11/09/2023
WOW
Hey, I'm just trying to survive so you can too
This is a black colored, grey wolf in the wild, in Yellowstone National Park. The wolf had just finished chasing an elk and was unsuccessful in its attempt to secure a meal with its family.
Wolves eat meat, just like we do. All animals that we eat have died. Are you ready to become a vegetarian? The difference is that the wolves only have their bodies to kill animals that are up to 15 times larger than they are, while humans use bullets, arrows and other barbaric means. I doubt death hurts less either way.
While the wolves are supposed to be keeping the ungulate, elk, deer, moose, etc. populations in check so that we can maintain a healthy ecosystem and allow nature to work as designed, we humans are out here thinking of ways to muck all of that up with our ever increasing search for technology, making things faster, easier and we are not doing enough to help nature balance the planet. We just take. Wolves don't intend to, but they give because they are not materialistic. Wolves have done just what scientists wanted them to do, help keep the elk and deer populations in check so they are not over-grazing the land. In that sense, the wolves help to create healthier populations of elk. And, by the way, the elk populations have been rebounding nicely for about 10 years now, despite the presence of wolves.
I thought, when I first came here, that the wolves just needed someone to matter-of-factly tell the truth about them. Of course they are not perfect beings and some times it is difficult to discern what exactly is true about the wolves because their circumstances change with environmental factors, whether man, weather, disease or food sources. But, I thought that the truth was worth a shot and I hoped that others would begin to see that wolves were not the evil that they have been portrayed. To that end, I think that education has helped many people see wolves in a different light. Of course, the haters, who have been spouting the same victimhood stories about the wolves as they have for 25 years, will never change their minds because the truth doesn't matter to them. Some folks want to hold on to hate more than they want to know the truth. It is truly sad. And, I am continually disappointed to know that the truth doesn't have much of a voice in most matters any longer. I have no idea how to combat lies, except through action and not words. The wolves continually give us that action and prove their worth, but eyes don't open quickly.
Montana has developed a new wolf management plan that calls for the extermination of 60% of the wolf population. They want to get the state down to 450 wolves. Montana cares nothing about science, or the majority of the people who live here. Most people are never impacted by wolves, personally, except the fear mongering that they might hear from loud individuals. There is no good reason for Montana to kill off the wolves, and there is every reason to keep them alive and doing their work with the eco-system. Just the fact that elk herds have once again grown to levels above what the state itself says that it can handle, with wolves here, is the first and most obvious reason they are needed.
And, Montana has done well from the wolf economy that was created when wolves came to Yellowstone - far more $$ than is gotten from hunting, so why would they want to kill off a large portion of their income? None of this makes sense. But, it makes me sad.
I don't want to give up on the wolves but sure do want to give up on hateful, fear mongering humans.
