Final Comments

After examining the possible reasons for the demonization of wolves, I have concluded that wolves are a feared creature universally, and this seems to be most often due to the killing of livestock. I believe that the losses caused by these animals have created a hatred of them which led to fear when people began telling folktales of wolves that would “eat your grandma.” These stories have often played a highly negative light on wolves casting them as bloodthirsty creatures that are bent on nothing else, but to kill you. For example, the movie The Grey just recently came out and it portrayed a pack of wolves as these ravenous animals that systematically killed and ate everyone in the movie. From my research these awful claims have appeared to be false, but I still intend to explore further on the matter.

My points of research were all varying and most often seemed to complement each other rather than oppose. However, for my first set of research it was clear that the video of the wolf reintroduction into Wyoming was different from the PBS article. For instance, the article in PBS was more focused on the history of wolves, and their eradication from our nation as a result of mass killings in the late 19^th and 20^th century. The video on the other hand showed that ranchers were uncomfortable with the idea of wolf reintroduction and wanted to kill the animals. In my second post I talked about a video of wolf behavior in a pack and around humans and an article that focused on the statistics of wolf kills. Both these sources showed that wolves have been portrayed rather inaccurately and could benefit from a better analysis. My last post was entirely different from all my post because it focused on measure of coexistence with wolves.

As I continue with my exploration, I will need to do a lot more research in order to fully understand this situation. I believe that there is a lot to learn from this and as such I have not developed a thesis to follow yet. I haven’t answered a lot of my questions and I think that the answers may surprise me. As I look towards crafting my argumentative essay I know that I have a pretty solid foundation for making an argument, but I would like to make it even better with more research.

I do not know the photographer for this picture, but here is a link to the website I found it.

Wolf Potential for Coexistence

In my last bit of study I focused my search on how wolves could coexist with ranchers, if this was at all possible. To my surprise I found that there are some measures being taken at this time with the help of a charity organization called Defenders of Wildlife. From there website I gathered quite a bit of information about their attempts to make coexistence possible.

The Defenders of Wildlife stated in their article "Defenders in Action: Working with Ranchers" that they have made several attempts and still continue their work efforts with ranchers. Through their program the Defenders are helping ranchers by arranging for flandry (Flag) fences that deter wolves, regular patrol of the livestock, and even guard dogs. This was all established in order to protect the livestock of the ranchers. Also, for over 20 years Defenders has been managing a program that compensates ranchers for the loss of some of their livestock.

I believe that the work being done by Defenders is wonderful, and I imagine that it makes a lot of ranchers feel better about wolves being reintroduced into the wild.  The possibility of coexistence may be hard for some to believe, but the fact that efforts are being made toward this is still outstanding. I think that through the article the Defenders have proposed their plans well, and perhaps this may be where ranchers will come to first before they decide to kill the wolves. Of all my sources this one is far different from the others. I think that this source has been most revealing to me in terms of continuing survival of these reintroduced wolves. Perhaps, this may be the key to changing the negative attitudes experienced by many? Also, I wonder what the statistics are for wolf kills after these preventative measures have been put into place?

Living With Wolves

My efforts for my next bit of research are a little bit different than my initial questions. After I had done the reasearch for my first two sources I became curious about ways that rancher’s could live in harmony with wolves. The following video is what I found on the topic. Also, I took a look into the numbers of livestock wolves were killing.

My initial source is a video documentary aired on the Discovery Channel and it was made by Jim and Jamie Dutcher. The documentary Living With Wolves does not portray the lives of ranchers, but I thought it was important because it showed that harmony could be established with the wolves. Jim Dutcher wanted to know more about wolf behavior and if it was possible to interact with wolves on a friendly basis. In order to do this he built a 25 acre observation camp so that he was able to watch the wolves without having to hunt for them in a large area of land. Jim received most of the wolves as pups and raised them until they were old enough to go in the enclosure themselves. After that he and Jamie watched the wolves and filmed their actions without interfering in the way they behaved. The wolves themselves were comfortable with the Dutchers and would sometimes go up and give them “greetings”. After watching this video I was very impressed with the things I had seen. If it was so easy for the Dutchers wouldn’t it be just as easy for ranchers? Of course I understand that the relationship is different and certain measures would have to be taken into account, but I still believe that something can be done to change the relationship between wolves and people.

The other source I studied was a brief article included in several others that had been written, but what I was focusing on were the numbers of livestock that wolves had killed. In Wolves Misunderstood from the Oregon Wild webpage I discovered that the actual numbers of wolf killings are far less than they have been portrayed as. In 2010 of the 4,000,000 deaths of cattle and calves in the United States only 0.1% was due to wolves (Wolves). Other incidents of livestock death was due to disease, injuries, labor, and even some of the livestock had been stolen. A storm in Montana killed over 2,000 sheep compared to 188 sheep whose deaths were attributed to wolves in the previous year (Wolves). One instance of wolves killing a large flock of sheep in Oregon also revealed that the animals had been kept in a small pasture right next to where carcasses of dead animals were being kept (Wolves). Obviously it is clear that something is influencing the inaccurate portrayal of these killings. Do ranchers just have a large misunderstanding of these animals? Is there something that ranchers can do to better protect their livestock and coexist peacefully with the wolves?

Through these two sources it is clear that they are similar and yet quite different in their approach to the material presented. The Living with Wolves video is an analysis of wolf behavior, where the second source focuses on the statistics of wolf kills. I think that these are important because they show that there is false information being spread to the general public.

Eradication of Wolves

Today I decided to focus a bit more on the eradication of wolves in the early 19^th and 20^th centuries. I have also found a video over the opinions of wolf reintroduction into the Wyoming area.

According to the article in PBS, when settlers first came to America they brought with them a bounty of livestock that would often graze on the outskirts of settlements where they were less protected. There the livestock would be hunted by wolves and the colonists started becoming upset upon discovering this. In order to protect their livestock they began killing the wolves. They would set traps for the wolves and would make it a sport to see how many wolves they could kill. In Yellowstone the baiting and killing of wolves was becoming quite popular, but left devastating effects on the overall population (PBS:Wolf Wars). Oftentimes, the trappers would lace carcasses with strychnine poison, but this also affected the other animals that scavenged off the carcasses. As large numbers of the wolves prey were killed by humans the wolves were turning more to livestock. In response to this “bounties” were put on each wolf carcass brought in ranging from $20-$50 per wolf. Government programs  such as the U.S Bureau of Biological Survey were recruited by stockowners to look at the devastation that the wolves had caused which set extermination plans into motion. The following quote illustrates the toll that was placed on the wolf populations: “More than 3,849 wolves have been destroyed by the predatory animal work of the Department and its cooperators since the work was organized in 1915” (PBS: Wolf Wars). It wasn’t until the 1960s that people realized wolves were beneficial to the ecosystem and needed to be restored. In 1995 and 1996 wolves from Canada were brought in, but one was killed by a hunter. The locals appreciated the hunter and called his act one of heroism (PBS: Wolf Wars).

The other source I reviewed was a short video clip focused on the introduction of wolves to Wyoming, and the feelings the ranchers had. In the beginning the video starts off with a couple of ranchers who say that since the introduction of wolves in 1996 their average number of deaths of livestock increased. They go on to say that they have lost six dogs, a foal, a couple of saddle horses, and numerous cattle to the wolves. There is also a biologist that talks about the wolves introduction back into an ecosystem they had been eradicated from. The strongest point in this video that stuck out to me is when the female rancher said “I don’t blame the wolves, I blame the people that brought them here. The wolves do only what wolves do, but they are the ones that have to pay the price.” (Wyoming Wolf Wars: Debate Over Delisting Wolves "video below") 

What I question is why was it necessary to kill all the wolves? How has a hatred been so strong for so many years that people cheer when a wolf is killed illegally?Also, I wonder what the actual numbers of the killings were, and how many wolves died because of other reasons, starvation, disease etc? How much of these secondary deaths were attributed to the mass slaughters of buffalo and other animals by settlers in the 19^th century? I still feel a sense of wonder about the strong hate that people have for these creatures. Hopefully, with further exploration I can learn more not only about these creatures themselves, but what inspired such a negative opinion. I think that the sources are important to my understanding of wolves because they portray important opinions and present the facts of what happened to these animals. The PBS source is informational about the history of the wolves elimination from our society. The second source is more subjective in its focus on wolf reintroduction in Wyoming, but is still important because it clearly shows the opinions of two parties -- ranchers and biologists.

A Short Video

This is just a little clip I wanted to include in the blog. I think it is beautiful and have always admired it! The video was made by Vladimir Bologov.

First Question

How have wolves become demonized over hundreds of years?

I am exploring this question because I absolutely love wolves and have found them rather fascinating creatures! However, I have come across a lot of people that either hate wolves or have some degree of ambivalence. What is curious to me is how wolves have become a feared animal, but are not often seen by the general public? Recently, while watching television there was a show that came on about a man who was tracking wolves in Idaho. He was with a photography team just seven days prior to the wolves being taken off the endangered species list. Throughout the show he expressed concern for the welfare of the wolves and spoke to many local townspeople who had very negative attitudes towards them. This got me to thinking about these animals, and the opinions that ranchers hold of them. What are the wolves' hunting patterns like? Do wolves really come into ranch lands and slaughter a number of farm animals, and if they do why are they doing this? Was the opinion of wolves different, or the same as hundreds of years ago?

Do fairytales contribute to the negative attitudes of wolves? Is there anything that can be done to change the attitudes of people? I think that this topic is very important and will help people understand more about the creatures themselves. Perhaps, it is not so much of hatred as it really is a misunderstanding of the wolves themselves. After all they have been one of the top predators in North America for many years, but now there are so few of them because of mass slaughters. Through this blog people can come to realize the importance of wolves on our ecosystem, and maybe they will see that they are not the “demons” they have been made out to be.



Photograph by Joel Sartore

The Beginning

This is my first blog for English! I am excited to see what I will discover with this blog. For now I have no research questions yet, but I will get to those as soon as I can.