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Thursday, May 27. 2021

The Northeast US needs our wolves back

Wolves were exterminated in the Northeast US centuries ago. In the 1800s, the sheep farmers hated them, put bounties on them, and killed every last one.


What happened to Shepherd dogs? 


The wolves also kept the White-Tailed Deer and Moose populations in check and healthy.  An unorthodox strategy to stop cars from hitting deer


As a bonus, they would kill all of those invasive Coyotes.  


Also:  Save the wolves?


Nice doggie... 

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 14:56 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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That study sounds more like wishful thinking than anything, but hey, if you want New England overrun with wolves, more power to ya. It's all the same to me.
#1 feeblemind on 2021-05-27 16:47 (Reply)
Sure. Why not?
#1.1 BD on 2021-05-27 18:11 (Reply)
Because they will chow down on any child or pet they come across?

No offense, but this sounds like an idea an environmentalist would come up with.
#1.1.1 jdgalt1 on 2021-05-27 19:11 (Reply)
if they kill feral cats, so much the better.

And we no longer live out in the woods where you encounter wild wolves, wolves that are too skittish to go into towns and cities.

They're starting to make a come back in Europe, no reports of them killing people. Just farmers complaining that they're afraid the wolves will go after their herds, and demanding subsidies to counter that when it's apparently not happening as a wolf attack on lifestock'd be national news.
#1.1.1.1 JTW on 2021-05-27 22:19 (Reply)
Wolves all around: 1-800-hardly

In France, 3450 people were killed by wolves in one year. And the year was 1763. Of course this risk must be balanced against other risks; like being out on a warm night in Chicago, or....
#2 Sf jeff on 2021-05-27 23:46 (Reply)
The outcome of reintroducing wolves is unpredictable. An example is the Eastern coyote. It is a hybrid animal. It is about 5/8 Western coyote, 2/8 Canadian wolf, and 1/8 dog. Note the 2/8 wolf part. While wolves often kill and eat coyotes they encounter, there are/were obvious exceptions. It is entirely possible that there would be further hybridizations between wolves, dogs, and Eastern coyotes. Eastern coyotes are already much larger than their western cousins, and adaptable to humans. How would you like an 80-90 pound "coyote" in your back yard?
#3 bob sykes (Link) on 2021-05-28 07:40 (Reply)
Wolves of themselves are neither good nor bad. The problem with wolves arises when they become wards of the government. Read the history of wolf re-introduction into Yellowstone. Same issues in the Great Lake states--MN, WI, and MI. Those re-introduction efforts and the regulations that accompany the re-introduction hurt or limit any other use under the guise of "protecting the wolf". Currently, CO is contemplating the re-introduction issue and the voters in 2020 narrowly approved a measure to re-introduce. If the state moves forward it will limit access to areas deemed wolf habitat and cost a fortune.
#4 rocdoctom on 2021-05-28 09:51 (Reply)
"The people who value the existence of wolves are often not in the same communities where wolves are present."

Ain't that the truth.
#5 Erick Arnell on 2021-05-28 11:07 (Reply)
Deer population in the modern age is kept in check by hunting. I don't know what the hunting seasons are like up there or how expensive the tags or limits. Hunting is the answer, not wolves. But good luck. Like what just happened in Colorado, all the urbanites voted for wolves,.. all the rural counties overwhelmingly against. Nice, eh?
#6 UncleMax on 2021-05-28 12:23 (Reply)
In a non-expert opinion, if places like Connecticut eased hunting restrictions a bit, deer populations would be manageable, and hunters would pay most if not all of the costs associated with managing the population. Maine is a good example of this. Bigger state, yes, more rural, yes, but introducing wolves to manage deer populations is killing a cockroach with a sledge hammer. Dumb. In the NE, they would be an apex predator - we know what that means, correct?
#7 tim ferrell on 2021-05-28 13:47 (Reply)
I seem to remember an attempt way back when to reintroduce red wolves into the southeast. Didn't work. They've tried it with bald eagles and fox squirrels as well. Never worked. Meanwhile, there are ospreys on Lake Lanier now because some hero dropped a bunch of seagulls off in north Georgia a while ago.
#8 ccoffer on 2021-05-28 17:13 (Reply)
According to a 2019 Charleston Post and Courier article, there were 14 red wolves in SC. I couldn't find any information more up to date with a quick search and don't have time for a more extensive one. https://www.postandcourier.com/news/only-14-red-wolves-remain-in-sc-wild-and-us-agency-wont-say-what-theyre/article_86e4b19c-ef61-11e9-a3bf-bbe391f97381.html
#8.1 SCReader on 2021-05-30 12:54 (Reply)

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