Wolf presentation's in Spokane Schools

[Ridgeratt]

Today I was at one of our elementary schools and as I pulled up I saw what I thought was a huge yellow dog on the playfield. I went and told the custodian about it. He informed me that they had a person doing a wolf presentation to the 6Th grade science class. I wandered to where I saw the wolf and he had it in a pickup in a cyclone cage in the back and was talking to the students. The staff was almost elbow to elbow taking photos and oohing and awing the host of the talk.
I waited to try to get a photo of it but just to many folks looking and viewing.
I'm not sure just how to compete with the mentality that was there. All the women where just talking about how pretty it was.

Lord it was hard not to let my Outside voice go.

I did agree with one of the teachers it is a gorgeous animal and it was, but I didn't finish that it would have looked great hanging on my wall.

[predatorpro]

i just keep my mouth shut when it comes to that stuff! you cant argue with stupid!

[Special T]

Predators of the Heart is an elemanetary  school program that thye have done over here on this side of the mountians and they bring wolves in among other animals and talk about it them... It was interesting to listen to them talk about wolves and they kept it pretty straight. They did acknolege the fact that the reintroduction of wolves is a touchy subject...

[724wd]

what school was this?  my wife teaches at Audubon Elementary... haven't heard about anything like that there...

[Ridgeratt]

Sheridan, Had I not had a work order for there never would have known about it.

[nwwanderer]

Ask the teacher to bring in the other side.  12 is old enough to understand.  Real people will thank you for it.

[motg9_6]

that presentation should be followed by a rancher with a slide show of how wolves kill livestock. instead or giving our youth political propaganda they could give them reality.

[huntnphool]

You should have asked the handler how many deer, elk, moose and cattle the average wolf kills every year, give the people there a different vision in their heads.

[Ridgeratt]

I was there to fix an outlet the kids had busted and it was my first job. By the time I had got back he was gone.
But alot of the educational staff really don't want to hear the whole story.

[Northway]

I was there to fix an outlet the kids had busted and it was my first job. By the time I had got back he was gone.
But alot of the educational staff really don't want to hear the whole story.

I think for some folks, it's the aversion to gore in general that makes them uncomfortable with certain topics more than their advocacy. They are just not comfortable with the thought of any kind of killing, whether it's hunters, predators, or an animal processing plant. They can be one of the most difficult groups to work with that fall under the "environmentalist" umbrella.

My first exposure to the topic of wolves was a book by David Mech. I vividly remember a particular picture where a wolf had fed around the gastrointestinal tract of an animal that was devoured to the point where I was unable to identify it, being very young and all. The wolf's face was stained with blood, gastic juices, and half digested vegetation, which left quite an impression.

The only thing I don't like about bringing captive wolves around to schools is that I think it might blur the line a little too much between what's a wild animal and the pet husky down the street. Maybe if the live visit was preceded by a video of wolves on a hunt, or wolves killing a coyote.........