“But They Are Just As Afraid Of Us As We Are Of Them.”
February 7, 2008
According to the Times-News at MagicValley.com, those are some of the words uttered from the mouth of Idaho conservation officer Jerry Hugo regarding some residents concerns about wolves killing deer, elk and moose in their back yards. The same officials are claiming that because of the increased snow depths in the mountains, the deer, elk and moose are moving down into the lower elevations and the wolves are following. Some residents are concerned because they are finding the remains of these animals where the wolves have killed them, one being a couple hundred feet from a school bus stop.
Of course we don’t want to needlessly frighten parents and children about the wolves but at the same time officials shouldn’t be saying things that aren’t completely true. Here are some statements made by officials, again according to this news article.
Renee McQuade met with a conservation officer, Jerry Hugo, last week after her children found the carcass of a deer killed by three wolves about 200 feet from their bus stop in Shoshone County.
“I assured Renee the wolves are after this and not your kids,” Hugo said.
“A lot of people don’t understand wildlife behavior enough to begin with, so they have a predisposed fear of them,” he said, “but they are just as afraid of us as we are of them.”
Probably Hugo is right. People probably do have a predisposed fear of the wolf but under the circumstances, isn’t it a bit irresponsible to tell somebody the wolves are just as afraid? Things have changed. The deer, elk and moose are being driven from their normal habitat and the wolves are following them for food. Under the most ideal circumstances, people in this small community would seldom, if ever, see a live wolf. This is the time to fully educate people about wolves, not lead them down some fairytale lane in order to comfort them.
We know that one of the first things that alters a wolf’s normal habits is hunger. One myth that should be dispelled is that wolves kill only the weak and old of the deer, elk and moose. The second myth is that wolves only kill when they are hungry. Studies have shown that wolves kill simply because they can and are not the killer often described that selectively chooses the weak or disabled of its prey. Yes, they can certainly pick out a limping elk but their kill is what they can take down at that moment the easiest.
Wolves don’t normally attack and kill humans because they have never learned to do that. If they get hungry enough, they will study you and I and could, over time, put us on their menu. Unlikely? Yes! Impossible? No.
Hugo said he would prefer “the rhetoric to simmer down on both ends of the spectrum.”
“I know wolves are new and they’re back on the scene,” he said, “but it’s just another carnivore.”
Perhaps the passing of another golden opportunity to explain wolf behavior to this person and the public. “Just another carnivore” isn’t really the best use of words to describe hungry wolves killing deer, elk and moose in people’s back yards during a time of winter with heavy snow cover and reduced available food.
The article stated that Hugo said there was a deer carcass, killed by a wolf and left, of which he indicated this showed the wolf had been spooked. That might have been the case but again, if this is meant to remove the fear from people that wolves are easily spooked, I’m not sure that’s in everyone’s best interest. I’ll repeat what I wrote above, wolves randomly kill because they can. Circumstances chance which can result in the alteration of normal behavior.
The best way to remove fear in people, much of which is based on untruths, is to tell them the truth. Attempting to dispel one myth by using another isn’t going to work well. Because someone has convinced these people the big bad wolf is going to eat them up, shouldn’t be dealt with by telling them misinformation about their habits. Truth works the best and when people are given that truth, they then are much better able to make wise decisions. I just don’t think that telling people, “they are just as afraid of us as we are of them”, is the best way to convince Idaho residents that they have to learn to live with wolves.
Tom Remington
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I find Mr. Hugo’s comments totally irresponsible. In fact, I’ll go a step further; Mr. Hugo is a wolf lover. Anyone who makes the comment “they are just as afraid of us as we are of them” has a respect, perhaps love, for the “them.” These are children we’re talking about here — the most vulnerable of our society. Mr. Hugo’s nonchalant attitude toward the wolf problem is insulting. Wolves are not just another carnivore; they are a carnivore that kills livestock, is decimating the deer and elk population in Idaho (and Yellowstone for that manner), and we are not allowed to hunt them.
Tom, this is the second Idaho Department of Fish and Game conservation officer that has expressed great compassion for the predators in our state recently. You have a separate article on the first one who blamed hunters for the deaths of mountain lion kittens. I’m having serious concerns about the liberal mentality that is invading our fish and game department.
One of the reasons I picked up on this story is because of the mountain lion kitten story. As I continue to watch the events occurring at the IDFG, I am also wondering about the makeup of that department, who’s in control, is it policy of the department to allow employees to promote personal agendas and how deeply this goes.
Good points Geoff, but the liberal mindset is not invading our IFGD, it’s woven into the entire beauracracy, from the “rubber stamp” commision, to the “money hungery” director, to the “no human intervention in wildlife” biologists, down to the “underpaid and unrespected by their bosses” conservation officers. Conservation officers are not allowed to speak against predators, period, if they want to keep their jobs. You let me know the next time a our fish and game dep. comes out and verbally blasts predetors, I won’t hold my breath and I don’t see hell freezing over anytime soon.
Tom, wolves not only have the physical and mental capability of just randomly killing but going into a “killing frenzy”. Point in case, a couple of years ago in the Franch Church Wilderness Area, a hunting guide came upon a steep sided ravine and counted 13 dead calf elk, and only one was partially consumed. The herd was chased into the ravine and couldn’t get climb out the sides (because the sides were to steep) and so they had to come back out, and as they did, the pack of wolves picked off 13 calves. Now, please someone with a four, six or eight year degree, explain this to us layman, who don’t have a four, six or eight year “predator lover” degree, why this happened if they only kill unhealthy, crippled, and compensetory animals. Tom, Geoff and anyone else reading this, I’m sure you have not heard this story and there is good reason for this. This would be an incident, in a line of many, that would dispell the myths that predator lovers are trying to indoctrinate all of us “layman” with. That they kill only: what they can eat, only the weak, crippled and compensatory animals and are no danger to humans, B.S. There’s a reason humans all over this planet have been trying to eradicate wolves.
I agree with all three of your comments made in regards to the wolf-killed deer at our bus stop. You have all made good points. We deal with the wolf issue on a daily basis here on the St. Joe River and we agree that the IDFG in our area are wolf lovers. I have been called a liar, etc. by some of the IDFG and it’s nice to know others have the same factual knowledge of the wolf as a killer; not only for food but also in reflex/surplus killing. The recent deer which my husband photographed at the nearby bus stop is not the first to be found uneaten by the wolves. Like any dog, sometimes they just want something to chase and “play” with and once their “toy” is broken it’s not fun anymore. I have several (numerous) stories/writings by professional biologists to support the fact that a wolf will attack a human. They are not the cuddly puppy dog some believe. The IDFG’s comments about not fearing the wolf are ridicules and will someday be the sad understanding of a small dead child who only wanted to play with the puppy. Thank you. PS: Just two days after the photos were taken, I viewed a large Canadian Gray Wolf running a deer through the snow from my kitchen window.
Renee – Thanks for sharing some of your first hand accounts of this story. I have tried unsuccessfully to get agencies to change the information they put out in regards to predators but to no avail. I’m sure one of the bigger reasons they won’t is because they are protectionists when it comes to these sometimes aggressive animals and if the truth gets out, more of the public will be speaking out to do something about it.
Keep up posted if any new events occur. You know we can’t rely on the media to put out stories or keep them accurate.