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Outdoor Corner - "Bears on the golf course, deer on the windshield, wolves on the walk back home!"
Express Staff
for Smoky River Express
Are large animal numbers out of control? The title to this article featured in the November issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine paints a picture of the decline in hunting and the surge in populations of various species. It is a ploy by pro hunting groups to try to revitalize hunting? Or, is the “out of control” escalation of certain species of wildlife a reality?
A number of people in the area have recently “kissed” wildlife in a way that was life threatening. One employee of Boucher Lumber struck two mule deer inside of a month while motoring to work. A Donnelly couple missed “near death” circumstances in a vehicle accident involving a deer. I, personally, have struck two deer with my vehicles in recent years, even though, as my daughters are quick to point out, I “drive at Grandpa speed!” (I assume this is anything under 110 km).
As the arcticle points out, some states in the US are now hiring individuals to reduce wildlife numbers through programs involving shooting the animals. One of my clients from New Jersey informed me that the State hired him to harvest deer numbers year round. He quit the job because he said he though it was"unconscionable".
In the United States, according to Mathew Teague of Sports Illustrated, “...deer-car collisions rose 15 per cent over the past five years, costing annually more than a billion dollars in property damage and 150 human lives.” This is even though a recession is in place and the number of miles driven is substantially down over previous years.
Other species seem destined to clash with humans as well because of their sheer numbers. Canada and snow goose numbers have mushroomed in recent years with the consequence of more encounters with airplanes and irritation for golfers on golf courses.
Wolf numbers are up in many jurisdictions and Farley Mowat’s assertion in Never Cry Wolf in which he maintains no proof exists of a human being killed by a wolf is now belied by the death of Kenton Carnegie in Saskatchewan as a result of wolf predation. Wolf numbers are up in Minnesota from 500 in the 1950s to 3,000 today. A number of other states have also had a resurgence in wolf numbers. Alberta, reportedly, has about 7,000 wolves.
In recent years I have had wolves in my yard, one even bravely asserting himself near my dugout, much to the chagrin of my two dogs. He (the wolf) seemed totally confident and seemed to dare my canines to come over to where he was. My hunters have spotted and harvested wolves in recent years at unprecedented rates. This past fall, a pack regularly visited some of my property near Springburn and were brazen in their attitude. No fear seemed to exist in their behavior toward me.
We must be very careful about fear mongering in our dealing with wildlife numbers. Are 7,000 wolves too many? Are 700 grizzly bears excessive, because according to some recent figures, these are the number we have in the province? There are 7,000,000,000 plus people on this planet and while some have called for a “balance” in the number of animals of certain species, maybe the question we should start asking is “Which specie needs balancing?”
Kim Carnegie, the father of Kenton who was killed by wolves as mentioned previously, set out to get even with the wolves initially. For a while, he set out to kill any wolf that he could. As the Sports Illustrated article concludes on this account, “...he called off the vengeful journey. ‘Wolves are predators,’ he said. ‘I don’t hate them. They were following their own way.’”
“Wolves do not make moral decisions,” he decided. “They simply hunt.”
As officials start dealing with Lyme disease, waterfowl related diseases, cougar attacks, bear maulings, deer encounters and accidents, and increasing wolf attacks, indeed even coyote threats, will we, as humans make the right moral decisions? While wolves don’t and can’t make them, as the pinnacle of the food chain, can we balance morality with expediency, convenience and perceived safety threats?
Wildlife officer Dave Barrett from Peace River recently stated that as a result of recent severe winters, “Wildlife numbers are down especially for moose calves and some other species.”
For the time being, the Peace Country doesn’t appear to have to address the matter though in recent years Sustainable Resources has allowed the harvest of mule deer and whitetail deer does in certain zones in an attempt to control complaints of escalating numbers.
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