Wolves can help the ecosystem

[fasteddie]

Remember when the wolves were introduced back into Yellowstone National Park about 20 years ago?

There was a lot of debate about whether or not it was a good thing.   I don't know your thoughts on this but have a look at this video clip.

How often do we wonder, what the heck difference does one animal make in the greater scheme of things.
Well, here is the answer!!

Enjoy this amazing video on how just one animal has changed the environment.

www.youtube.com/embed/ysa5OBhXz-Q?feature=player_embedded

 

[SCbklyn]

Seems logical enough. But I have heard from multiple sources that the reintroduced wolves are over killing in certain areas. Is what it is I guess.

[dbHunterNY]

I'm sure they're good in a place with no hunting as they do a much more efficient job.  keep the friggin things delisted though.  if they leave the park they're fair game.  otherwise they'll eat whats easiest prey.  your dog, live stock, or whatever.  anyone I've heard of that lives in an area with wolves has a difficult time hunting or keeping assets like live stock safe.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Same bullet that takes down a yote will take down a wolf.  Maybe they should release just a few down there in those areas over ran with does and give everybody their hunting seasons back?

[phade]

Go to Idaho and see what the hunters there think of this. Stark contrast. I also have some acquaintances in WI and MN - let me tell you - it crushes hunting when they move in.

 

One of them, in MN, is one of the best hunters I've ever talked with. Hardcore to the Nth degree, talking big north woods hunting. His hunting areas went devoid of deer let alone bucks worth chasing last year. He was forced to travel as a result and hunting only about 20% of the time he normally did. They are very effective killers, but really, they are likely too effective.

[wooly]

Great vid!

[Skillet]

Shoot. Shovel. Shut up.

[BizCT]

NY whitetails would be no match for wolves, and NY hunters would be not match for wolves. It would get out of hand very quickly

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[NFA-ADK]

Introduced in 1995 ok so that's 20 years.  And they are affecting rivers, I think he is reaching a bit on that one.  If no predators are in an area and ruminate type animals are present they can decimate the landscape, any predator will help with this issue that can kill them.  Sounds like he has an agenda, perhaps to relocate more wolves and then ban hunting of them.  Cool video.

[nyslowhand]

Lets revisit this wolf reintroduction storyline 20 years from now when the single attraction at Yellowstone are the geysers! Assuming they won't be viewed as so cute or beneficial when they've established a significant population, killed or driven off all the deer, elk, moose & buffalo and then migrated to more populated regions, huntable areas or ranch lands. Anyone else think there might have been a logical reason there was a bounty on them decades ago??? At least in NA, they are the true definition of a natural born killer, esp in packs!

[Five Seasons]

Why do I hate coyotes and think so much of wolves haha?

 

Very cool video. It is interesting though how a tree hugger can hate a hunter for killing a deer or lion but other animals doing it is just fine?

[BizCT]

Here's 2 record book wolves that my dad laid out to rest. Over 30 full days hunting over several years before finally getting a shot. Like I said previously, they are no match for hunters. Even trappers with snares in Canada struggle with catching wolves. They'd rather starve to death than come near a human

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Edited August 7, 2015 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Curmudgeon]

Just a quick comment since I am traveling. Spent one day in Yellowstone this week - the first time since 94. In 94 I saw many coyotes every day. I saw none this time.

[BizCT]

Just a quick comment since I am traveling. Spent one day in Yellowstone this week - the first time since 94. In 94 I saw many coyotes every day. I saw none this time.

Makes sense. Wolves eat or push coyotes out of the area. Every wolf hunt I've ever been on they say if you are seeing lots of coyotes hitting the bait, wolves aren't nearby

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[wooly]

Goygeous wolves Biz!

You are right...., NY'ers would be no match for those hungry monsters!

[landtracdeerhunter]

Same bullet that takes down a yote will take down a wolf. Maybe they should release just a few down there in those areas over ran with does and give everybody their hunting seasons back?

A wolf can do extensive damage to livstock. We don't want them, but it's already to late.

[Curmudgeon]

It is raining in Idaho and the grandkids are napping. I just watched the video.

 

I've seen it before and had extensive discussions with my daughter about this. She is a prof at a college in CO. Her ecology Ph.D disseration is on riparian ecosystems in the Rockies. While most of her research was further south, she knows more about the impacts of wolves in Yellowstone than any of us. She told me that the concepts in the video are true but simplified. There are some areas that have not had the same level of benefit. This same information has also be disemminated through a lot of published articles.

 

While we were in Yellowstone this week, we paid particular attention to the streamside vegetation. The willows in narrow valleys were in very good shape - no browsing by ungulates. Ornithologically inclined people have been very pleased with these changes.

 

While concerns about wolves impacting livestock and pets are real, some hunters like to ignore or dismiss the degree of ecological impact of deer. I think this is because they want more deer for themselves. Deer repress native vegetation which directly encourages invasives they do not eat. These invasives have little or no wildlife value, and no timber value. Too many deer are a bad thing.

 

That said, I do not think wolves would work in NYS. Deer numbers are highest in areas where wolves would be least welcomed or tolerated. The same with cougar. So, how do we get deer numbers in overpopulated areas to a place where the native vegetation can recover?

 

Are any of you surf fisherman? Have any of you fished Cape Cod recently? In the last decade the number of grey seals has exploded to about 16,000. Why? Historically they were harvested for oil like whales. Then they were persecuted because they ate fish. However, in the early 70s they became protected by federal law. During a recovery that took decades, their major predator - great white shark - was being overfished. If "overfished" isn't too kind a word. The sealsrecovered very well, and they are smart. They watch you and steal the fish off your line. Some great whites have started congregating around the cape in summer. One grabbed a guy on a beach we fish last summer.

 

I do not see these comments as a digression. The position of the sharks in their ecosystem is similar to wolves. Whey they are missing - or in such short supply that they do not fill their role -  things can and do get out of control.

 

I told some surfers on the cape last year that we needed more great whites to make the fishing better. That got their attention.

[Curmudgeon]

Interesting new study on how killing wolves affects livestock depredation. A quote:

 

Their study is the largest of its kind, analyzing 25 years of lethal control data from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Interagency Annual Wolf Reports in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. The researchers found that killing one wolf increases the odds of depredations 4 percent for sheep and 5 to 6 percent for cattle. If 20 wolves are killed, livestock deaths double.

 

https://news.wsu.edu/2014/12/03/research-finds-lethal-wolf-control-backfires-on-livestock/#.Vc4FjfmYCAk