Cows cause wolf problems!

[Ithaca 37]

"Leaving cows untended for weeks without direct supervision is simply incompatible with wolf recovery - especially if the standard way of dealing with resulting depredations is to kill the wolf instead of fining the rancher.


It's like allowing campers to leave picnic baskets out at night and then blowing away the bears for eating the food. We don't allow campers to leave picnic baskets out, but no one is willing to tell ranchers that it's no longer OK to leave their four-legged picnic baskets out to tempt wolves.


Trying to restore wolves to the West without changing the basic way ranchers operate or even removing cows from more of the public lands is analogous to trying to restore salmon without talking about protecting riparian areas, leaving tree buffers along streams, or removing dams. We are treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the problem. We capture depredating wolves and move them. We put shock collars on them or play sirens to make them avoid cows. We try to frighten them with helicopters or firecrackers. Usually we just kill them.


All this manipulation is done merely because no one has the guts to stand up and say the real problem is cows."

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Letter?issue_id=181

 

[Tom]

Good point there. I guess they attack cows a lot, eh, so that gets them in trouble.

 

[Nut]

LOL Ithaca

It does make a good point

 

[Michaelr]

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 04-18-2003 15:22: Message edited by: michaelr ]</font>

 

[Ten Bears]

Exactly Mike.

If you think about it, cows are the basis for many problems: global warming by methane production, "mad cow" disease, and now, enticing wolves to kill them. If I didn't know better this would all look like some kinda Bovine world domination movement.

 

[ELKCHSR]

I think this is a good way then to keep the wolves culled down some, that way they won't overpopulate to fast!!!