OF WOLVES AND MEN (AND WOMEN AND DOGS)
I arrived back in LA on Tuesday night after 3 days of driving from West Glacier, MT— my mind still lingering stubbornly on the banks of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.
Thursday morning I’ll begin blogging in earnest.
Then, Part 1 of the WitnessLA/Spot.Us LA Justice Report on LA’s gang programs, by Matt Fleischer will be appearing shortly.
Part of my mental lingering had to do with the fact that our soulful and beautiful 16-and-a-half-year-old wolf-dog, Loup-Loup, died while I was in Montana, so the trip had much intense sorrow threaded through its many joys.
Speaking purely rationally, this was no tragedy. Loup-Loup was an old dog who had lived a glorious life and, of late, her health and well-being seemed to go downhill weekly. Plus West Glacier was, I think, her favorite place. But she was also a family member and a beloved companion. Thus I was entirely undone when she vanished on the third evening after my arrival.
My son flew up from LA with his girlfriend to help me search for her, a process that was long and harrowing. We finally found her by lucky chance ten days later, 8 miles down river from our family cabin. During the days we searched, at least a dozen dog-oriented and kindly Montana neighbors told us stories about cherished old dogs of theirs who vanished similarly. The dogs had evidently decided it was time, the various Montanans said.
Whether it happened by choice or by accident, my son and I decided our sweet wolf-dog’s death had its own harsh dignity, as much as it grieved us. We buried her under the cottonwoods between our cabin and the river and cried to the point of wailing.
With all of the above in mind, it was somehow cheering to learn that—in addition to the spectacular news about Proposition 8— the other big and newsworthy court decision by a federal judge last week was when U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula, MT, reinstated federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. (The matter will next likely come to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.)
This put a stop to planned wolf hunts in all three states, which made hunters groups furious. Bummer.
After last fall’s hunting season, there were about 500 wolves in Montana and 835 in Idaho. Hunters deemed that too many. (I don’t pretend to be anything resembling neutral on this issue. I take it personally when my dog’s relatives are hunted—especially in the areas of the lower 48 states where they were hunted to extinction for so many decades.)
In truth, Montana has had a fairly sensible policy of wolf management until the wolves got delisted too soon to guarantee a stable population.
Matt Volz for the AP did a good, even-handed piece on the matter that the LA Times LA Unleashed blog ran.
And here’s what Discover Magazine had to say.
Glad to be back. I missed y’all. See you tomorrow.
My sincerest condolences at the loss of your partner, Celeste. I wish someday I could be reunited with all the good critters I’ve outlived. Of course if it DID happen they’d fight and ruin the moment. Also what a fitting final resting spot for a wolf-dog. You did well, so did she.
If some of those wolves aren’t hunted, and their population is allowed to continue growing, say goodbye to the bison, elk and deer populations in Yellowstone. Wolves are voracious predators, there’s no denying that.
And of course, they can’t keep them in the park. So, consequently, they will continue preying on the above metioned animals outside of park boundaries.
So, unless there are controlled hunts and the wolf population is controlled, we can kiss other animal populations in the surrounding area’s goodbye. That is a hell of a sacrifice to pay in order for the wolves to not be controlled via hunting. Unfortunately, wolves eat other large mammals. Their subsistence depends upon it. When you take emotions out of the equasion, it’s pretty obvious that at some point the wolves need to be controlled to avoid extinction of the aforementioned animals in the surrounding areas.
That’s nature. It’s a fact. We can’t deny it.
That being said, I also offer my condolences on your loss Celeste. A couple months ago I lost Tippy, my half coyote/half Aussie Shepard partner that I loved dearly. She had a good life and was a trusted friend and companion.
I know what it’s like to lose an animal you love. It hurts. Deeply.
I have learned about absolute unconditional love from my current doggie. He doesn’t care one i-ota if I’m fat, skinny, or whether my clothes are stylish. He loves ME. I love HIM too. Celeste – I mourn your loss.
Sad and beautiful telling of the loss of Loup-Loup. She was no doubt some kind of wonderful.
#2, Nice shill for the wolf hunting industry.
Hardly JD.
I knew when I posted that it would not be popular and would probably stimulate comments like the above.
Now, how about you refrain from insults and tell me the part of my statement that is incorrect.
You knew it wouldn’t be popular, hence…you were baiting. No surprise.
I wasn’t baiting Mary. That wasn’t my intention at all.
I want there to be a sustainable wolf population in Yellowstone and surrounding areas. If we let our emotions override our intelligence and at some point don’t allow the population to be controlled, then the pendulum will swing back as far as it has come in our favor, and the wolves will be hunted to near extinction. If there isn’t any elk or bison in Yellowstone or for 200-300 miles around the park, and you have the ranchers screaming to the politicians about their livestock losses, then I’m afraid the wolves will be hunted to extinction again.
The key is the management. What are the sustainable numbers?
IMHO, the people that say: “No human should EVER be able to kill a wolf” are wrong.
Adversely, the people who say: “Wolves should not be protected and it should be open season on them” are also wrong.
I apologize if my post seemed to be baiting or adversarial. Wasn’t meant to be. It’s a very emotional topic for some people, and that’s why I knew it wouldn’t be popular with some readers.
“Don’t kill the messenger” seems to apply here. The message needs to be told.
I agree with the philosophy of Dr. Doug Smith on this issue. He loves wolves, oversees the wolf restoration project in Yellowstone. He believes they need to be controlled via hunting.
lol. The message needs to be told? OK. So it’s like a bible verse, basically? Don’t think you’re taking yourself a little seriously?
And Dr. Doug Smith sounds like a real stable individual. He loves wolves, but believes some of them should be killed. OK…
ATQ,
Doug Smith is great. As one might guess, I hate seeing wolves killed, but it’s a necessary evil—particularly those who have engaged in livestock predation. And, Doug Smith is right, eventually the population will need to be controlled by wise hunting policies.
However, I don’t think we’re there yet. A lot of biologists feel that 30 breeding pairs and 300 wolves total, for the entire 3 state region, which was the water mark, isn’t an adequate number to insure permanent recovery.
I’ve been tracking this issue since the very first Rocky Mountain pack—the wonderfully named Magic pack—first appeared in Glacier, and it’s admittedly a complicated and emotion fraught matter.
Certainly Dr. Smith could “make sense” according to some, but he loves wolves? Well, I guess. OJ loved Nicole, after all
Ooops, Louie, yours slipped in while I was typing.
Here’s a good article on Doug Smith:
http://bit.ly/de3oS1
He runs the wolf recovery program in Yellowstone, and has for 15 years, which means he’s juggling a lot of politics and dealing with the influence of a great many highly irrational, wolf-hating people who are very anxious to get the program killed.
In Montana, the wolf issue is extremely emotional on both sides. A great book on how nuts it gets is The Nine Mile Wolves by Rick Bass.
http://www.amazon.com/Ninemile-Wolves-Rick-Bass/dp/0618263020
Louie,
No, I’m not taking myself too seriously, and no, it’s not like a bible verse.
Like Celeste says, it’s a necessary evil that must be accepted if wolves are to survive.
And yes, Dr. Doug Smith is a very stable individual. Unlike some, he’s willing to accept reality and the facts of nature instead of just insisting that we only do what makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Also, unlike some, he’s able to discuss difficult topics without being insulting or condescending. He’s respectful to people even when disagreeing with them.
ATQ,
Doug Smith is great. As one might guess, I hate seeing wolves killed, but it’s a necessary evil—particularly those who have engaged in livestock predation. And, Doug Smith is right, eventually the population will need to be controlled by wise hunting policies.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Careful Celeste. You could be called a “shill” for the “wolf hunting industry” or you might be accused of “baiting” or perhaps of “taking yourself too seriously” or proselytizing and saying it’s “like a bible verse”.
Then again, your wise, rational, and non-agenda driven message is important for the survival of the wolves.
I’ll defer to you and Dr. Smith on this topic. If you say the numbers aren’t there yet, so be it.
Prisons are full of people who killed living things in the name of “reality”.
So using Louie’s logic; actually, his lack thereof:
I guess we should round up every hunter and throw them in prison for murder. Come to think of it, every person who fishes too. But wait, don’t want to be hypocritical, so we’ll have to round up all the exterminators too. After all, cockroaches and termites are living things too.
And Louie, don’t you dare swat that next fly or mosquito, and don’t step on that spider. That would make you a murderer. lol.
Wait a minute. Aren’t plants alive? If I don’t water my plants they’ll die. So, that means they are living things too. So, lettuce has to be killed in order for us to eat salad. It has to be yanked from it’s roots. That kills the plant.
Louie,
Here’s a cold cold reality for you. In order for you to live, other living things die. Learn to live with it, and do us all a favor and quit preaching your hypocritical b.s. at the rest of us.
I hold the Chinese responsible w/their invention of gunpowder. Also one has to wonder why natural balance and the continuation of species blossomed so well before man decided to legislate it.
No kidding Gava. For all the people who can’t get past
“we shouldn’t kill things” because that makes them feel better about themselves, more power to em’. Live and let live.
Unless of course they come at me with some holier than thou b.s. trying to denigrate me or insinuating that I’m some kind of less advanced being than them.
Then they get the reality check. Facts. Nature. No emotion involved. The argument can’t be broken.