Wolves...Red-riding hood taught us how sneaky and ravenous they were.
Horror movies taught us that they shape-shifted, posing as innocents, until an opportune time when they could have their way with their victims.
Even the Three-Little Pigs scorned and mocked the wolf.
Wolves have been maligned, feared and hated through most of recorded history.
So, what’s the truth of wolves?
Are they nasty, vicious, gratuitous killers or nurturing, loving animals that kill only to eat?
I have had the opportunity to be in the company of wolves; to pet them, howl with them and sit in their pack. It was an experience that I will never forget or regret. These magnificent creatures were kindly, yet powerful, and I respected them. However, before I left the alpha female came up behind me. She put her teeth on my scalp and began to groom my hair.
The pack is structured. The male leader and female leader (alphas) are established, as are the other roles. Each pack member eats at the kill and each looks after the litter when the pups are born. They engage in play and demonstrate love by grooming one another.
I was an interloper who came bearing gifts of food and play. The grooming was their acceptance of me. I was honored.
By doing research I have learned that wolves are not indiscriminate killers. Wolves kill only to eat. There has never been a report of a healthy wolf attacking a person. Wolves, by nature, are shy and stay away from people.
Hopefully, we all still recoil in horror as we remember the videos of the aerial killings of the wolves in Alaska. Each year in Alaska, wolves are chased by planes until they drop from exhaustion, then they’re shot and hung on the strut of the plane to trade for bounty. I view this with great shame. Wolves are hunted by air and killed because some politicians decided it would be so.
Also, Friday, another terrible blow was dealt to the survival of wolves.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he would follow the discredited path of the Bush Administration and delist wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone region. This is a stunning development, just six weeks into the Obama Administration. This delisting paves the way for almost 1000 wolves to be killed. One thousand wolves will be killed - because we have big guns and we can indiscriminately kill - even though wolves don't and won't.
I am in mourning that we cannot learn to live harmoniously with other creatures of the earth. Are we so egocentric that we believe we are the only ones who deserve to live unencumbered? Yellowstone has not seen its present level of environmental health since the wolf was hunted to extinction a hundred years ago.
But, in addition to wolves eating elk, bison and moose that have stripped the trees and shrubs, ranchers are also losing cows to wolves. So – the wolves will be slaughtered. The government pays the ranchers the going rate for their lost livestock. But, it is not enough. The price must be extracted in blood. The wolves must die.
Please write, or email, President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reinstate the protection of the Endangered Species List to the gray wolves of the Rockies.
Secretary Ken Salazaar1849 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20240
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W
Washington, DC 20500
Gray wolves have been brought back from the brink of extinction once. However, we may not be so fortunate the next time and they will go the way of the Mexican wolf and the Red wolf which have only a few mating pairs left in the world.
Where, oh where, oh where is our honor?
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My father worked on the family farm until he was 21. The general mentality with regards to animals is that they should be useful. This attitude can even apply to the most domesticated family 'pets'. When the dog or cat becomes a nuisance, it is no longer practical to care for them. This is a mentality that has been pervasive in the farming and ranching communities ... albeit, it is much less than it was when my father was alive, but it is there, nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Secretary Salazar carries this insensitivity with him from his upbringing on a ranch. I do know this attitude is shared in rural and mountainous communities, where for generation their survival has depended on the land and those who are deemed predators are also doomed.
It is a full time job learning to live with each other. Some humans can't even live among their own species peacefully, let alone have regard for a big picture that includes sharing the earth with the animals.
Great food for thought, Tawnee.
To take action, the addresses to write are:
Secretary Ken Salazaar
1849 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20240
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W
Washington, DC 20500
Kittie