Letter to the Editor
Sheep kill
Published Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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To the editor:
I am writing regarding the article in the Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, edition of the Daily News-Miner titled: “Montana wolf quota eyed after nine are shot near Yellowstone.” The comment by the former park ranger that “Yellowstone can’t be a source for wolves to colonize other areas if they get blown away right at the boundary” offends me deeply.
Why? Because no mention is made in the article or by the ranger or by the Wolf Recovery Program people or by the other wolf apologists of the horrendous sheep — kill by wolves in late August on a ranch near my home town of Dillon, Mont. The ranch is about 60 miles from the Yellowstone Park boundary. I know it well. One hundred twenty purebred Rambouillet bucks (rams) were killed in the worst wolf predation recorded and no mention was made of this. For the complete story simply Google “Wolves kill 120 sheep at ranch near Dillon.”
Non-sheep ranchers have no concept of what this loss, both financially and emotionally, means to the ranchers. These rams represent at least 50 years of careful selection and breeding, they are purebred stock and can cost $1,000 or more apiece. The loss of the rams at this time is critical because it is the start of the breeding season for the production of lambs in the spring. So the ranchers have lost their lamb crop as well as their precious breeding stock with hopelessly inadequate compensation. Yet it is the shooting of nine wolves at the park boundary that is decried.
Clearly there are too many wolves loose in the stock country. Perhaps it may be possible to achieve some sort of balance between numbers of predators and the needs of the people who make their living raising livestock in Montana, but all the facts must be presented. One-sided articles such as the above won’t do.
Community Discussion
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Oh, boo-hoo....your pretty little sheepies got killed before you could turn them into mutton. What a crying shame. Used to be bison and elk grazed where those precious sheep were pastured. Instead of natural pastures feeding the native species we have imported genetically-directed farm animals.
I can see someone like NotPC rooting for the sheep. After all, they're a much easier target for his kind of hunting, fenced in as they are and handy to a beer cooler. But when you consider the travesty of backcountry grazing on government lands, grazing that works for the sheep and cattle ranchers while it works against the elk, deer, and other natural fauna, my sympathy runs real short for those guys. You want French sheep? Move to France. Leave what little wild country there is in the Lower '48 to the wildlife that has inhabited it for millennia.
You can't blame a wild animal for acting like a wild animal. Sheep left unprotected in a pasture are a buffet. I did Google the story; the same ranchers also had a wolf-kill in the same pasture in July. There are also bears in the area. This time around, "officials asked whether the Konens had taken steps to protect livestock from wolves, including electric fencing, dogs, herders or fladry lines, but they declined." If they can afford 120 sheep at $1,000 apiece, they should be able to afford a rider to camp out and watch them.
A couple of Anatolian Shepherd dogs or Great Pyrenees could probably do the job well enough. That said, livestock predation can't be tolerated, and the surest way to doom wolves is to give them free reign to kill livestock in sheep or cow country. Politically it just won't fly very long.
"These rams represent at least 50 years of careful selection and breeding, they are purebred stock and can cost $1,000 or more apiece." If these sheep were so valuable why were they not being watched?!!! Some folks think they can graze on public land for almost nothing and get tax payer money for wildlife kills on public land. Don't expect to graze herds almost free on public land and expect tax payers to totally support your sheep herd. Watch your herds yourself!!! Other countries have sheep herders watching their flocks.
Lazy, greedy, Americans expect the government to watch over their herds. Another example of big business hand out to the few at the expense of many!
Hard to believe 120 sheep were killed by wolves anyway. I bet lamb chops were served on someone's table in MT and the kill blamed on wolves.
HEY WAKE UP FDNM WHAT ABOUT THAT FIRST COMMENT????????????????????
Are these some of the people who condemn alaskans for trying to bring our predator numbers under control? We see what their intrusion
into our state has done to the game animal population, but they are
more interested in a tourist being able to see a wolf or bear than
alaskans having meat on the table. But they continue on with their
bambi fixation.
The wolves traveled 60 miles outside the park to eat a meal of fine sheep, the ranchers killed a bunch of the wolves...the ranchers don't have their sheep, but they got a bunch of nice wolf pelts.
TundraTroll- I doubt you trek anywhere but to the fridge for some more backbacon and molson, eh?
dobieman you are out of touch with reality. You need to get a life. Your comments are nothing more than uneducated, blog drivel. Go to Montana, walk up to the rancher and SAY THAT TO HIS FACE..... huh, ya right... coward....
mass civil disobedience, gun down as many wolves as you can find in the park or out. get all the ranchers involved. get the farmers involved too. what are the feds going to do? send in the army? start considering boycotting sending food produced on ranches and farms to large american cities. send it overseas instead. give the people an quicker idea of where all their nonsensical ideas are taking them.
Gee, dobie... we all know it was terribly difficult for you not to comment on your own LttE yesterday, but you sure made up for it today! Oh..and the attack on NotPc was even more powerful than your condescending colloquialisms. *shrugs*
At least you have TundraTrekker there to back you up.
....so,...this happened in montana,...and it impacts us here in alaska because.....? sheep that expensive should have been guarded better.....
Yes, yes.... Kill the predators!
Don't suppose it's obvious that a bunch of dumb fattened up sheep are a prime target for predation. Don't suppose it's obvious that raising and "managing" indigenous animals (deer, elk, buffalo, etc) would make sense.
Like your kids, your dogs, your cats, and whatever else domesticated critters you have running around: if you don't want the big bad wolf to come down for easy pickings, put 'em up where the big bad wold can't get to them! The answer isn't extermination of a species, it's being responsible for your own dumb practices!
I care more about preserving one of the most enchanting elements of nature than I do about the lifestyle of a handful of Montana ranchers. If they can't adapt and make a living there in spite of the wolves, then I'd rather they have to move and give up their lifestyle than see the wolves exterminated. Of course, that's not really the tradeoff we face. Those ranchers could have sold 10 of those sheep and bought what they needed to protect the other 50, but they didn't.
I feel similarly about wolves in Alaska. I'd rather go caribou hunting and not get one, than get one and know the only reason I succeeded was that the competition was shot from a helicopter. What kind of hunter would I be if I needed air support?
"Oh, boo-hoo....your pretty little sheepies got killed before you could turn them into mutton. What a crying shame."
People who write this type of thing concerning the suffering of others, are obviously quite miserable in their own existence. I imagine if this person does have any family, they were cut off years ago....so they sit in their own private hell trying desperately to inflict injury on others. IT isn't the message that is so troubling, it is the regularity of the message.
Dobie--
I read your posts often, but seldom reply. You seem like an educated guy, albeit biased on certain issues.
Riddle me this though...how can you claim to be an animal rights activist, and root against the sheep? I mean, what makes a wolf mauling a sheep any different than a hunter pulling the trigger on one? They're dead either way.
You are an activist of opportunity it seems. A guy that makes arguments when, and only when, the data or story supports your opinion. This poor guy lost the farm, literally, and you revel in that, and beat your chest for the wolves? That's absolutely terrible.
To the writer of this letter...
Dan;
Kill those wolves. Trap them, shoot them, poison them, gas them...whatever it takes to kill them. Pile their bodies up, and slaughter them real sloppy like, to attract more wolves, and kill them too. Don't put up with that, and certainly don't fold to crybabies like Dobie that think you should starve before killing predators.
Just wonder how ol'do(_)bie would feel if he were to find a collar full of bones at the end of his dog runs one morning??? Probably would be a lil diffe"rant" if it were one of his beloved dobies!!!
Then again I've noticed with liberals its only bad if it effects them!!! Anybody else's property or loved ones they get real mean, real quick!!! And very insensitive!!!
If you want us to believe all these wild, rugged Adventures you always seem to have!!! You Mountain man You!!! You really need to get out from in-front of your P.C. so we actually believe you went someplace other than creamers feild or the raging waters of Balline lake.
Noticed your wild game board or whatever that org.you belong to is full of a bunch of lawyers. Kinda figured you would be hanging out w/ a bunch of low-lifes.
Tell me your a lawyer or a insurance person & I automatically put my hands in my pockets 'TO KEEP YOURS OUT'
Makin a living off other peoples misery!!! What a occupation!!!
Those are the ones that need prosecution!!!
THIEVES= lawyers or insurance people
They can dress as fancy as they like.Still think everyone of them are lower than snake _ _ _ _ !!!!! I do not assc. or have any as friends either, (can't trust-em, their always looking for a angle to screw you & help themselves) personally or what they like to call professionally.. L.O.L.. And to think they used to put con-men in jail...
Kill or be killed. Granpa used to always carry with the hammer cocked.
Only idiots think wolves are necessary. The type sheep mentioned are primarily wool bearers and not mutton producing. Having an abundance of wolves in an area are like having gangs in your neighborhood. Both are predators. Wake Up People. Break out the long range rifles and scopes.
When I was 8yrs old. I watched a pack of wild dogs take down & kill a couple of my uncle's lambs in W.Va. Next day we went out huntin wild dogs. Killed 3 of them. The one my cousin shot appeared to be a mix-breed w/some doberman pinscer in it. As it laid dying, my cousin asked my Uncle if he should finish it off!! Uncle said let it die the way his lambs had been dying!!! Now there's a feel good story for ya Do(_)bie!!!!!
Doesn't it just make u feel all warm & fuzzy inside???
If these sheep were so valuable, perhaps the rancher should not left them unattended. Would you leave your car unlocked with the keys in it in the middle of a city? Its not like he didn't know there were wolves about. (hello, its Montana!)
Ranchers need to use better husbandry practices and protect their livestock. Sheep are not that hard to protect. This would not have happened if the herd had been attended. Now this guy will get compensated and practically drain the wolf compensation budget for the year.
Dan, I have noticed that ranchers rarely make use of methods to protect their flocks other than fences. I'm curious how many flock guardians you have, such as Great Pyrenese? Modern ranching simply isn't what it was. It's so much easier to kill a predator than to protect what you have in a more logical fashion.
So the rancher says "We went up to the pasture on Thursday (Aug. 20) - we go up there every two or three days . . ." THREE days!?! Come on.. if they're so valuable, protect them! I read the whole article recommended. No where does it say that the DOGS that SHOULD be the sheep's guardians, were missing, harmed - or existed! No where does it say that the rancher followed the guidelines given to discourage wolves from entering their property. Knowing there was a problem, where was the PERSON guarding the sheep?
Sorry - no sympathy from here! I'm disgusted with the mentality that the government should pick up the pieces when the rancher obviously didn't care enough to protect his own flock. Sheep ranching works for them when it's convenient, not intelligent.
As for some of the posts here about killing wolves, I'm disgusted. How can you promote killing the wolves when the rancher won't even attempt to protect his own flock?
The ranger is candid that the park is being used as a sanctuary for wolves to populate areas outside of its boundaries. Sheep are private property and contribute to our agricultural base.
Our food supply is being threatened by human induced predation. This is part of the natural balance illusion, which threatens the whole nation. Wolves have no place in the lower 48 states, our ancestors eliminated wolves for very good reasons. Tax dollars and public property is used to re introduce an animal that is very destructive and destroys the surrounding lands ability to be productive.
The so called environmental groups and federal agencies that were involved in this wolf scheme should be held financially liable for the destruction of property and every wolf that sets paw outside the park should be shot or trapped.
Why would the government use its resources to create a threat to the livestock industry? This is an insane and expensive policy to spend taxpayer money and use public lands to create a predation problem for private lands.
The only way to protect livestock from wolves is to eliminate the threat from these predators. Why are the wolf activists not out making sure their precious wolves are not getting out of hand?
I recently returned to AK from down in that area. The idiots commenting here should really check their facts.
Fact #1:
Everyone agreed with the Fish and Wildlife Service transplanting wolves from Northern Canada to Yellowstone as an Experimental Population and that once the population reached a little over 1,900 wolves they would have the protections taken off of them.
Fact #2:
The Fish and Wildlife Service refused to comply with their signed agreements with the state governments, industry, and private citizen groups after the wolf population exceeded the target number.
Fact #3:
Now wolves are spreading out into CO, MT, ID, WY, ND, SD, NE, UT, etc. At this time nobody's really certain just how many of them are out there, but the number is at least in multiples of 1,900.
Fact #4:
Those ranchers tend to use a dog breed known as Great Pyrenees. They're savage killers who aggressively watch those sheep herds. Very few can hold their own 1-on-1 with a wolf, let alone a wolfpack.
Fact #5:
The wolves are also decimating cattle in some areas, elk populations, moose populations, deer populations, etc. They've pretty much destroyed the functionality of elk winter feeding areas outside of Jackson, WY.
For any of those nitwits who want to attack me, I'm a wildlife biologist who recently returned to Alaska after a stint in western Wyoming. This is a subject that I've been on-top-of, personally witnessed, and experienced working on the front lines (so to speak).
I'm not for advocating the eradication of wolves, but be realistic! A deal is a deal. Although I prefer studying and dealing with predators such as wolves and bears, you've got well established families living out there too, making a living off of the land. Many of them have been doing this for well over 100 years. What do you want to do, put those people in "relocation" camps or transplant them somewhere that they can continue on with their livelihoods? And where pray tell would you send them. Oh, and spare me the lame crap about educating people too.
Our forefathers got it right. They knew Wolves and man can not coexist because man will move into all the areas where the wolves live. Wolves look at man as just another meal. Sooner or later man will once again come to the conclusion that the wolf will have to go. How many people are going to have to die before that happens.
OH THERE IS NO RECORDED ACCOUNTS OF WOLVES KILLING AND EATING PEOPLE!
I keep hearing that, but I remember reading about attacks. All that was found was a jacket and back pack, with lots of wolf tracks. That's enough for me, Smoke A Pack A Day. I'm doing my best. More people need to start smoking them too.
Just wonder how ol'do(_)bie would feel if he were to find a collar full of bones at the end of his dog runs one morning??? Probably would be a lil diffe"rant" if it were one of his beloved dobies!!! - sloughrunner
_______
Dobbie probably gets dogs from the pound to feed to the wolves... :P
"Oh, boo-hoo....your pretty little sheepies got killed before you could turn them into mutton. What a crying shame."
Maybe they were being bred for their wool. Ever stop and think about that?
"Another example of big business hand out to the few at the expense of many!"
And how do you know they weren't family farmers?
"I care more about preserving one of the most enchanting elements of nature than I do about the lifestyle of a handful of Montana ranchers."
More hypocrisy from the left. If the ranchers were homeless people or someone without health insurance, you'd be preaching how it was our duty to take care of them. Now, it's to hell with people in favor of "mother nature".
These comments are typical of the liberal drivel seen in the comments section.
ranchers and farmers put the food on their table, and clothing on their backs. not only are they insane, these liberals are incredibly stupid.
I'd rather have the wolves than the goofy liberals we have here.
dobie - that is an extremely ignorant and unfounded post. I consider myself reasonably 'green', and you make me ashamed by association.
I was raised in 'sheep country', and my father ran sheep.
Coyotes and black bear were the wild threat, no wolves present, but coyotes are pretty much the same, just bigger packs, and black bear take a terrible toll at lambing, if you leave your sheep out on far pasture then.
The worse damage I've ever seen was from a pack of dogs, some feral and some of the neighbors who allowed their pets to run loose.
They went through a flock of about 50 ewes in a close pen, and more than 30 had to be distroyed. There were sheep with chunks torn out of their hams with legs bared to the bone, sheep dragging their intestines from gaping gut wounds. . . . The dogs only killed 2-3, and didn't feed on any. My Dad and us kids helped the owner put down the ones that couldn't be saved. The guy who owned them had to quit 1/2 through the job - he couldn't see to shot, he was crying so hard.
And it wasn't about the financial loss.
SO, coming from that background, I have to say, you don't run stock in wild land, and expect wild predators to go away.
Coyotes and feral dogs are every bit the threat to sheep that wolves are. Even eagles represent a considerable threat to young lambs. And probably all are present in Montana in far greater numbers than wolves.
The STOCK OWNER is responsible for *protecting* his stock. The most INEFFICIENT way to do that is eliminating wild predators.
You DON'T run valuable, pedigree breeding stock in remote pastures.
You DON'T have your ewes lambing out away from your watchfull eye.
If you have them in close to human habitation and your sheep dogs, then it's usally only feral dog packs that will come in close enough to cause much harm.
If you can't bring them in close, where you and your farm dogs can protect them, then you or hired help goes out to where they are.
If you don't, then you're running a 'cheap' enough operation that you budget for predator losses, and they WILL ocur, from coyotes, bears, and eagles, as well as from wolves.
You DON'T expect the gov't to exterminate [or allow the extermination of] all the natural predators of sheep for your convenience and profit [so you don't have to husband responsibly, or pay herders].
And as for the health of 'game' populations, look a little further east, to the deer populations where most natural predation has been eliminated. NOT a good thing.
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