Aerial killing of wolves in Alaska/Alaskan comment - Page 4

Vommystical...the Bible is still relevant now as it was then. Man IS TO HAVE DOMINION OVER THE ANIMALS.

They are animals, not humans, with a soul.   We can live in harmony, but there must be a balance.  Inevitedably, man finds a way to mess things up.  You, as a state resident,  cannot shoot a wolf, if you do, you face serious, serious  fines & charges. Shooting them over a dog attack is not justifiable, based on what Ive been told. Only if your life is jeopardized. 

Wolves, Lions, Bears and other protected animals, (even fed alligators in FL) these days have NO Fear of humans, they are protected, not hunted and therefore, lack any fear.  This is problematic for all involved, moreso for the animals who act like conditioned animals when they see prey, whether a child, dog or livestock.

Angus Mom-deer herds are growing. Deer car collisions are up not down. And some of the largest game animals are now being harvested today, both Typical & Non Typical. Im a fairly serious deer hunter so Im fairly aware of this. My state in OH is producing record whitetails, also record car collissions.

Well, it seems pretty obvious we should just tranquilize 'em and ship 'em to NC!!

darylehret that is funny! I was just thinking the same thing!

I will say this again, they are beautiful animals and have their place in nature. But until we have open season on humans to reduce the population so animals have more space, we are going to have to manage predators that kill our food supply and come into our yards and help themselves to our pets. Especially when the woods have game and they have alot of room to hunt it. The problem is they are not stupid animals, very smart and cunning. If you were looking for your next meal would you prefer to hunt a fat healthy, lazy cow,sheep, or dog that can't get out of its own way or run your butt off chasing a deer or elk that are also wild and you might get yourself rippped to ribbons if not careful? They have the intelligence to go with the former and we are left with you can't shoot them!

As a child my cat was ripped out of her kitty house by a "pack" of GSD's right outside my window. Just like wolves they will see an opportunity and take it. Maybe I should hate dogs or GSD's anyway, but I don't blame the dogs. They have that hardwired into them and their owners need to make sure these things don't happen. Those dogs didn't kill for food, they did it for fun. Wolves don't have people to look out for them. As a person living in wolf country you need to protect your own dogs and not let them loose if these things happen. I'd jump at the chance to live in wolf country. Anybody wanna trade spaces?

Every year in the Sacramento area bikers and joggers get yummed up by mountain lions on the river trails. I'll take my chances with the wolves.

I think that latest statistics say that around 3% of livestock loss is due to wolves.

No doubt it is a very serious problem in many areas and no really great answer as far as I can see. Left to nature the wolf population is self-limiting. Only the alphas of most packs produce. Wolves don't have long life expectancies and do not reach sexual maturity until they are 2 to 3 years old so a female only has a max 4 or 5 litter in her lifetime. Given the females only have one cycle per year, there are few wolf puppies born every year and they don't all survive. Litters range from 2 to 14, the average being around 6 I think.

The grassroot problem, is that the wolves are losing their food sources and native habitat due to development. I've read that given a choice wolves prefer to eat almost anything but sheep or cattle, but they don't always have a choice.

I don't envy those of you who live where wolves are a problem. On one hand I hate to see them killed, but on the other hand I wouldn't want my animals put in danger due to them. Seeing stuffed wolves at sportsman shows is something I do not enjoy and I myself have no desire to wear a garment trimmed with wolf fur.

And here I thought we had it bad with the iguanas.

Farley Mowat is one of my heroes.

One alpha pair breeds once a year.  5 litters in a lifetime would be rare -- and high.  Probably closer to 3.5 litters in the life of the alpha pair.

I would also say that 14 pups in a wolf litter would be unheard of - I had heard 3-5 was the norm for a wolf litter.

There have been documented litters of 14, but it's very rare. It seems the "experts" vary on the average number in a litter. I agree that it's more likely that a female will  produce less that 5 litters in her lifetime. Some of the statistics available are no doubt based on wolves in captivity and not in the wild. Those observed in the wild might not reflect pups that are stillborn or die before they are allowed outside the dens. The females would probalby eat any dead pups and some are lost to grizzlies that dig into the dens to kill and eat the young. It ain't easy being a wolf.