How to cook a Wolf?

[longrangehunter]

So how do you cook a Wolf? You smoke him with a 140 gr. bullet from a 6.5/300 WSM!

I came across a set of wolf tracks yesterday in my driveway (it's a 1/2 mile long and surrounded by NFS Lands) 100 yards from my house while walking my Labrador Retriever. So I did what anyone like me would do, and get my rifle.

It was only the day before I had five Elk feeding in my yard. So I followed the single set of tracks through the deep snow which made a wide circle and then around the back of my home, then up the gas pipeline and into the woods. After a long four and a half hour and arduous task of tracking this fellow I noticed him up ahead in the wide open 479 yards away. I dropped to the ground as he stood there looking at me and my Dog when he decided to....... just sit down! I looked at him and without ever firing a shot I knew he would would be dead. But said to myself "No harm, No Foul", and let him or her live for another day.

Which is what hunting is all about. Its not the trophy or game animal you're after that makes it memorable and exciting, but the way in which it took place. Which brings me to why I took the effort to track down that animal in the first place? The fear of it harming my Labrador, Zuri.

Zuri is very sweet and kind to a fault. Not that my last Lab wasn't, but she would attack a Wolf or any other predator that came within eyesight for me. Or sit beside me while a Bear walked within 15 feet and not even move when asked too. She was an amazing animal, and traveled in more States then most people, 47 to be exact. We were never apart. I named her Pebbles, but her A.K.C. name was "Pebbles Dances with Wolves". She got that title when she was a puppy. I was coming back from deer hunting in the U.P. one evening, and as I was pulling up I saw what I first thought was a Coyote, but instead was a young Wolf standing on the front porch steps looking at my Dog? It quickly ran off as I got closer. I got out and looked around at the tracks that were all over the front yard and wondered what had taken place while I was gone? I looked over my puppy and she was unharmed, not a mark, and yet very happy!

I figured those two must have just been playing in the yard, and thought how odd that seemed? A young scrawny looking Wolf that seemed underfed playing with a Labrador puppy and not just kill it? The Wolf did eat the food set out for my Dog, and my puppy received the name Dances with Wolves after her given name which Zuri has too.

So if you're wondering why I didn't just shoot that animal there are many reasons for me. One of which is what I'd like to hope one day will save my own loving pets life. To live and let live. At least for me and my little Zuri I hope?

 

[JD338]

Cool story Cole.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Great account that reveals the heart of the hunter. Thanks for sharing.

 

[longrangehunter]

Thanks, I appreciate that. Most people I think would have shot it or at least tried too.

 

[DrMike]

I have not shot every predator I tracked. I'm please with those I did take, but knowing that I could take the animal if I chose was as important to me in many instances as actually pulling the trigger.

 

[BeeTee]

I'm sure there are recent wolf/dog newspaper stories like this all over the intermountain NW, here's one that happened local to me.

http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/a ... mode=image

On a related subject.... We drove into Missoula the other day, and we saw two dead cow elk along the side of the highway just south of Lolo. They had been struck by vehicles. Elk are living year-round in the valley floor because they can't in the mountains and foothills. This particular herd has been here for a few years now, and they have their own warning signage covering this stretch of highway. The mule deer herd in our neighborhood has grown to more than 100 individuals. I've lived in western Montana since 1961. Mule deer never lived in the valley floor till just a few years ago. Deer and elk taken by hunters are down by more than 50% since 2008 in a few local hunting districts. Hunter numbers are down as well. Hunters are discouraged. The wolves are systematically killing the tradition I've known for 5 decades. BT

 

[Guy Miner]

Not yet legal to hunt wolves in Washington. Not for general hunters anyway.

I'd love to put a big ol' wolf pelt on the wall someday - legally.

 

[Guest]

While I understand the nature of what you did and how you felt, I'll only add that the wolf will not, if I don't miss my guess, reciprocate when the time comes. I am not in the "kill them all" camp, but I can tell you I'd have taken that one, because where you see one healthy wolf, I'd bet there's another 10 you didn't see.

Overall, though, cool story, and glad your track ended in a manner with which you're content.

 

[longrangehunter]

I realize not everyone shares the same opinions as myself, nor is what I'm about to say is the end all to the questions and answers of a heated debate . But I can tell you locally, wolves do get taken by more then a few hunters. Stop in the local gas station down the street, and you'll see more then a few pictures on the wall, and those are the ones legally taken with a license, and not the ones shot just because of a lucky chance sighting.

I have seen and studied wolves in Alaska, Michigan and in Yellowstone National Park. My first experience with wolves was in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, long before Wolves were ever introduced into Yellowstone NP. While going to college I read "The Wolves of Isle Royale" by L. David Mech which led to the prominence of both the author and the topic. The book was published in 1966 by the Department of the Interior, having evolved from his doctoral thesis. In short, neither the Wolves nor the Moose have died off from the effects from one another, and they're isolated with no where to go!

I used to live outside of Yellowstone NP and had a lady friend that was a artist and photographer. She knew the wolf packs quite well, and needed help tracking them. Which allowed me to study there behavior in a controlled environment. Which Yellowstone NP is, controlled. The Elk, the Deer, an old or wounded Bison, or any other animal that's around there is food for fair. But guess what, those wolves weren't anymore interested in what I or my girlfriend were doing even when followed! These animals are well aware that "these humans don't have guns" and yet hundreds of people film them each and every year without incident. By no means am I saying they haven't put a considerable amount of pressure on Yellowstone's Elk Herd, but go into Jackson, Wy. and you'll see plenty of Elk that made it through a gauntlet of hunters as well as the neighboring wolf populations. I've been lucky enough to hunt that zone, as well as right up next to Rocky Mountain NP. And I can assure you hunters have had a greater impact on pushing Elk and or Deer into further seclusion because those numbers have increased, as well as the advent of Four Wheelers that have replaced the burden of having a man walk into those areas that otherwise wouldn't have traveled as far, as well as disease, and here's the biggest reason! The loss of habitat. Does that mean every Tom, Dick And Harry is responsible for numbers being down and should be shot because of more competition and fewer game animals to go around? I can honestly say over my lifetime of being in the field, I've had more hunts ruined do to another hunter or hunters and non-hunters then any wolf!

If more people would pick up a sprayer then curse the wolves for the lack of game animals, we won't be having this conversation! Noxious weeds have taken over every portion of the United States. If the commonly used term “war on weeds” seems overly dramatic, consider this: Noxious weeds today infest more than 130 million acres of the United States. Each year they overrun an additional 1.7 million acres, invading an estimated 6 square miles of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands every day. Weeds have infested more than 7 million acres in national parks, including Glacier and Yellowstone. So when someone asked what would be best for the overall health of our Game animals what would you say?

So yes, wolves have moved out of Yellowstone and have had a great effect of the surrounding Deer and Elk populations. But I'm here to tell you, where I lived in Montana, which was 27 miles as straight as the crow can fly from Yellowstone. Most if not all the killing around my house, was done by Mountain Lions. Each year the mule deer herd would be around 80-100 animals and cut in half by year end. Wolves don't just hide out all day only to emerge at night. If they're in a pack, they're more venerable to being seen, require a much larger food source, and unless they are in true wilderness, miles and miles from sight, they will be hunted or shot at in such numbers. My Dog use to led me to more Lion kills each year then road kill. One time there were two deer heads from the shoulder up berried right below my house.

Alaska has been hit the hardest in the last ten plus years, ask any Outfitter, all though they wont tell this to the general public for fear of lost clientele, their Moose populations are way down. I've flown over a pack of 40 animals, and let me tell you, they need a lot of red meat to survive. Lucky for them they have Caribou in large numbers that roam sometimes 70 miles a day. Which is what wolves are fully capable of doing. But even while out on the tundra, all alone, I've never had a Wolf look at me as a food source! Maybe it's because we're both at the top of the food chain? Which they are, and guess what, so are we as humans.

Even here I have only came across two separate sets of Wolf tracks at one time, and that was last winter. I asked a guy that works for ConocoPhillips pipeline about any aerial sightings of Wolves and he said he has only seen pairs of wolves, not packs! And this guy flies almost everyday VFR visually checking the ground, so I serious doubt there is any large packs formed in the areas where high human populations occur? There is an equal amount of pressure not too..... for fear of being shot! The Coyotes around me don't even howl anymore! They don't, or at least the ones that have lived here long enough. They have learned that howling will bring me to where ever they are day or night to shoot them. It's a learn behavior, and the wolves know that packs will bring too much attention for the surrounding food source.

When I worked over in Africa and non-hunters would almost always ask me why do you kill such beautiful creatures? My response is a logical one. If those animals don't have any value other then for their bush meat, every animal whether young or old, male or female would be hunted to extinction! No local revenue would come from having a camp, people to do the cooking, guides, game trackers, staff, licensing fees, Government game scouts, etc. etc. etc. The people that pay for the anti-pouching work are the very same people whom have a vested interest in those game animals being there in and around their concessions that they lease from the local Government. If that doesn't occur it would be open season to anything that walked on four legs!

So I'd like to pose a different question to a real problem that poses an enormous threat not just in the West or where ever wolves occur, but to our entire economy and our environment? Why don't we have a strategy to help protect our game animal populations growing for a larger then life and ever growing concern? And when I mean Growing, I mean the stuff you walk past every time you step out of your vehicle! I'm sure most everyone here has seen some sort of weed infestation while outdoors? More so then wolf tracks! Every species of animal or insect for that matter needs a proper sustainable environment to survive and thrive. Yet we allow something like a weed to go unnoticed? Like cancer it will slowly but surly ruin something that was once pristine!

So if anyone wants to voice their opinion about what needs to be address to help our game animals or any animal for that matter, native plant species, which in turn increases lower plant diversity, increased soil erosion and sedimentation into our water ways that have succumb to the wrath of Noxious Weeds please speak up! Because our environment is under attack right from under our feet!

Which is the real silent killer here? The Wolf or the Weed?

 

[Guest]

You won't hear me defending non-native plants, for sure. I hate the noxious stuff in our part of the country. Kudzu and Chinese Privet have become pure cuss-words around me over the years.

But, the difference for me is, neither Kudzu nor Chinese Privet will come after my dog. Wolves do. I know, because some of my friends have lost pets and livestock to wolves. I've seen the photos. Heck, I lost a pretty nice doe because a pack of coyotes came out right as I was about to take the shot, just about a month ago. I'd have taken all five of them if I could have gotten off enough shots. Remember, here east of the Mississippi, coyotes are an invasive species, too.

 

[longrangehunter]

I myself would hunt down every known animal that ever harmed my Dog too, even if I had to break the law doing it. Odd as it may seem the law does state that only personal property can be protected, which by the way does not include Pets, only livestock.

I can and do sympathies with property loss due to Wolf predation, most ranchers can be paid if they prove the loss was due to wolves. So if your friends took photos it shouldn't be an issue getting reimbursed for their loss.

Coyotes in those numbers seems high if Wolves are in the area? I had issues with too many Coyotes on my property because the State was using the front of it to dump all the road kill. So when a lone Wolf showed up around here one summer years ago for almost a week it was actually nice having them gone. That Wolf did a much better job then I ever could. One winter I got so sick of them, that I decided to trap them, only thing was the very first animal I caught was a Bob Cat..... which is why I always hated Trapping, to non-discriminatory for me.

The other thing is that highly populated places have issues with predation mainly due to habit loss, and not enough of a food source in the surrounding area to support there own populations. Which you see in suburban areas more often then not now a days, and why we hear about pets being attacked by predators.

Speaking of which, I lost a cat to a Great Horned Owl. His name was Chase, a great cat, he got away from that Owl once before, but a year later snatched him up. Which brings me to this thought? I lost quite a few good cats to being run over by cars, one went to live on after I called every vet in the surrounding cities, only to be killed in a conibear trap by a neighbor even after I told him not to use them around where we lived so something like that wouldn't happen, but it did. I think there are a lot of instances where pets are lost due to various reasons that someone might make a wrong prediction unless they saw it with there own eyes.

On the flip side of that coin I had a friend in Montana that shot is own Mothers Dog after he warned her that her Dog had a fond taste for sheep. And he killed a few more Dogs that like sheep as well. Some Dogs seem to just love chickens, I even had a friend in Michigan that his chickens got wiped out to just senseless killing in two days by a Pine Marten. The Pine Marten just bit the throats killing most of them and leaving them lay there dead. I watched a Wolverine run over a boulder field after a Mule Deer, as luck would have it the Mule Deer had Horns and knew just how to use them! I watched a Golden Eagle take a fawn deer once, not a pretty thing. Mothers nature is never easy to fully understand, but this life cycle has been here since the dawn of time!

So I lost my first Dog Rocky to a German Shepherd, that attacked and mauled it only to die on the operating table after four hours! I was only ten years old at the time. Oh Ya, I forgot as a kid a German Shepherd bit me in the hand that some friend wanted me to go see some old man that owned it, some friend he was! Another German Shepherd bit me through my hand into my thigh, and almost bit my dick off named Mesha! That Dog was a real killer, and when I mean killer I mean it would eat you for lunch! And another German Shepherd bit me in the knee in Jamaica, along with his friend, and another bit me while running past it on the north hill in Missoula. So do I not like German Shepherds? Lets just say I don't for good reasons. And if I ever come across one should I just shoot it dead right there in front of who ever owns such a pathetic animal because of those very reasons I just mentioned above. I mean how many times should I trust another German Shepherd before it bits me? Or do I kill it before it bits me with my own two hands if need be? Odd as that may seem but I've had less instances with Wolves wanting to bit me then your average German Shepherd and they have been in the same numbers of occurrences! Food for thought right?

So in the real world I've been bitten enough to pass judgement on such an animal and since I've seen quite a few numbers of wolves in my lifetime that I couldn't put a number to it, do I just kill every German Shepherd I see, No. Which brings me to this point, a wolf kills for food to survive, those German Shepherds were just interested in bring harm for no good reason! End of story.

 

[Teknys]

Very good read! Weeds is something I notice while I'm out and forget when I get back. There is no doubt that invasive non-native species comes in all forms (plant or animal).

I believe that there is an emotional component from people to be the Dominant Predator. Just like wolves will keep coyotes quiet and out of the local area. We people want all competition gone also. "Those are our elk / deer" is something I've heard often.

When we are in the woods hunting we don't want to see other hunters in our "spot" human or wolf. Think on how somebody feels after months of planning and cost to pack back in and here is another camp of hunters where you've been hunting/camping for the last many years. Could be human or wolf tracks and the feeling is the same - competition.

 

[longrangehunter]

Very good read! Weeds is something I notice while I'm out and forget when I get back. There is no doubt that invasive non-native species comes in all forms (plant or animal).

I believe that there is an emotional component from people to be the Dominant Predator. Just like wolves will keep coyotes quiet and out of the local area. We people want all competition gone also. "Those are our elk / deer" is something I've heard often.

When we are in the woods hunting we don't want to see other hunters in our "spot" human or wolf. Think on how somebody feels after months of planning and cost to pack back in and here is another camp of hunters where you've been hunting/camping for the last many years. Could be human or wolf tracks and the feeling is the same - competition.

My point exactly Teknys.

We has humans sometimes seem to think we have a God like mentality. Whether it's for Corporate profits, or greed in general. Yet in this case another animal moving in on our turf!?! And No, I am not implying this to everyone.

Look at the American Bison's history? It wasn't the Wolf that drove them almost to extinction! Elk and Grizzly Bear once roamed the Great Plains, only to be pressured enough to change there habitat for their very own survival. No one seems to care about a Grizzly Bears if they kills an Elk or Deer.... lucky for them they're omnivores. The Elk and Deer will learn to adapt just as they have in the past.

This is a touchy subject. Almost like the one "that guns kill people", instead of people "use guns to kill people" and so do cars for that matter. But unlike politics we shouldn't meddle around with it too much in my opinion. I think we already do that too much with our Environment, and look at where thats got us?

 

[Thankful Otter]

I am sure I am going to be the odd man ( or woman ) out on this subject and even considered not posting at all, but Jim, fotis, Dr. Mike, Charlie, Scotty, Guy and others have stood up for me when I have been attacked here so I thought the least I could do was to come to the defense of the Wolf.

However, it is important for you to understand that the Yukon only has approx. 30000 people spread out over a WIDE area, so that does make a difference. We have approximately 5000 wolves and I would not want it any other way. I love these animals, they are beautiful animals and an important part of the wilderness and the manner in which it works.

They do not discriminate on what they will eat--Deer, Elk, Moose, Caribou. sheep, muskoxen, bison and small animals are all at risk when they are hungry. Hunters and Trappers account for approximately 200 per year legally and a few more illegally unfortunately.

We always hear about the wolf being dangerous to humans, but I have to ask--how many people have been killed by wolfs in Canada--confirmed kills. Not bodies that were found that had wolf tracks around them, and it was "assumed" they were killed by wolves. Domestic dogs can be lured into the wild if not properly trained and all I can say is my Boykin who is always with us in the wild never goes off by himself.

I love seeing packs of Wolves crossing an ice field or meadow. I even enjoy hearing them at night. To me they are as much a part of the wilderness as the brown or white bear. And believe me the brown or white bear can put a hurt on someone and/or their dogs, more than the wolf can or does, but I love them also just like I do the wolf.

I am not going to re-post an answer, I will just answer here in my original post. Yes, we do hunt the Wolf, when it is legal to do so, just as we do all the other big game animals that are legal to hunt. And yes, nearly 25000 of the 30000 people in the Yukon is located in two towns--most of that 25000 in one town. therefore you are correct the wolves in this area have plenty of room to live and hunt and could possibly live their entire life without ever seeing a human being . And some days I envy them

 

[alaska100]

Cheyenne, you can add me to the list of non wolf haters. Although you dont see them often, I also feel they are an important part of the Alaska culture. Depending on who you talk to, we supposedly have twice as many here as you do or approximately 10000. Hunters ( and I am one of them ) take legally about 1500 a year. We see wolves eating salmon here but of course they also eat the larger animals as well --moose, caribou, etc.

To answer your questions about recent deaths from Wolves in the wild. There was one in Saskatchewen in 2005 and it only took two years for them to rule it a death by Wolves, as they was unable to determine that to be true conclusively . Same as the one in alaska in 2010--still not sure it was wolves that killed her or just wolves that ate on her body after she was dead. There has been deaths of children in the lower 48 from PET wolves, but not recently or even in the last 20 years. So in the last 100 years, --in the US and Canada, from wild Wolves, two--maybe. There are more people killed accidentally by hunters than by wolves. I have no doubt that pets who wander into the wild, would be killed by a wolf if they encountered one.

Wolves can be a problem for ranchers in the lower 48 and I believe they have the right to shoot them and also to be reimbursed for their loss.

I like your point about the Grizzly and Polar Bears. I would feel less threatened by a wolf than either of those two.

 

[BeeTee]

Non-native introduced Canadian wolves didn't just "wander" out of Yellowstone to begin populating the rest of Montana & Idaho. They were transported/relocated in the dark of night, without giving the public an opportunity to object (i.e. the Corn Creek relocations, down river from North Fork, Idaho).

Reimbursed for livestock predation by wolves??? In the beginning, back in the late 1990s, yes, livestock owners were quickly and quietly reimbursed, but I dare anyone to visit a rancher near Wisdom, MT, and ask them how the reimbursement program is going. They say that the feds have raised the threshold of proof to near impossible levels. Ranchers are saying that even photos of bloody wolf tracks in the snow right next to a kill aren't good enough.

Quotes from an article published a year ago....

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2011/01/12/northern-range-yellowstone-elk/

The annual aerial survey of the herd conducted during December 2010 resulted in a count of 4,635 elk...

The number of permits issued for the antlerless Gardiner Late Elk Hunt declined from 1,102 in 2005 to just 100 permits during the 2006-2010 seasons. The late season hunt was eliminated altogether for 2011.

Before the non-native wolf introduction, there were nearly 20,000 elk in Yellowstone.

Since the introduction of non-native wolves to the Bitterroot mountains of western Montana, several hunting districts have seen elk numbers decline by nearly the same percentages as that of Yellowstone. One area (that I hunted as a boy 40+ years ago) has been closed to elk hunting because of wolf predation.

Around the year 1900 (some years before and some after), a number of individuals and local sportsmen's groups paid for relocating train car loads of Yellowstone elk to the Bitterroot. There were no huntable numbers of elk prior to that. In 1805, Lewis & Clark nearly starved while traveling through the Bitterroot mountains and into North Idaho, and journal notations indicated a profound lack of game, and there was no mention of wolves or bears in this area (makes sense, no elk - no wolves).

Here's what I predict.... Deer and elk will continue to decline in numbers all across the intermountain west until the only game left has been pushed onto private property at lower elevations (it's already happening). There, enough pet owners and others will kill the wolves (like ranchers do now in Wyoming and Montana to prevent livestock predation), and equilibrium will have have been reached. Hunting will have become a historical footnote and far fewer wolves roam the wildlands - which I believe was the ultimate goal of the environmentalists all along.

If I moved to AK or BC, I would expect wolves to be there. There have always been wolves there. I would adapt, and I would want them to remain. On the other hand, it's understandable that people, who are seeing a century of culture they love being stripped away, might have a different view of introduced non-native wolves.

On edit: Noxious weeds.... Russian Knapweed has been the bane of western Montana for as long as I can remember - till recently. Our property was once covered with the stuff, but the situation reversed by 99.9% in the past 5-10 years. It's almost totally absent, killed off by a root grub/beetle and a fly that lays its eggs in the seed heads. It's miraculous. I know of no other noxious plant that was as harmful to elk winter range as knapweed. The beetles and flies were imported from the knapweed's native lands, and they thrived here. I've yet to hear of a downside to the beetle/fly.

 

[Thankful Otter]

First let me answer a couple of questions I received .

each resident is allowed to hunt 7 wolves per year, which we do.
a non resident, 2 wolves per year
No limit on wolves for resident trappers

All, of course, must be done within the hunting and trapping season

Denning by the first Nation tribes is no longer used as a method of controlling the wolf population.

Yes, you heard correctly, but not from this forum. I do have a wolf, as a pet, in our home.

First Nation residents do work under slightly different rules if hunting and trapping on First Nation land, but not much and still within the frame work of the Yukon fish and game rules and regulations.

wolves are managed on a 27 point program set up by the Yukon fish and Game with input from the First Nation tribes and Porcupine Caribou Management board as well as the Yukon govt.

BeeTee: thank you for your well written, honest, straight forward and open comments, unlike the sarcastic one I received yesterday, behind the scene--see my "edited" comments at the bottom of my post yesterday/today which answered his comments to me.

BeeTee. I respect your post and your situation in Montana. my post yesterday was speaking strictly from my point of view here in the Yukon. I have zero knowledge of what your ranchers can and can not do and respect their rights and frustration, for their herd losses that they encounter from wolves and from the lack of help and understanding from their government. I also understand your frustration with the loss of wild Elk and Deer herds in Montana. The "other" Big Game ( Moose, Elk, Deer, Caribou, etc ) and the conversation thereof, in relation to the the Wolf in the Yukon is part of a 27 point conversation plan mentioned above in which the Porcupine Caribou Management board are a part of, as well as the citizens, and Government working together to create the best possible solution for all involved, which in our case includes all big Game animals, which the Wolf is a part of.

 

[DrMike]

each resident is allowed to hunt 7 wolves per year, which we do.
a non resident, 2 wolves per year
No limit on wolves for resident trappers

That is generous. Our limit is three wolves in this region. Still, that is generous, especially in light of the fact that most people that take wolves do so on an opportunistic basis. I don't know that many people that seriously hunt them. Consequently, they are expanding rapidly throughout this region and beginning to create some serious problems. They do need to be controlled, and the more so in light of their expansion into agricultural areas of this region.

 

[meatmachineman]

I'm a bit out of my element here and claim no expertise in this arena. Around here, emotions run a little hot and most people who are anti wolf are good at repeating bumper stickers like "Kill a wolf- Save 100 elk" but not much else. A friend of mine used to be a guide (family commitments has put an end to that a few years back, however. Now he's just a dedicated husband, father, and hunter). I tend to put some value on his insights as he's spent more time running around the mountains than I could ever imagine. His observations tend to mirror BeeTee's sentiments regarding the wolves in this region not being native in the first place. He's noted, anectdotally... not based on any serious study, herd populations are on the decline meanwhile wolf numbers seem to be on the rise. He doesn't really subscribe to murderous mass killing image of wolves but has expressed that he believes the wolves are still killing elk, however. The increased wolf population is putting more pressure on herds... keeping them on the move at times when they should be feeding prior to winter.

I don't know what the answer is. I'm not a fan of environmentalism. I believe there is an overdeveloped sense of self-importance within the movement that makes one believe they can control and shape the environment in any way they see fit without taking into consideration any unintended side effects. Looking at the history of Yellowstone tends to show how man has tried to manage nature, typically creating a side effect which must then be addressed and managed... creating another side effect and so on. This does not just apply to predator introduction, but game introduction, plant introduction, insect introduction and the management of all of the above.

I certainly hope no toes stepped on. Just tossing some info out there that I found to make some sense.

 

[alaska100]

BeeTee,
I stand corrected, my error