Of beavers, wolves, and forested wetlands.

[Alan Gage]

Wyoming Ranchers Prepared To "Shoot On Sight" If Colorado Wolves Cross State Line

Now that Colorado has wolves — some of which have a history of killing cattle in Oregon — Wyoming ranchers are banking on Wyoming's “shoot on sight” policy for whenever those wolves cross over. "They’re classified as predators and they can be removed,” said one rancher.

cowboystatedaily.com

Common sense from the people directly affected. The same common sense that motivated virtually every civilization on earth since the Neolithic Era 10,000 years ago to aggressively hunt wolves, often to deliberate extermination.

Is there any evidence that pre-European cultures on this continent ever actively hunted wolves because they felt they were a threat to themselves personally or that they would diminish the food supply? I've never heard of any but I could certainly be wrong.

Alan

 

[Gamma1214]

Is there any evidence that pre-European cultures on this continent ever actively hunted wolves because they felt they were a threat to themselves personally or that they would diminish the food supply? I've never heard of any but I could certainly be wrong.

I'm certainly not an expert but some native peoples have wolves in their origin stories. (ie: wolves turned into humans due to some particular event). To kill a wolf, therefore, would be to kill a family member. Bears were respected and often held in reverence but wolves were practically sacred.

 

[clemency]

Wikipedia has an interesting section on wolf hunting, including the question of Native peoples hunting wolves.

Wolf hunting - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Gamma1214]

interesting... according to that, it was more common than I had always supposed... this site is certainly educational at times.

 

[Alan Gage]

Wikipedia has an interesting section on wolf hunting, including the question of Native peoples hunting wolves.

Wolf hunting - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The amount of people killed by wolves in India was astounding!

In 1876, in the North-West Provinces and Bihar State of British India, 2,825 wolves were killed in response to 721 fatal attacks on humans.[28] Two years later, 2,600 wolves were killed in response to attacks leaving 624 humans dead.[29]

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

I think it all comes down to our ever controling humanistic land use policies from the paleolithic to the present. We steer, subjugate, and steward what we can, either for an economic or ecologic benefit. They seldom agree. Piney summarizes it very well when he sweeps it all into neatly fitting moralizing boxes. I agree. Our attitudes and cultures change over time, and so do our policies. We'll always be trying to figure this world out. Such is the prize of man being the measure of all things.

 

[Black_Fly]

Why would anyone want wolves around, or at least around human habitations? I'm genuinely curious.

Yeah, I know, the entire food chain would collapse if we eliminated wolves or cockroaches or rats. Well, as far as I know, 99.9% of all species that have ever been alive have gone extinct, and the food chain, perhaps changed, seems to have evolved and survived just fine.

Maybe it’s the ethics. Are we here to reengineer the planet to human taste, which has consequences we usually don’t realize until it’s too late? Doesn’t populating the earth so densely that “inconvenient” species are eradicated or live in shrinking limited areas run afoul of ethical ideas? Or, are ethics only tied to human propagation? Aldo would disagree.

 

[Black_Fly]

The amount of people killed by wolves in India was astounding!



Alan

Who cares? India is a wasteland of humans living on top of their own offal. Not the model I want for a legacy to my grandchildren. Wilderness is where the Earth regenerates systems that every species needs. Wolves belong in wild lands and are an important part of that biome. We need to stop making things easy for humans at the expense of natural landscapes. I say move livestock off public lands and protect remnant species.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Is there any evidence that pre-European cultures on this continent ever actively hunted wolves because they felt they were a threat to themselves personally or that they would diminish the food supply?

The Wikipedia article already referred to says that Indians often killed wolves for various reasons. But keep in mind that Pre-Columbian Indians weren't ranchers, farmers or raisers of livestock herds. They didn't have much livestock to herd and did not domesticate animals. Most livestock animals were imported from Europe.

More on the Colorado wolf kerfuffle, in which a 50.91% majority, most likely living in cities and sipping lattes on their couches, narrowly outvoted the people who have to live with the risks and consequences:

What’s behind the resistance to wolves in Colorado?

Last month, when the first group of wolves were reintroduced to media fanfare in the state of Colorado, following a slim statewide affirmative vote (50.91%) in 2020, Bonnie Brown was dismayed. The Colorado Wool Growers...

www.postindependent.com

 

[Black_Fly]

I’ve known my share of cattlemen. Have rancher friends. The difference is education, and economics, not lattes. I do like lattes, however.