wolf hunting opened in many areas of Idaho Tuesday, Sept. 1
--that is, on my 38th birthday. And many of you long-timers may remember how I feel about wolves--for any newbies, they're my third favorite animal after cats and dolphins.
And who's so eager to hunt wolves? Big men. Big men like-
Robert Millage of Kamiah said he was surrounded by a pack of wolves before dawn and waited until light to call them with a hand call that sounded like a wounded coyote. The 80-pound female wolf came to him yards before Millage shot her with his .243 rifle in the Lolo Zone. The wolf was around 30 yards from the hunter when she was shot.
I. Fucking. Hate. Hunters.
You should also know that wolves threatening humans is much more unusual than, say, the other way around:
In a news release, Defenders of Wildlife states, “The scheduled wolf hunts would cripple the regional wolf population by isolating wolves into disconnected subgroups incapable of genetic or ecological sustainability. The wolf hunts would also allow the killing of the breeding alpha male and female wolves, thereby disrupting the social group, leaving pups more vulnerable.
Aggressive hunting plans in Idaho and Montana will dramatically reduce gray wolf populations and jeopardize the future of gray wolves in the northern Rockies.” Melanie Stein, Associate Regional Representative, Sierra Club.
The only good news is:
Idaho hunters will have their work cut out for them to reach the 220-wolf limit set by Fish and Game commissioners earlier this month, experts say.
Becky Schwanke, a wolf biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and a hunter whose husband and father trap wolves, was more blunt about Idaho hunters' chances for success.
Wolves aren't going to remain naive for long.
Schwanke said wolves will be cagey even if they haven't been hunted.
...a wolf encountered is not a wolf killed.
Here's to a lot of encounters that are not kills.
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