<Indeed, wolves have increased, John. Except for mad-men with high
powered rifles firing at the canids from airplanes (a policy recently
reinstated by Gov. Murkowski in Alaska, one of the principal
environmental policy-makers in the current administration), wolves
are among predators at the top of the proverbial food chain.>
What I would do to own my own Bazooka!! God I swear if I was terminally ill,
I would have fun shooting these bastards.
There is nothing like the sound of wolves on a moonlit night against the
cold of the moon. What a majestic animal.
Martyn
_____
From: Wild Sanctuary
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2003 1:13 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Yellowstone wolves and elk
Indeed, wolves have increased, John. Except for mad-men with high
powered rifles firing at the canids from airplanes (a policy recently
reinstated by Gov. Murkowski in Alaska, one of the principal
environmental policy-makers in the current administration), wolves
are among predators at the top of the proverbial food chain.
Like elk and many other critters who have survived the long arc of
geological time, wolves haven't quite learned the kinds of effective
aversion behavior(s) necessary to respond to certain types of
recently introduced human noises such as aircraft and snowmobiles,
which have just emerged from the drawing-boards in the last century
century. Many critters tend to do nothing. So from the
traditionally-trained field biologists' point of view, those who
determine biological truths primarily from what they see and can
count visually, there tends to be no reaction to our noise because
the critters are observed to do nothing and their live body-counts
keep increasing. One recent study (Creel, et al) concluded that even
though there was a drastic change in the glucocorticoid enzyme
(stress) levels in elk and wolves, this was unimportant because the
academic model for success for wild populations is based primarily on
reproduction and observed behavior. Hmmmm...
So much for the natural soundscape, eh?
Bernie
>Bernie mentionned the Yellowstone wolves and elk.
> In a recent Canadian Geographic article about the wolves, they have
>successfully increased to about two hundred and fiftyat Yellowstone.
>Elk, already in decline, have been reduced from 19,000 to about
>12,000. Coyotes have also declined in numbers. Smaller predators
>like the raven and the fox, have increased in numbers.The reduced
>browse of willows by the elk has caused some dramatic changes along
>river banks. There are more willows, more songbirds like yellow
>warblers and more beaver enjoying the willows. The increased shade
>over the water has also increased the fish population.
>Not bad for the wolf eh!
>
>John Neville
>
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--
Wild Sanctuary
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-996-6677
707-996-0280 (FAX)
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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