wolf pack taking a moose

[WindKnots]

Something wrong with that moose, bad ankle or leg possibly.  It looks weak, very little activity.  Could also be old too, not just the sick are bait.

[acsacmboy]

I think that the wolves taking an animal, wether it be a moose, deer, or even simple rabbit is fine. They have to eat too, so i don't see the problem is. Even if the elk, deer and moose populations do plummet and the Wolfe population does skyrocket, in a few years the wolves will die off due to malnutrition and lack  of food. Whereas, if there are a lack of predators, there will be an abundance of moose,deer and the such and then their populations might suffer because of lack of food and space. The trend is cyclic, just like most everything in nature.

Because a pack of wolves go after a very large, majestic animal for sustenance doesn't mean that we have to eradicate them because they are impeding on us and our opportunity to hunt them. Before we were around, the natural Wolfe and moose populations were in balance, and everything was fine just like pikemaster789 said. when we try to control nature like that, thats when problems start to occur. yes, hunting would keep populations in check but you have to also look at the big picture.

[Lick]

Does that mean BD, that if you moved out of state it would be unfair for you to hunt game in your new area?, After all the game wouldn't be accustomed hunters like yourself?! Wolves were wiped out that way after all!  Sooner see that  than wolves going after livestock which started the whole problem in the first place!!!

[MickeyFinn]

 The only law in the wild is survival of the fitest. Who ever said its' not cool, oh well. I'll sit and watch the dicovery channel for hours watching stuff like this.Wolves usually attack the weakest animal, Besides what are we supposed to do ? Tell the wolves they can't eat the moose  , or wipe the wolves out ? There used to be eons ago Wolves here in NY, now there are REPORTED sightings. Our moose population however is in the begining stages of a boom after years of reported sightings.

[rpc55]

I saw these pics somewhere else.  Either way you look at it I dont like wolves, but they have to eat too. I just wish that pack was here for a while to take care of some of the moose that we have in northern Vt. They'lle drive deer out of an area probably more than the wolves would.

plenty of healthy moose and deer comingling here in maine. i was a lumberjack for 15 years and saw plenty of them on our 300 acres alone.  we sure as heck dont need any wolves in the northeast. coyotes are bad enough. I may sound like a blood thirsty Mainiac but all animals need to be kept in check to a certain degree. IMO.
those pictures were in outdoor life magazine. NWT Canada, I think. 
http://mikehanback.blogs.com/bigbuckzone/2007/02/incredible_phot.html

JD540 do you really think the moose are the problem in Vermont as far as deer numbers are concerned. I have never heard that before.

Something wrong with that moose, bad ankle or leg possibly.  It looks weak, very little activity.  Could also be old too, not just the sick are bait.

ya it has a pack of wolves biting its a$$ and face

[taxid]

Do you know what the worst predator is that kills for fun and destroys wildlife habitat to boot? I'll give you a clue. It walks on two legs. We are our own worst enemy. We shoot and catch the biggest animals and fish, remove them from the gene pool, when we build our dwellings we destroy wildlife habitat, and we're too stupid to know what we're doing. And we reproduce like rabbits and eat everyting in sight.

Just a little food for thought. And no I'm not from PETA or anything like that. 

[rpc55]

Do you know what the worst predator is that kills for fun and destroys wildlife habitat to boot? I'll give you a clue. It walks on two legs. We are our own worst enemy. We shoot and catch the biggest animals and fish, remove them from the gene pool, when we build our dwellings we destroy wildlife habitat, and we're too stupid to know what we're doing. And we reproduce like rabbits and eat everyting in sight.

Just a little food for thought. And no I'm not from PETA or anything like that. 

yes yes we know, global warming, wars and all that. its too bad. I cant speak for everybody but I dont kill for the fun of it. I practice catch and release and eat everything I kill.

[taxid]

yes yes we know, global warming, wars and all that. its too bad. I cant speak for everybody but I dont kill for the fun of it. I practice catch and release and eat everything I kill.

Well you're an exception. 

Actually I know full well many of us aren't that bad. But I had to be a little dramatic to make my point. 

[MickeyFinn]

I think in different words Taxidermist was trying to say that the human race is the worst predator on the face of the planet. We really leave no stone unturned.. In the ground , in the sea, in or on the land, our existance has had profound effects on the rest of the world. To be honest with you I do not know if that is what he meant, and is more what I got ou of it.The flip side to this is mother earth has a way of taking care herself, kind like wolves keeping moose or deer populations in check, Mother earth will keep us in check...For as long as she has been around we could be viewed as nothing more than the flu, in her eyes.

[BottomDweller]

okay.  so the human race has had an overall negative effect on the biosphere.  true.  but our presence here isn't going to change: maybe more people are becoming aware of their impact on the environment, but we aren't going to leave.  the wolves were exterminated by humans because their presence was incompatible with ours.  i know it was unnatural because human beings don't really belong anywhere  , but the reality of the situation was that it had to be done for good reasons.  and now the environment has moved on and evolved for the past, what, 80 years?  so we decide to play God to an even greater degree, and introduce a now unfamiliar alien species to nature, and hope nature can compensate by itself?  and as i metioned earlier, this strain of wolf is not even the once-native timber wolf that lived here before it was wiped out, it is the canadian grey wolf, a bigger, even more voracious group of predators.

maybe it's just that i'm not a tourist and couldn't care less if i see a wolf - because what good are they other than as a tourist attraction?  what purpose do they serve to the evironment?  what niche do they occupy that coyotes, bears, and other predators don't already occupy???  these are policies that are put into action by politicians that sit at desks in washington dc, far removed from any logical, first-hand knowledge of the region that they are experimenting with.

[bigfish1556]

BD - sounds like you have a ranch or are cronies with some fellow ranchers..............We're all certainly entitled to our own opinions - there is definitely a strong regional effect on the opinions regarding wolf reintroduction.

Every critter does have a purpose - they didn't all spend 10's of thousands of years (or way, way more) co-evolving for nothing.

On a more realistic, practical and perhaps somewhat dreary note - over the course of geologic history on this planet, over 99% of all species that ever existed have gone extinct. True fact.  What the F makes us think we're any different or can/should try to change the course of nature? We might want to quit worrying about the wolves eating some sheep and moose and focus on how to keep healthy humans around in the future.

That was a cool series of photographs of a coordinated attack by a wily and respectable predator. No bullets involved - just a dozen or two canine teeth..........wonder how many took a near fatal blow to the head/chest when they were going for the old rump roast there..........

OK, that's my treehugger blurb for the day on this one.

Cheers,
bigfish1556