Wolf History Author, Will Graves, Responds To Death Of Candice Berner
March 16, 2010
Will Graves, author of “Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages“, was deeply saddened and emotionally effected by the tragic death of Candice Berner in Alaska last week. Graves takes some time to comment on the life and tragedy of Candice Berner.
To all,
I feel a need to write something about the horrible death of Candice Berner. While I did not know her, I am deeply effected by her loss.
By all accounts Candice was a young woman trying to make a difference. She was trying to help people who needed it the most. She took the difficult path of working in a remote area doing her best to help people in need. Society must have the highest regard for such people. Working in remote areas always presents a high degree of risk. Remote areas often have poor communications which are coupled with an increased risk of danger. These individuals who volunteer to work in remote areas do not select the easy path; in contrast, they select a most difficult path to help people who need assistance in the most trying of circumstances. They are aware of the difficulties but sometimes not aware of the dangers. But they still accept the risks in order to help. These individuals have a strong urge to make a contribution to society and to people; they select a difficult road and make individual sacrifices to contribute their skills, time, and energy to improve the lives of the less fortunate.
Candice reminds me a lot of my own daughter, Tina. After many years of hard study, she earned a BA in Agricultural Science from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science from Texas A&M in Animal Science. She graduated and my wife and I were very proud of her. We thought, at last finally she can obtain a good paying job. That was not to be. She came home from A&M all excited that she had joined the Peace Corps. Since her knowledge of French was good she received an assignment to work in Cameroon, West Africa. We were, of course, proud of her but also very apprehensive. Off she went to Cameroon and while there we sent her numerous packages of support. She returned to the U.S. with a serious case of stomach parasites which required regular visits to a clinic in D.C. for about one month. After recovery, she was not obligated to return to finish her assignment, but she did. And after she completed her tour, she extended for six months.
We owe a debt of gratitude to people like Candice, people who have been taught that the highest obligation to humanity is to serve their fellow man. It is tragic that she was killed. It is especially tragic that she was not prepared for the threat of wolves. Why was she unprepared? Was she taught that wolves are no threat to humans, that they are always afraid of us? Did societies “disneyfied” view of wolves leave Candice unduly vulnerable?
I am extremely upset that the authorities in Alaska did not provide better protection to Candice. She was new in the area and authorities there were obligated to tell her about the dangers of hungry wolves hanging around the village and watching people. Authorities in Alaska are obligated to warn people, especially newcomers, about the danger and threat of wolves. People are warned about bears, and they must also be warned about wolves. Wolves are powerful predators and when hungry, they present a threat to humans.
My deepest and sincerest sympathies go out to the parents, relatives and friends of Candice Berner. Our entire country has lost a compassionate, skilled and caring person.
Sincerely,
Will Graves
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Posted to the YPTimes
Thank you Will Graves for this wonderful letter and thank you Tom Remington for posting it.
Not only was she a fine example of what makes this country great, but her death was needless, if, as Will has stated, more people had made her aware of the danger of wolves becoming acclimated and accustomed to man…..thus becoming a presence of death in our midst. What a shame it is to cover the truth of a danger, with lies….
While her death is a tragedy, wasn’t she bragging about trapping foxes in her blog? Trapping is cruel. Then after the foxes she wanted to move on to killing wolves with their traps. Human arrogance sometimes sickens me: the fact that people think they are superior to other creatures and that governments need to inform people of dangers lurking around every corner.
Why is trapping cruel but two wolves playing tug of war with a fox is not ? I watched two wolves in 2008 tear a fox in half while it shrieked.. When wolves or any other animal does it that is perfectly fine but when humans predate that is some kind of arrogant superiority complex.. Human interaction is far more humane than the animals own interactions among themselves.. Also a long time back we were the government, but then what in the hell is wrong with some people advising others about certain dangers we are aware of, like walking across the street, or hanging out with wild animals. Funny, hunting never made me feel arrogant or superior, it made feel humbled, and thankful.
Say it ain’t so, Joe…., Say it ain’t so.
Joe, if you were over-run with frogs, would you let them run-over you?
Joe thinks man is arrogant…..probably because he is himself….The one quality I abhor is arrogance, yet I am a hunter and it is one quality I have very seldom found in hunters and trappers, which I have been as well. Braggarts sometimes, yeah, that’s ok, but arrogance is not found in the nature of someone who thinks he/she is better than animals because they kill and trap them. But to be sure they realize that if an animal is trying to kill someone, they need to step in and stop the animal. That’s knowing human life is more valuable.
Buddy, if you don’t think your own life is more valuable than an animals, then you need to grow up. And meet the elephant. And find where the bear is. And when they come for you in the dark, THEN tell me your life is of no more value than theirs…..
Joe – Your statement -”the fact that people think they are superior to other creatures” – leads me to believe that you think that man is NOT superior to animals, which runs contrary to your own implication. If man is on par with animals, then by your own logic man should be no better or different than animals. As Greg describes two wolves dividing the spoils of their kill while it is still alive, then from your perspective man should act the same way.
Your other statement – “that governments need to inform people of dangers lurking around every corner” – needs explaining from my perspective. I’m not advocating that it is all government that needs to educate people. This is something we all must do. However, it is the government that is mostly responsible for the myths that surround the wolf. They perpetuated the lies and continue to do so. Therefore, we are challenging the government to get educated themselves and begin promoting facts, not fiction.
Other than that, I have not much use at all for government.
Joe thinks animals are justified in killing humans because they have killed one of their kind. He just doesn’t want to say it that way, because it would be more evident…
But humans aren’t justified in killing animals, because, well, Joe thinks animals are better than us….
.
Go figure….
There starving any how between kills.
Joe, you show your lack of understanding of trapping. I can agree with your concept of wanting less governmental interference, but if there’s one area the government is supposed to be in, it’s in protecting it’s citizens…It’s in regulating all the other affairs that they are overstepping their bounds.
In trapping, you show you have never trapped or been close to someone who could show you the ropes, and this gal was. She knew that you run that trap line every day, and it you don’t an animal may chew off it’s own foot to get free….now, that’s gross, but if you tend you trapline as a RESPONSIBLE trapper, then it’s like any other line of work that has it’s responsibilities. And it’s not unlike any other work where an asshole can screw up a situation or other people lives by acting in an irresponsible manner.
You should learn more about a subject before making assumptions…remember the first part of that word assumption….it’ll make or break you.
You want to make this personal Joe ? Are you a grammar Nazi ? Ooooh, typo and grammar errors are and indication of stupidity in Joey’s world..
Predators with a belly full of worms are always headed to their next kill Joey.. And now this girl was in the wrong place jogging down a road ? NOPE, The wolves were in the wrong place hanging out and habituating to humans.
To bad the two wolves were not shot a month ago for being around this Village, or picked up and dropped off into a real wilderness area miles from people.
Supposedly these two wolves were starving, and I thought all these years wolves could manage and or balance where their living.. ( Not Really I never fell for that horseshit) To funny.
Like I said, Joe, you sit there in your downtown office, sipping you latte, cappuccino, or whatever, and think you know what is right for people who have to live with a problem you don’t consider a problem….because you don’t live there.
If you don’t think humans are above the animals, you should offer yourself for their dinner, after all, you’re just another one of those humans, right? Maybe an hour or two in some dark woods with a few wolves might change your mind…Oh, right, you know better than to be there, and just prefer your lattes…..pilehead!
Maybe you like to lie to others as much as you like to like to yourself, when you say you’re not more important than an animal….come back when you grow up and learn how to be a man….(if you think yourself one)
“So now it’s open season on wolves (or the demon du jour) and no one really understands why.” har har har. it’s understandable, yet you quote Disney.
“And since we have bigger brains and opposing thumbs, along with a media and government that warns us of every conceivable danger every step of the way, we know what’s best and we’ll take care of it.” Well, I won’t hold my breath on government helping out since government started this mess you think is just devine. The misinformation is insane and it reads like a mental ward 7. Take All your medications!!!
“Take all your medications” Har har har de har…classic!
I’m chauffuer for a native athabaskan today. She took after wolfs with a fury. For the seventh floor dwellers, this takes a pair; and no, you can’t research it and get your own but this woman laughs at the girls making comments of her existence in alaska. “Where do these people come from? Poor things; they wouldn’t make it very far on their own.”
I’m trying to convince her to write her stories down for future references. The world she grew up in, is well beyond the imagination of a few folks in the cities’ comments.
The “Disneyfied image of wolves is NOT the way even DISNEY portrayed them. Disney did at least as much to portray wolves as enemies of the protagonists as any other entertainment outlet. My strongest early impression of how menacing wolves can be was when I watched WD Peter & the Wolf at around age 6. Junglebook & White Fang put wolves in a good light, but WF was the only movie I’ve ever seen that featured a wolf related human death
Man is superior to animals this is why we are at the top of the food chain, But in Joe’s case he probably is not this is why he wouldn’t last a night in the wild.
I thought I read that 2 suspect wolves were shot. Were there any reports regarding stomach contents? The evidence that Kenton Carnegie was killed by wolves was pretty strong too, but no human remains were found in either suspect wolf. Claims of wolf related human deaths have a long history of falling apart. Dave Mech at least used to say this, but he seems to be more opened minded about recent claims that-most likely-give credence to a lot of historical claims. Aparantly, he’s accepting this case as it’s claimed.