CarbineCaleb
New member
Well Rich - you have indicated that it's not always smooth sailing, at least in modern times, with predators. Fair enough. If the Canadians kill off every last wolf and grizzly though to approach the American methods of simply eliminating all predators, I for one think it would be tragic. Predators are no more "good" or "bad" than prey are. On both sides of that equation, the players are just out there, trying to survive.
In the case of your caribou - they apparently had an isolated and marginal herd in one province - hmmm, wonder how that happened? ...that became threatened by increasing wolf populations. That's not the whole story of wolves in Canada though.
When I went to England, I visited the countryside and the small towns, and was struck by the landscape, which has been thoroughly tamed. It's all just one big garden. It may be green, but it's anything but natural. I would hate to see Canada become a bigger England.
I am not unduely afraid of predators, and I have slept alone, in wolf and grizzly country, miles from anyone and without even a tent to cover me. I am no hero though - lots of people do that - backpackers. And yes, I read "Night of the Grizzlies" and all those tall tales in "Outdoor Life" and "Field and Stream" when I was back in grade school.
To me, viewing predators as cuddly is naive', viewing them as evil, or inherently dangerous and incompatible with man, is equally naive'. Biologists, who study animals for a living, tend to have a more neutral perspective on critters of all types, different than the tree-huggers, and different than the ranchers. They just see them for what they are. I am also a proponent of that perspective.
I like life, in all it's variety - eradicating it, is not, in my view, a positive thing.
In the case of your caribou - they apparently had an isolated and marginal herd in one province - hmmm, wonder how that happened? ...that became threatened by increasing wolf populations. That's not the whole story of wolves in Canada though.
When I went to England, I visited the countryside and the small towns, and was struck by the landscape, which has been thoroughly tamed. It's all just one big garden. It may be green, but it's anything but natural. I would hate to see Canada become a bigger England.
I am not unduely afraid of predators, and I have slept alone, in wolf and grizzly country, miles from anyone and without even a tent to cover me. I am no hero though - lots of people do that - backpackers. And yes, I read "Night of the Grizzlies" and all those tall tales in "Outdoor Life" and "Field and Stream" when I was back in grade school.
To me, viewing predators as cuddly is naive', viewing them as evil, or inherently dangerous and incompatible with man, is equally naive'. Biologists, who study animals for a living, tend to have a more neutral perspective on critters of all types, different than the tree-huggers, and different than the ranchers. They just see them for what they are. I am also a proponent of that perspective.
I like life, in all it's variety - eradicating it, is not, in my view, a positive thing.