Timber Wolves

sybian

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2014
3,404
735
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Kamloops B.C.
Now I do realize that most of the people around here don't live anyplace close to, or have even seen a Wolf.
I've been having problems around here with them over the last few weeks, and they've come up in other threads, as we discuss other subjects....well actually I bring them up, because they are haunting me right now, and they are on my mind.
I love to hear the wolves in the winter, but far off...it's when they come down through the timber, and target my place, and my livestock....that's when I get annoyed with them.
There are a few rules of thumb when your a Rancher, and living in these parts that you can live by.

Don't mess with a mans livestock, family and fence....and you'll get by here just fine.
When in social situations, with mixed company, you never bring up politics, religion ,or Wolves.

I know that they've been persecuted by my kind for a century or more, and they have a place on this earth, but so do I ....they are simply being wolves, just as I am simply being a Rancher.
In the old days, I wouldn't hesitate to protect my livestock, as is my legal, and legislated right, under the protection of livestock act of British Columbia.
I now find myself trying everything to avoid a confrontation with them....something in me has changed.
I'm not sure of I've reached a higher level of respect and understanding....or I empathize with their situation since the fires?
They are bold, they are very hungry......and they are here, and I still hesitate, even though I know a small pack could wipe me out.
What is it in a man, that changes something he always was....and turns it 360 degrees around on him?
Anyone else ever had this happen, no matter the consequences?
 

Mrmotorscooter

Well-known member
Dec 19, 2017
1,247
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Are you suffering losses if so you are perfectly justified in shooting one, hopefully that will scare the rest of them away. I hated the old days when ranchers threw baits around, those things killed everything.
 

MissingOne

awake but not woke
Jan 2, 2006
2,170
350
83
Wolves are merciless. The natural world is merciless. But somehow wolves are animals that we can empathize with. There is a reason why our distant ancestors bonded with the canines that eventually became dogs.

But none of that mental meandering helps you with your dilemma. You will make the decision that is right for you.
 

sybian

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2014
3,404
735
113
Kamloops B.C.
Are you suffering losses if so you are perfectly justified in shooting one, hopefully that will scare the rest of them away. I hated the old days when ranchers threw baits around, those things killed everything.
Everyone here is having problems with some sort of predator....but wolves are the most persistent....yes there have been losses.
 

bdan

New member
Apr 11, 2015
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The question, as I see it isn't so much about the wolves or what you need to do to protect your herd, but rather your changing attitudes towards them.

You are just mellowing that's all.

Seeing both sides of the problem as opposed to just seeing your own side. Pretty natural.

I'd imagine that with all the fires down your way their food sources have gotten to be a little thin. As have they.

They are just trying to survive and you know that. It makes it tough. But we do what we have to, to protect our own.

Always have and ALWAYS will.
 

Abbott_

Banned
Jan 23, 2018
274
1
0
hinterland
CBC Radio recently did an interesting interview with the author of :

The Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West.


"What is the value of one wolf's life?" Blakeslee asks.

"If every wolf leads this wonderful adventure story as O-Six did, if every wolf's life is like that, and every wolf killed by a hunter ends such an amazing story,
does it force us to reevaluate how we think about those policy goals and does it force us to go back again and take a look at what our values are in that process?"​


Read short article, listen to 23 minute podcast:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/...ame-yellowstone-s-most-beloved-wolf-1.4421434

 

sybian

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2014
3,404
735
113
Kamloops B.C.
CBC Radio recently did an interesting interview with the author of :

The Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West.


"What is the value of one wolf's life?" Blakeslee asks.

"If every wolf leads this wonderful adventure story as O-Six did, if every wolf's life is like that, and every wolf killed by a hunter ends such an amazing story,
does it force us to reevaluate how we think about those policy goals and does it force us to go back again and take a look at what our values are in that process?"​


Read short article, listen to 23 minute podcast:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/...ame-yellowstone-s-most-beloved-wolf-1.4421434

Thank you.....the difference in my situation is I'm not looking to hunt the Wolves.....they have come to me.
They have a place in this world I know around me....there is no grass in the high country from the fires...along the low areas it's wetter, so the fires spared some. It is in these low areas, about 2800 feet that the grass eaters have migrated too, and that's the location of people's places, close to water.
With the ungulate migration, follow the predators, and with the predators arrival, comes conflict.
It's a creepy feeling to look into the timberline....and see three to six wolves staring back at you.
Another thing I'm dealing with is the call for help from the neighbors here, with the same problems....if the Government arrives to help, the first thing they say is.....prove those animals were taken down by wolves, and didn't die naturally.
Then there is a CFIA investigation for diseases, so that means more Government, because of a mass die off...Then the Conservation Officers are deployed....they start killing Wolves...Then there is a public outcry, from people who live on pavement, and away from the conflict zone...making their living protesting.
While you wait for the red tape to get processed....they keep killing....so you start firing shots every hour into the air.
Just giving that neighbor that's asking you to bring your rifle over, more problems to deal with.
 

uncleg

Well-known member
Jul 25, 2006
5,461
591
113
If you have to shoot them, you shoot them....no conflict, no second thoughts. I spent many a night and day out on the range when the calves were dropping...makes for easy prey for all kinds of furry four legged critters....but you do what you have to do. Sometimes just the smell of humanity was enough to keep them away, but sometimes some damn magnificent animals were put down. You don't have to like it, but you have to do it. Right or wrong, the experience served me well in another time and another place with another prey.
 

sybian

Well-known member
Dec 23, 2014
3,404
735
113
Kamloops B.C.
If you have to shoot them, you shoot them....no conflict, no second thoughts. I spent many a night and day out on the range when the calves were dropping...makes for easy prey for all kinds of furry four legged critters....but you do what you have to do. Sometimes just the smell of humanity was enough to keep them away, but sometimes some damn magnificent animals were put down. You don't have to like it, but you have to do it. Right or wrong, the experience served me well in another time and another place with another prey.
I've been waiting for your words.....in the mirror this morning, I saw that thousand yard stare looking back at me.
 

hankmoody

Member
Aug 12, 2014
987
19
18
I hear ya.
When the Coyote's pack up around here they are quite lethal. Take a full grown deer down in no time.
I try to leave them alone as i'm an animal lover and they do eat a lot of vermin.
But when they clean out your cats and when you find them stripping a half born calf...
 

Addison Cortez

Addixion
Sep 14, 2017
851
5
18
you just know they're trying to survive, Sy. You're having troubles because of the same reasons and can relate to them. Of course you'd feel bad if you had to kill them, wolves are cool.
I remember maybe ten years ago there was an over population of wolves North of Kamloops so they were hunted for a price for a while, now there's an over population of rabbits......and the wolves moved closer to rural areas with less fear for humans now. And it's the same with the fires, they have been a part of our natural world forever and we try to control that too..... it's human nature to need to feel control the difference is that we should be controlling ourselves.

so that being said, nice work ;)
 

westwoody

Well-known member
Jun 10, 2004
6,457
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Westwood
I was surprised to see a dead coyote at the side of the road, obviously hit by a car...just inside Winnipeg city limits (Wilkes in Charleswood).
That's the first inside the Perimeter I have ever seen.

As kamivix says, wolves and coyotes are getting habituated to humans and losing their fear. There are pictures of coyotes riding commuter trains into the city on the net. Friends north of Winnipeg have had dogs killed by coyotes in their yards.

At least it's not wild pigs like Texas!
 

Addison Cortez

Addixion
Sep 14, 2017
851
5
18
I was surprised to see a dead coyote at the side of the road, obviously hit by a car...just inside Winnipeg city limits (Wilkes in Charleswood).
That's the first inside the Perimeter I have ever seen.

As kamivix says, wolves and coyotes are getting habituated to humans and losing their fear. There are pictures of coyotes riding commuter trains into the city on the net. Friends north of Winnipeg have had dogs killed by coyotes in their yards.

At least it's not wild pigs like Texas!
I forgot to mention in my post, as well, that a few years ago the coyotes were actually coming into town during rush hour and even tried to attack some young children walking to school.... it was scary
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,545
6
0
Calgary
I was surprised to see a dead coyote at the side of the road, obviously hit by a car...just inside Winnipeg city limits (Wilkes in Charleswood).
That's the first inside the Perimeter I have ever seen.

As kamivix says, wolves and coyotes are getting habituated to humans and losing their fear. There are pictures of coyotes riding commuter trains into the city on the net. Friends north of Winnipeg have had dogs killed by coyotes in their yards.

At least it's not wild pigs like Texas!
I have seen a coyote walking down an ally in downtown Calgary in the middle of the afternoon and it most likely came down from the shaganappi golf course as there is a coyote population there.

To the OP if you are having issues with wolves feeding on livestock then shoot them.Wolves and coyotes breed just like domestic dogs.They dont have 1 pup they have a litter of 6-8 of them which is why if the population grows too much they will outpace their habitat and feed on livestock instead of their natural prey.

SR
 

Addison Cortez

Addixion
Sep 14, 2017
851
5
18
I have seen a coyote walking down an ally in downtown Calgary in the middle of the afternoon and it most likely came down from the shaganappi golf course as there is a coyote population there.

To the OP if you are having issues with wolves feeding on livestock then shoot them.Wolves and coyotes breed just like domestic dogs.They dont have 1 pup they have a litter of 6-8 of them which is why if the population grows too much they will outpace their habitat and feed on livestock instead of their natural prey.

SR
They're also smart enough to know to migrate.. so it may be of benefit to do it after all
 

Abbott_

Banned
Jan 23, 2018
274
1
0
hinterland
Wolf Stories

Margaret Atwood, quotes :

“All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.

... Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves,
taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you.
Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/78990-all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is
 

johnsmit

Active member
May 4, 2013
1,301
16
38
Yes I am one of those city dwellers that have never seen a wolf in the wild or heard their Howell. They deffinetly are part of our social lore .and they all way look so majestic in pictures. The reality is they jist want to survive like any other creature ,and ďo what they have to ,adapt where they must and man changed their environment ,shrunk their range, and in many ways killed what they use to hunt.
We amaze at their intelagent but it just there to help them survive and when man becomes their pray we better hope we don't let our awe and wonder of nature and it predators turn us in to their next meal.
I personally don't like killing any creature, so I just won't put my Self into the situation where i migt have to i dont want it to come down to me or them .That is why I live in the city. Which also.has its wolves that run in packs , the human kind that are more deadly because they look like you and me and don't just do what they need to survive but take and kill just for fun or don't care about others.

That one thing that i see between those people that live off the land and the wild life that lives around them .that at some point they do have a growing respect for each other..
That's what i see in your story and changing heart .
 
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Sporting

Well-known member
Feb 7, 2010
542
291
63
Great discussion. Growing meat consumes far more than its fair share of resources, and demand is not going away as formerly impoverished people around the planet have the means to consume more. Natural habitat of wildlife has been reduced by 90+% and just this morning I read that in 20 years there will be neglible tropical rainforest left. Our bets hope is for science to get to work on this issue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat
 

jgg

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