Dagnabit, Blaze. You sure do got a burr under yer Saddle!

Yep, you sure are right about all that there stuff, and I wuz with ya all the way, until you come up with that male bovine excrement about yer dawg a chasin’ them thar cow critters of the cliff.

Why, I’d bet a dozen doughnuts and a pregnant heifer that ya done kilt and butchered them there critters yer own self, and stuffed the steaks in yer freezer, and then hauled all the skins and guts out to the bottom of the cliff sos ya cud blame the wulfs and the poor ol’ dog.

But ain’t nobody gonna believe thu wulf done it. Everybody with half a brain know them thar two-headed wulfs woulda jest et the whole danged herd, hooves an’ all, and not run ’em off no cliff.

Yep, just like all them there lambs that the “coyotes” et whenever the sheepherder gets hungry, eh?

Besides that, ya sound like that there feller that the guy in Boise Weekly keeps interviewin, mixed in with just a tiny bit of Molly Ivins.

What really ticks me about them thar wulfs, though, is when you meet one, ya gotta shoot ‘im in both heads, or the other one’ll eat ya!

So keep up the war again ’em, pard.

Gee Whilikers!

I’m not sure if I’m madder ’bout wuffs or all them other “gummit programs” that Mister Saddle is talkin’ ’bout.

Yep, the cattleman has got the raw deal.

Speakin’ of cattlemen, have you heard the cattleman’s version of “This Land is Your Land”? It goes like this:

This land is my land,
This land is my land,
This land is my land,
This land is my land… and so on.

Dunno what the answer is on them there wuffs. Some of the pro-wuff people saw too many Walt Disney nature movies when they were kids. But… I s’pose Idaho is a better state if we’ve got a few of them varmints. I’m sure Butch’ll do the right thing.

(I’d like to see the wuffs get closer to civilization, and start dragging off a few cats, poodles, kids and old folks now ‘n then… so we could get the word out about the wuff danger. Mebbe slow down the influx a bit.) (I’m being sarcastic.)

All ya’ll belong down at the Funny Bone, not on a blog. Very funny. Would be a lot funnier if it weren’t quite so sad. There is an excellent argument to maintain a wolf presence, but an equally logical argument that the population be controlled.

The Pirate seems to be overlooking a major point of the original post… the depredation of livestock.

Or did (s)he mean mice/rabbits/deer/cattle/sheep/etc.?

When the mice, rabbits, and deer become scarce, the wolves start ignoring long-standing livestock ownership rights, don’t they? In fact, it’s probably safe to say they’d prefer beef to mouse. (Or so I’ve heard… I’m not an expert on wolves, like everybody else debating the issue.)

Those who still think, despite the science, that wolves are having an adverse effect on deer/elk populations are likely the same who still think that humans have no impact on climate change.

We also know that, despite the scary stories from the anti-wolf people, that wolves are not dangerous to humans.

So we are left with the issue of livestock, and we do know that less than 1% of livestock are killed by wolves, and those that are proven to be killed by wolves are compensated at market value for their loss.

So, with all this I think the advantages of having wolves back into the ecological system by far out weigh any real or perceived disadvantages. And in that I’ll take the word of professional biologists over a few disgruntled hunters who are having a tough time finding an elk to kill.

Even though Gordon may well be the most sardonic person to ever sit in fromt of a keyboard, he is right on with this issue. The biggest problem I have with the pro-wolf bunch is that they seem to want every thing to return to 1800.

We all would like to watch the “natural” process take place, but the “reality” is that we have impacted the process. More importantly, we will continue to impact the process. Therefore, being at the top of the food chain requires that we, in good stewardship, make the effort to maintain the balance of appreciation of what used to be with the reality of what is.

That means controlled impact,which include US,on Ma Nature, while maintaining a position that insures our existence.

EDITOR NOTE– For you non-library types. “SARDONIC: grimly mocking or cynbical.” Yes, that is Gordon and he will take that as a compliment.

Now that someone again has mentioned Guv. Butch and his wannabe-wolf-killer buddies, I’d like to add a comment on that subject, too:
I’ve got no objection to Butch killing a wolf — as long as he eats it.

I’ve been hanging around on this planet for a long time, and I’ve killed many times — occasionally in self-defense or defense of property, but generally when I and my family were near broke and getting hungry. I reckon God intended for us to be able to eat animals — that’s why he gave us, but not them, trigger fingers. And he intended some animals to eat other animals, which is why he gave some speed, strength, claws and fangs.

Or, if you prefer, we evolved to the point where we could make spears, then bows and arrows, then fireams, and they didn’t.

And some animals evolved with claws, fangs, etc., and others didn’t (well, we didn’t either, come to think of it).

So, we’re all into the kill-to-eat bit, though some prefer to kill only carrots and onions and such like, which is OK, too.

But anyone who kills just for the “thrill” of killing is, to my mind, just plain sick, sick, sick.

Heck, I don’t even like to kill a tree, but I’ve chopped down a few when I needed logs, firewood or whatever.

So I’ll amend “kill only to eat, or in defense” to “kill only to eat, or in defense, or to satisify other needs,” but if the only “need” one is fullfilling is the “need” to kill just to kill or perhaps to try to prove you’re macho …

Whew! I hope I don’t happen to run into you when you can’t find a wolf or some other creature to kill.

The hunting of wolves should not be for fun or other manly aspects. The hunting of wolves should be managed by the IDFG for the health of all game populations. Current regulations already make it illegal to kill for sport on all game animals.

My understanding is wolves would be considered predators such as coyotes,cougars and under different rules already in place.

By the way, onions are already dead when the taking occurs.

I also agree with Gordon, and Cyclops on this. And I agree that killing simply for the pleasure of killing something is pretty twisted. But unfortunately good ole Butch is leading the way on this.

Yes indeed, wolves do kill dogs because they see them as competitors in their territory. But there has never been a documented case of wolves attacking humans. However, cougars will kill dogs and have been known to attack humans. Alaskan Brown bears are also very dangerous, especially after an long, hard winter. And, of course, long, hard winters would be difficult on the moose population as well.

Clancy said: “By the way, onions are already dead when the taking occurs.”

I don’t think so. Of course, I was thinking for green onions rather than the “dry” bulb types. Of course, they’re not really dry, except for that thin outer paper-type layer. And if you leave one in your refrigerator too long, the green will grow again, so it obviously wasn’t clear dead.

Carrots, radishes, lettuce etc. are harvested while they’re definitely still alive and growing.

I don’t think shooting them would do much good, so we just eat ’em alive (ugh, cruel us); at least we kill most of the animals we eat before we eat them — though I don’t think dropping live lobsters into boiling water is very nice (I bet they don’t either).

But face it; we’re predators and prey, as are many species.

And Robert, yep, wolves get hungry enough, they’ll eat ‘most anything, even people. Wouldn’t you?

Besides, if I had to be in Fairbanks in a hard winter, I think I’d rather be eaten by a wolf!

If any of you see wolfman Butch, please tell him I want to know if he eats everything he kills, or just enjoys destroying life. Thanks. — gp

No Cyclops I think it is the Guardian that would like to see everything go back to 1800, when growth was not an issue. As for me, sign me up, I want to get me a wuf!