30 December 2011. Wolf: The Last Stand. A very dramatic 6 min video showing the awful things that people do to wolves. If this makes you sad then imagine what some people do to coyotes who aren’t even protected in most states. While this does a good job of graphically showing how wolves are still treated, it is not accurate to state that wolves are becoming extinct or might so because of what happens to some of them in this video. However, that doesn’t give anyone the right to do such cruel (and sometimes torturous) things to wolves (and likewise to coyotes) just because they won’t go extinct.
21 December 2011. “Sportsmen’s” group to pay $100 for photos of killed wolves. It is safe to assume that a so-called “sportsmen’s” group is anti-predator and has a disproportionate impact on state wildlife management. These people should be ashamed of themselves. I for one don’t consider them a noble sportsmen – just the opposite in fact with antics such as this. This is the case nationwide from the Sportsmen Alliance (for some wildife) in Maine to the many groups in the Rocky Mountains – they are all anti-predator and honestly think that a dead wolf is a good wolf.
15 December 2011. Federal use of aerial sharpshooters draws fire. I must say I am humbled to be a small part (occasional contributing writer) to The Wildlife News, which first exposed this travesty. Now, the LA Times picked up this story!
14 December 2011. Hysteria about wolves built on exaggeration. A good article from MT! And as I read this great article I find a ridiculous article that gets at the exaggeration and hysteria that the writer above (Marty Essen) correctly describes. For one, there is absolutely no documentation that wolves have greatly reduced wildlife populations – I think that wolf management should be taken out of state control, if anything, since they can’t objectively manage predators with hunting being their primary revenue source and ridiculous articles like this (by a hunter) propagating lies and mis-truths.
14 December 2011. Intensive studies provide insight into iconic species. Great article about the Yellowstone Wolf Project and their long-term study.
1 December 2011. Picture and story of a trapped wolf up in Alaska. Great article on the unethical laws (in most states) that allow such a magnificent animal to die such a painful death. Note: this is a standard foothold trap legal in most states; snares choke the animal to death and are actually still legal in some states. All in the name of tradition according to most state fish and game departments who still allow this activity for recreational purposes.
21 November 2011. Yellowstone National Park proposal to remove 360 bison. This is utterly disgusting. As more and more agreements are being made to allow bison to migrate out of the park and into the Gardiner Basin this insane idea suggests yearly removal of bison, possibly from within Yellowstone. This is possibly the stupidest thing that I have read in years, especially considering that elk are freely allowed to migrate outside of the park during winter. This is a disguised attempt to continue to have bison confined to Yellowstone and not to be treated as native wildlife, which they are. I hope that federal lawsuits give bison free range of Montana when they leave the park and are not allowed to be hunted until viable populations live outside of the park.
9 November 2011. Who owns our wildlife? A great article detailing the tremendous over-reach that hunters have in managing wildlife when they are only 5 percent of the nations population. However, many more dollars is contributed to the general economy than hunters dollars. I agree with the author, that maybe hunters should only be in charge of game species (deer, ducks, rabbits) and a new agency created that would be in charge of predators and other non-game. Also, a similar article details this injustice here.
6 November 2011. Remarkable picture (see below) of the Lamar Canyon wolves howling in Yellowstone. It was such of a priviledge to share the experience with my son, Nathan – his first visit to the park. Then, sadly I return back to the Northeast and read about what a bunch of rednecks are trying/planning on doing to eastern coyotes/coywolves in Maine (read here). They must’ve never read the vital importance that canid’s play in the evolution of prey species. The writer, I know from experience, is particularly nasty to anything that preys on deer – in fact, I think he would vote to make Maine a large deer farm if he had the choice to. People will never learn – there needs to be a National Canid Protection Act to better protect U.S.’s wild canids.
31 October 2011. I am just returning from a remarkable 9 days in the Park, my 12th trip to the park totaling 108 days. I had the fortune of bringing my 3 year 7 month old son. He had a grand time observing wild wolves (mostly the 11 member Lamar Canyon back and one sighting of the Blacktail wolf pack), as well as grizzly bears, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, red fox, and western coyotes. What an amazing place. Below, I want to share with you an observation that we had with bison, of all animals. It was very magical (note: I took video of this but not pictures as it was dark):
We were coming back from hiking Mammoth, Grizzly Lake, Norris, and Artist’s Paintpot (yes, a marathon day, especially with 45-50 lbs of Nathan and pack on my back) and right at dark (about 6:45) we came to a halt on the E side of the Yellowstone River bridge just E of Tower. There were bison on the road. We assumed it would be a normal event where a couple move and give us an alley to get by them and be on our way back to Cooke. Boy were we wrong. Within a few minutes we had 25 + cow and calf bison on the road literally surrounding us. They were piling in from the hill to the south (very hard so see there in the dark) and coming N to the road and the bridge. What was startling was a loud grunting and moaning sound. We knew it was a bull but it sure sounded like a (African) lion. By the time at least 50 bison had poured passed us and started to cross the bridge to the west and toward Tower the big guy came out. He got in front of the car and continued with his lion sounds and, I have never been to the park for the August rut, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was after – even this late in the season. Anyhow, after about 2 min of loud noises he walked past the car, less than 5 feet away. We were literally stuck in park in the car with bison surrounding us at the edge of the bridge. When he walked by we could smell the testosterone dripping from his body. But what caught my eye was how big he was. I feel like we have seen enough bison to know when a truly big boy appears. As he walked by our Honda CRV (I think that is the model, like the Toyota Rav4) he was a full foot taller than the car. His body was as big as the car.
He followed the 50 + animals and was then followed by another 50 + more, and as far as we could tell he was the only male with his large harem! They eventually all noisily crossed the bridge to the west with the clip-clap of their hooves on the road. It certainly wasn’t the safest thing we have ever done (i.e., being stuck at the edge of a bridge with all of the bison surrounding us) but of course there was no way of knowing what was in store as we initially approached a small group of a half dozen or so that we assumed would step away and let us pass. As dangerous as being so close of the massive bull felt, the cows crashing out of the woods and onto the road caused our hearts to beat a few beats faster.
Only in Yellowstone can something like this happen then at dawn the next morning can we be looking at wild wolves!
2 October 2011. Apply Public Trust Doctrine to Rescue Wildlife from Politics – in Science Daily. Also, see this post from the lead author on the online website: The Wildlife News. This article is very relevant to conserving wolves which many state governments outright claim to hate or at least want greatly reduced in numbers. The wildlife trust doctrine states that taking actions to greatly reduce their numbers may be unconstitutional.
22 September 2011. Cowboys vs. Gray Wolves: Predator Once again Prey. This is a fairly balanced story showing the positives, as well as the negatives (e.g., ranchers), of living with wolves. It is worth watching (10 min).
14 September 2011. Crying Wolf. A video that is straight out of “right-wing-ville”. Never have I ever watched a more disturbing video not based on facts – and with nobody that has credentials. I almost didn’t post it here but it is so inaccurate and will likely be used by equally disturbed politicians that I felt the need to show it to others that care about all animals. Amazingly, I watched as Stephen M. Vantassel (from Univ. of Nebraska) gave his “Man has dominion over all animals” quotes around the 31 minute mark. He also demonized “urban” people for loving wolves. I then went to Amazon and found that he actually gave a review of my book Suburban Howls – and is the only one of 8 on Amazon to not have given me a high rating (a 2 of 5). Talking about coming full circle. This is scary stuff – like we are going backwards in our evolution as humans. The filmmaker only showed interviews that were consistent with this alternative view of life on earth – it is highly delusional.
1 September 2011. “Wolf hunts are morally corrupt”, by George Wuerthner. This is a great article, not only about hunting wolves, but all predators (including coyotes and coywolves) in my opinion. Much of canid hunting is about hate and ignorance to their vital ecological role, including eastern coyotes/coywolves where I hail from in MA. This article expresses much of our (wolf watchers) frustrations.
30 July 2011. From the Wildlife News: Wolves and wildflowers highlight Yellowstone’s summer bounty, by Kathie Lynch. Special thanks to Kathie for publishing/writing her most recent account of Yellowstone wolf (and other animals and plants) activity and for Ralph Maughan for publishing the article. About once a season (so 3-4 times a year), Kathie writes these eloquent accounts of what makes Yellowstone so special. What an amazing place.
25 June 2011. From The Wildlife News: Not even close: jobs for recreation on our public lands are an order of magnitude greater than jobs for ranching, yet our government inexplicably subsides (a.k.a welfare ranching) this minority interest. Meanwhile, conservatives in our western states want the public to continue to believe the old cowboy myth of the importance of this line of work, when they are out of touch with their constituents.
21 April 2011. “Wolves, political stupidity, and fear-mongering: Wolves are a clear and present danger” by Marc Bekoff. “Ignorant politicians ignore science and allow the continued slaughter of wolves… Why ignorant politicians and others have such a large say in how wolves and other animals are treated is baffling especially when their opinions fly in the face of science.”
17 April 2011.Wolf restoration is a challenge to West’s old guard. A good article about the cultural clash between the good old boy ranching and hunting dominated interests and the many and new diverse interests (backpacking, wildlife watching, among many) that are popular in today’s western U.S. A very good article about the reprecussions of ignoring other constituents in wildlife management. As George Wuerthner says, “The passion, the anger, and the frustration exhibited by hunters (and ranchers ) is not so much about wolf predation itself. It’s really about control.”
28 March 2011. Important. Vote on-line to support the creation of Maine Woods National Park next to Baxter State Park in Maine. I have long argued that wildlife watchers are underrepresented in the Northeast because there are no large locations set aside as non-hunting areas. Well this could be the start with the creation of another national park in the east. Please vote on the link.
14 March 2011. When elk fly. Video on excessive testing/harassing of wildlife for disease control.
27 February 2011. “Stop Killing Bison at the Yellowstone boundary”. Great article about the travesty of Yellowstone Bison managment. I will have more on this in subsequent posts.
23 February 2011. For the record. Below is a detailing of the 11 trips that I have taken to Yellowstone up to this point in time which totals 100 days. These trips form the foundation of my knowledge of the park, of course supplemented by much reading and research of the park:
- • July 1992 – 3-4 days with my family while I was on a cross country trip in high school
- • May/June 1996 – 23 days (work on Wolf Project)
- • June 2001 – 10 days with my sister, Nicole
- • Feb/March 2004 – 10 days with a group of four including friend Steve Cifuni
- • June 2005 – 10 days with Steve
- • Summer 2006 – 9 days with a group of six including Steve
- • April 2007 – 7 days with high school students when I taught at my alma mater Barnstable High School.
- • Nov. 2007 – 7 days with high school students and two friends (including Steve)
- • April 2009 – 8 days with Steve
- • October 2010 – 8 days with Steve and my wife Tara
- • January 2011 – 5 days with Steve
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February 10, 2011. Note: this is from my Eastern Coyote Research blog.
While I focus the vast majority of time on wild canids, specifically eastern coyotes/coywolves, I must digress here and discuss Bison in Yellowstone National Park. I just returned from my 11th trip to the park and I know the area very well. Some practices of wildlife management have always reminded me of hate and racism, such as allowing coywolves to be slaughtered here in the Northeast (see my opinion on that here). However, Bison management triumphs even how coyotes and coywolves are treated. Most states allow private residents to slaughter coyotes/coywolves and use limited tax-payers dollars on the cause (excluding “Wildlife Services” that uses tax-payer’s money to kill native predators), but Bison are not allowed to leave Yellowstone National Park for a supposed disease (brucellosis) that they have never passed on to cattle (who aren’t even near the park in the winter). And the Montana Dept. of Livestock manages them with zero-tolerance meaning that when they leave the imaginary boundary of Yellowstone, they are hazed, captured, and even slaughtered (like livestock). There have been many stories on this hypocrisy of wildlife management and the title of this story is much to my liking, linking hate and racism together: “Is Gardiner, Montana, the Selma, Alabama, of Wildlife Conservation? On bigotry and bison management at Yellowstone National Park.By Michael Leach.”. Also, see George Wuerthner’s recent, important article on the subject : “Bison Slaughter A Smoke Screen for Livestock Industry“. As a side note, bison are one of my favorite animals in the park even when including western coyotes and gray wolves in the discussion.
