Editor:
Thanks to Nathan Webb of the Government of Alberta for the most informative wolf talk the other evening.
Distilling down what I heard: Caribou are not socialites, they enjoy their own company and stay away from others, thus affording them significant protection from predators.
However, because of the economic developments in the areas in which some of them live in Northern Alberta, pathways have been created into their sanctuaries and the likes of deer have wandered up there to join them.
Alas, such visitors do not come alone and where there is prey there is predator and one of those is the wolf which, in searching for deer, seem to stumble across caribou (and well, yum yum). What I also heard was that big wolfpacks eat less (or rather share less with scavengers) – could this be a clue?
Ever influenced by European habits and trends, we too will randomly exterminate them. But wait, is that a wolf I hear howling? Is he perhaps trying to say something? Yes, I hear it, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Perhaps what the wolf means is that alas, thanks to humankind we have a problem (again – isn’t that just like us). We need to figure out how to economically develop an area and keep the casual visitors out.
One strategy is to shoot deer and this will certainly act as a warning to the others – not. And we can kill individual wolves, splintering the population into small packs instead of thinking prey efficiency like big packs and (desperately tragic) targeted deaths rather than pointless random ones.
But they screech, we ignore the real cause – stop the roads. How? Ban oil and gas. Ban forestry. What’s that you say? That’s not the root of the problem. Demand? But more people drive hybrids these days – that must help – not.
If we had less demand we’d need less resources. Why then don’t we accept, for now at least, that we can’t stop demand (yes, we can wail about it but meanwhile animals in Alberta will unwittingly put themselves in harm’s way).
Let’s attract flies by coming up with great ideas to help stop animals flowing along the paths we are all responsible for creating, directly, or indirectly. Ideas that jump to mind are: cattle gates, ditches strategically placed, pay people to think like deer (shouldn’t be too hard) and discourage them from moving into caribou lands.
And then there’s the ranchers; let’s use some of the wealth and finance mandatory electric fences. Yes, in time we may end up with fewer actual wolves living in larger packs, but we’d live in greater harmony and not this constant struggle.
Think people. Suggest ideas. Get over yourselves and quit screeching and passively threatening one of the people trying to get beyond screeching and actually working to come up with ideas – Nathan Webb. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I for one know who I will write to next… do you?
Susan Anthony,
Canmore
