Scapegoating Wolves

Scapegoating: “Process in which the mechanisms of projection or displacement are utilised in focusing feelings of aggression, hostility, frustration, etc., upon another individual or group(wolves); the amount ofblame being unwarranted.”

Wolf haters never seem to take the day off.  They are busy as can be hating wolves and trying to make sure wolves pay.  As wolf advocates await Judge Molloy’s decision on restoring wolves ESA protections, we watch in disbelief at what is happening to wolves.  The Idaho state legislature passed a resolutionasking the Governor to declare a state of emergency in Idaho because among other things, wolves could become a threat to people, especially children. I’m not kidding.

Wolf attacks on humans are exceedingly rare. The wolf is the least dangerous of large carnivores of the same size and weight. They are extremly shy and fearful of  humans and with good reason.  Any wild wolf would  rather be a hundred miles away from people.

I hate to break it to the resolution makers in the Idaho State Legislature but domestic dogs are a bigger threat to people and children  then wolves will ever be and I’m a dog lover but facts are facts.

Dog attacks are attacks on humans by feral or domestic dogs. With the close association of dogs and humans in daily life (largely as pets), dog attacks—with injuries from usually very minor to significant, and very occasionally severe to fatal—are not uncommon. Attacks on the serious end of the spectrum have become the focus of increasing media and public attention in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is estimated that two percent of the US population, 4.7 million people, are bitten each year.In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26. 77% of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50% of attacks occur on the dog owner’s property.

Are we going to be issuing edicts to lock up all the children because dogs are a threat to them?  I’m kidding of course but does anyone see how hysterical the rhetoric has gotten?  It’s like a badly written fairy tale.

Next we have US District Court Judge Winmill giving the green light to IDFG so they can land helicopters in the Frank Church Wilderness to collar wolves.

Let’s throw The Wilderness Act out the window because IDFG needs to gather more information about wolves.  The Wilderness Act states:

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Wolf collaring is such a priority in the Frank Church. Uh-huh.  The one place wild enough where wolves can actually get away from people. We can’t have that. They must be perpetually harassed and tracked and of course collar GPS signals are used to locate wolves for “control actions”, IE. killing them. All so necessary.

Once again, another example of state game agencies doing the bidding of the rancher barons, who refuse to be pro-active protecting  their livestock.  Instead it’s much easier to call Montana FWP or IDFG to come and kill the wolves.

So who is looking out for wolves interest in state government? I’m hearing crickets. It’s the same scenerio that got wolves exterminated the last time around. The ranchers hated them and wanted them gone, so the feds went out and poisoned, trapped and shot all the wolves. Now the same climate of hate is rearing it’s head again.

Wolves are the ultimate scapegoats for people who apparently are unhappy with their lives. Sometimes angry people will kick their dogs if they’re mad at the world, or yell out their car windows in fits of road rage if someone cuts them off?  Well instead of kicking the dog, they can kill the wolf, or kick the wolf, or curse the wolf. or blame the wolf. or damn the wolf, or persecute the wolf.  It must be nice to have the wolf to kick around, since they have no voice, it’s so easy.

It’s the same mantra repeated over and over again.  The wolves are eating all the cattle, the wolves are killing all the elk when this is patently untrue. 

Wolves, large grazing animals, and beaver have successfully lived side by side for thousands of years. It is only when the first Europeans arrived in North America that this balanced co-existence changed. When prey species drop in number because of food availability or weather conditions, wolf numbers drop as well. Wolves have smaller litters or may even starve to death.

But people can repeat anything they want and call it truth. By changing the subject and constantly talking about livestock and elk it takes the focus off wolves and what’s best for them.

I for one am sick of the whining, the lies and biased media reports about wolves. And they call wolf advocates emotional.  Please.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Posted in: gray wolf/canis lupus, howling for justice, Wolf Wars

Tags: wolves in the crossfire, Wilderness Act, Frank Church Wilderness