about 1/5 th the size of a cougar, and the two animals do not look anything alike, but the imagination does place tricks, especially at night.
Before the wolves, predation was only a minor threat to the huge elk population. Coyotes, which are only one third the size of wolves, and who usually hunt alone or in male/female pairs, and who do not have the social structure of wolves, are only rarely a threat to an adult elk, although they will take an occasional calf if the mother becomes careless. Bears also take a few calves, although after a few weeks growth they become too fast for bears to catch. A healthy adult elk can only be taken by a bear if caught by surprise in a close range ambush, otherwise, much too fast.
Before wolves, that left only cougars as the major danger to an adult elk. Cougars are widely scattered over YNP, and there may be only about 20-25 adults in the park at the same time. The big cats usually killed calves or cows. A mature bull elk is a very dangerous target for even a big tom to take on, and only rarely do they even try.
When wolves came back in 1995, everything changed, as the film pointed out. At first, the elk had no idea what wolves were, since they had had no need to develop anti predator defenses against them. The first few years were times of easy, abundant hunting for the wolves. But then, as new generations of elk were born, the hunting got much tougher. The elk learned and adopted anti wolf behavior. So too, did the bison and other animals. As far as the other predators go, the wolves were very bad for coyotes, not good for cougars, good for bears, particularly grizzlies, who scavenge wolf kills, and in many cases, will even take away a recent kill from a wolf pack, provided the grizzly is a mature male of at least average size.
i always wondered about the coyote part because i watched a documentary about coyotes in YNP of how there were packs of 20-30 animals im wondering if wolves just came in and basically slaughtered them?
I'm so glad that wolves are back on the rise in Washington state.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
