Ask Russia About Wolves
Jul 19th 2008Scott2nd Amendment & American History & Politics & Senate Confirmations & Wyoming & blogging & conservatism & elections & multiple use & taxes & wolves
I was blogging along and I got a Twitter update from Wyoming Blog News Network, announcing a post from NewWest. There was a post about wolves. Not surprising. But the title seemed all to fitting for what I was in the process of blogging about.
In case you missed my previous post about the wolves being relisted, here’s a quote from it:
Now a bunch of liberal, left-wing, big-government, socialistic, communistic, environmentalist loonies are out there crying crocodile tears (made from melted polar ice).
Yes, I used such terms as “socialistic” and “communistic” to describe those that want to defend particular wild animals before they protect humans, or even ranches that are run by humans.
So, I finished up my blog and checked out the NewWest article, A Perspective on the Russian Experience with Wolves. I had to wonder what I would find. I must say I am pleasantly surprised, the Russians (back in the days of the good ol’ USSR) didn’t have all that great of an experience with wolves either.
Graves catalogs stories of Russian villagers attacked or killed by wolves, extensive livestock depredations, wolf population trends and various government control programs.
Along the way the author argues that wolves are “lustful” and “bloodthirsty,” “wanton killers” who will, under the right circumstances—such as with a flock of sheep or when teaching their young to hunt—kill excessive amounts of prey at one time. Wolves routinely kill healthy, adult animals, kill more ungulates than human hunters harvest, and drive down ungulate populations in an area to unsustainable levels. Such behavior, Graves argues, threatens the nutrition, livelihoods and economics of many Russian people and necessitates strong human intervention to bring wolf populations under control and restore a balance to nature.
Sounds like a good read to me!
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