Bear said:
Just how does one reimburse a rancher that is killed by a wolf?
I defy you to find an actual confirmed attack where a wolf killed a rancher or a farmer; there is not any, which is why the wolf is being re introduced all over the country. They are now even starting to plant some in the Southern Appalachian Mountains also. They have a role in nature, of check and balances. There are coyote killings where they sneak in and drag off babies out of back yards out west where people invaded their terrain. There are a few wild wolf attacks like that in India, but even there these are very rare. The wolf attack against humans is mostly a myth.
Here is some data from a Science museum, that are experts on this, I am not.
Montshire Minute: Wolves
Originally aired during the week of August 17, 1998
Monday
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What do you think of when you here the word "wolf?" Maybe you think of the "big, bad" wolf. Or the "man-eating wolf," as presented in the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Gluttons are said to "wolf down" a meal. Well, we get the picture: the wolf is supposed to be a mean, deceptive creature with bad table manners. Only during the past few decades have humans become more accepting of these predators and of their rightful place in nature. Wolves have been absent from Vermont and New Hampshire for this entire century. But some naturalists are trying to reintroduce wolves to northern New England and the Adirondacks where wolves were once abundant. Join naturalist Marcas Marx at Montshire at 7 pm this Friday. He'll be talking about the natural history of this remarkable creature as well as efforts to bring back the eastern timber wolf.
Tuesday
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Wolves use strength in numbers to chase down prey. The pack may single out one victim and take turns chasing it down until the prey is exhausted. Because their paws are large and slightly splayed, they have incredible balance and can move easily in snow and ice. In winter, wolves may try to trap elk, deer, caribou, moose or other prey in deep snow where these animals can't easily run or maneuver. Despite its strength, skill and cunning--a wolf can run 40 miles per hour in short spurts and can crush the thighbone of an elk or moose with its powerful jaws -- they only succeed in catching prey about once in ten attempts. By singling out sick, old or weak animals as victims, wolves actually keep the herd healthy over the long run. At 7 pm this Friday, naturalist Marcas Marx will tell us more about the natural history of the wolf, and detail efforts to restore the wolf population.
Wednesday
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A wolf pack usually numbers anywhere from six or eight animals to several dozen. Wolves that hunt as a pack, eat as a pack, although the pack leader - called the alpha male - gets to eat first. The alpha male usually consumes the choicest part of the meal - you know, the liver, the heart, the intestines. Wolves mostly eat hoofed animals like deer, moose, elk and caribou. But in warmer months when they are less active, they will dine on berries or small rodents. Wolves would just as soon scavenge and spend a lot of time and energy hunting prey. The Lewis and Clark expedition reported in 1804 that prairie wolves followed buffalo herd, feeding on animals that had already died. Usually the alpha male and female are the only wolves in the pack which mate. Pups born in the spring are usually big enough to travel and hunt with the pack in the late fall and winter.
Thursday
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Before New England was settled, the region was home to about 100,000 wolves, according to the North American Wolf Foundation. But clearing farmland and intensive hunting and trapping wiped them out from Vermont and New Hampshire about 100 years ago. By the mid-1900's, only one wolf population survived in the lower 49 states: that in northern Minnesota. The gray wolf was the first animal listed under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. As the northern forest stretching across northern New England and the Adirondacks begins to reestablish itself, this region is more inviting to wolves. In 1993, a 67 pound female timber wolf was shot by a hunter near Moosehead Lake in Maine. In 1996, just east of Bangor, another hunter mistook a 81 pound wolf for a coyote and shot it. Each of these wolves may have been a "disperser," a lone wolf who leaves the pack to colonize some other territory.
Friday
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Healthy wolf packs exist north of the St. Lawrence River, just 75-100 miles from Maine. Wolves from Quebec may naturally expand into northern Maine, which offers 17,000 square miles of potential wolf habitat. Maine biologist Dan Harrison points out that wolves can easily travel 100 miles in a day and perhaps as few as three migrant wolves would be enough to establish a self-sustaining population in Maine. During the winter, when the St. Lawrence river freezes in several places, it would be possible for wolves to find a bridge of sorts to American territory. Some conservationists are hoping the wolves can establish packs on their own in Maine or in the Adirondack region. Others fear that without human assistance, wolves filtering down from Canada might continue to interbreed with eastern coyotes, diluting the dwindling gene pool of the eastern timber wolf.
