Dear HCN,
It has taken me a week to
bring myself to read the lead story “Wolf at the door” (HCN,
5/27/02: Wolf at the door). By the time “Ace” Niemeyer finished
wiping out the Whitehawk pack, I was crying so much, I couldn’t see
to read. That Defenders of Wildlife, to which I and thousands of
others make monthly contributions for their guardian program, are
also in the business of killing wolves, is a piece of shattering
information. The guardian program is in place to pay stockmen for
their losses due to wolves. I had understood it to be an effective
program, keeping ranchers at least neutral concerning free-roaming
wolf packs. So who’s complaining that murder is the
answer?
The statement made by the irate cocker
spaniel owner (“we don’t need wolves in civilization”) is hard to
swallow on a ranchette in what was probably grazing land before the
owner sold to a developer; it is close enough to Yellowstone River,
and more than likely on the river’s floodplain, to make it part of
a wolf pack’s territory. It is far more theirs than any new
carpetbagger who wants to live in the wide outdoors but insists on
all the trappings of “civilization.”
Wolf haters,
those who have nothing at stake, need their heads examined. Little
Red Riding Hood lied; the two little pigs really died from high
cholesterol; humans kill wolves, but there is no record of wolves
killing a human.
People should respect the great
predators: the wolves, the big cats, the bears. After all, we are
members of the great predator family – top of the
line.
Joy York
Salem, Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wolf killing hard to swallow.
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