Our World and Everything in It

‘Most people thought he was crazy. His research and story take an intricate look at packs of wolves. What is proven is that wolves interact with humans no differently than our pet dogs.’ This was an excerpt from Good Morning America, ABC news this morning about Shaun Ellis, a researcher living among wolves.. He has discovered a way for ranchers and wolves to live together peacefully.

I’ve been involved with Defenders of Wildlife so long that this is an important message for me to write. Wolves have been misunderstood for so long that it is almost impossible to reverse the notion that they are savage killers who will grow beyond control and be at our back door. Bush and Cheney used this analogy of fear to help get re-elected the last time around with their wolf commercials as metaphors for terrorists. Just another in their bag of rhetorical tricks to help themselves and harm the innocent.

I’ve lately heard that the wolf population in Michigan is growing rapidly and I smell the hunt already. Are allowing wolves to grow such a bad thing considering the same groups of hunters and DNR people claim we have to have hunting season for deer and everything else because they will grow beyond proportion?  Why then would we kill their natural predators, the wolves? Aren’t wolves and other animals a natural way to control overpopulation?  Money, money, money. Man is upsetting a natural balance once again for money.  Face it; man has upset natural balances all over the earth through pollution, misuse and overuse of natural resources for the purpose of making a buck.

Hunting makes sense to hunters. They honestly believe they are doing some greater good because we would be over run by nature otherwise. Yeah right. We’re polluting water, air, and land at such an alarming rate we’re hurting ourselves and we don’t think nature suffers too? There are so many birds and other marshy wildlife with rising levels of mercury in their systems it’s ridiculous. We really shouldn’t be eating that stuff. Global warming may eventually bring new types of ticks and diseases that weren’t present in Michigan before that will take out many populations of wildlife. Will we ban hunting this wildlife? Probably not. My biggest beef is that hunting laws are not flexible enough and seldom change regardless of species being hunted down. When species begin to dwindle laws that allow hunting them do not change quickly enough. The disappearing critters pretty much have to be on an endangered list and we know how that’s being threatened.

Hunting predators, then hunting to keep populations down is for the almighty dollar. Don’t let anyone fool you. After the ban on dove hunting passed so overwhelmingly, the hunting industry in Michigan shuddered to think oh no, next it will be steel leg hold traps. Hunting is a big industry in Michigan that has a dwindling industry problem. Our state will grasp at anything to stay afloat. Yet if the average voter is asked whether they want things hunted with steel leg hold traps or any other device that inflicts pain on an innocent animal we will more than likely vote it down. People with pets, I believe, tend to pass on that same kindness to other animals when they finally understand the truth. But the truth is something that is very hard to come by these days.

That is why I am urging everyone who loves animals, especially their dogs, to watch 20/20 tonight, on channel 7, 10:00 pm to watch a remarkable documentary about the wolf. I want people to witness the absolutely tender interaction between a human and a pack of wolves and the loyalty of wolves in general. 

Researcher Shaun Ellis has worked with wolves for 15 years and took a 2-year hiatus to live in the wild among wolves. He lost his wife, family, and job in the process. This is quite a sacrifice to get a message across. I think the least we can do is watch. It’s titled “A Man Among Wolves.” If you miss it tonight it will also air on The National Geographic Channel on April 16^th. Please watch it.

I have been contributing to and active with stopping the aerial killing of wolves in Alaska for years, which should fall under federal law that prohibits this sort of hunting, but has ceased to stop during the Bush/Cheney administration and through two governors now. Alaska just got another new governor who continues to totally ignore thousands of petitions by both Alaskan citizens and citizens all over the country to stop the heinous practice of shooting wolves from helicopters as they run for their lives. In Alaska and its wide-open range what is the purpose? This needs to stop. Our misunderstanding wildlife needs to stop. We’ve received very lopsided opinions and summations on wildlife for years. Pretty soon we may experience what they’ve been plagued with for their lifetimes. Man’s greed has grown so out of proportion that man has actually become a foe to himself. 

Watch 20/20, channel 7 at 10:00 pm tonight and get educated.  We’ve been fed so much crap. Watch and see reality for a change. 

This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 5:38 am and is filed under Alaska, Animals and Extinction, AuSable River, Bush Administration, Conservation, Federal Government, Global Warming, Great Lakes Pollution, Mercury, Michigan Pollution, National Parks and Forests, Nature, Pollution, Protecting Wetlands, Protesting Pollution, Science, State Gov't., Wetlands, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.