Washington Residents fear of wolves often overblown

[whacker1]

http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/washington-residents-fear-of-wolves-often-overblown/article_9ea0c796-72fe-11e5-bd2b-2fc321affbc2.html

Just sharing the article I saw in the Yakima Herald.

[Curly]

And even farther off the public’s radar are the animals invariably responsible for more livestock and pet kills than every other predator combined: Coyotes.

Washington has more than 50,000 of them, though state officials would happily see them hunted into oblivion. You don’t need a license to shoot them — or even basic hunting ethics. You can spotlight coyotes at night (except in fall months near an active deer/elk season) and shoot as many as you want, day or night, the sort of thing that with any game animal would earn you a hefty fine or even jail time.

The author really should get his facts straight.  We actually do need a license to shoot coyotes.  We probably shouldn't be required to be licensed but we are.

[Fl0und3rz]

And even farther off the public’s radar are the animals invariably responsible for more livestock and pet kills than every other predator combined: Coyotes.

Washington has more than 50,000 of them, though state officials would happily see them hunted into oblivion. You don’t need a license to shoot them — or even basic hunting ethics. You can spotlight coyotes at night (except in fall months near an active deer/elk season) and shoot as many as you want, day or night, the sort of thing that with any game animal would earn you a hefty fine or even jail time.

The author really should get his facts straight.  We actually do need a license to shoot coyotes.  We probably shouldn't be required to be licensed but we are.

Agreed.  It comes across sounding pretty ignorant as well.

[Bob33]

Cougars are bad, so wolves must be good.

Email sent:

Among many other factual errors in the article, this one stands out as pretty clear evidence you're not a hunter:

"You don’t need a license to shoot them — or even basic hunting ethics."

You do need a license to legally shoot coyotes.

[wolfbait]

"Yet cougars, and coyotes to an even greater extent, are far more likely than wolves to be behind the disappearance of rural pets or livestock, and are certainly far more numerous on the Washington landscape"

Very true according to WDFW, even if you saw the wolf that chewed your dog up they will ask, "are you sure it wasn't a cougar". If there's a fresh pile of wolf scat next to the new calf that was killed in the night, WDFW will spend hours "investigating" and come out with, the calf was killed by a coyote. Or if a cow and calf are killed by wolves, they will forget all about the calf and run to the news papers claiming they don't know what killed the cow but something sure did. WDFW will explain how the cow was just a pile of hide and hip bones by the time they got there. The calf will never be mentioned.

[JimmyHoffa]

The guy in the article mentioned UP Michigan and not seeing any effects on deer by wolves.  But I remember reading about how in NE Minnesota (close/next to UP Michigan) that the combo of bad winters and a bursting wolf population has hit the deer pretty hard.  To the point where they cancelled antlerless hunts and did some other season adjustments.  Seems like if it is right next to you, you would start to notice something going on.   

[AspenBud]

The guy in the article mentioned UP Michigan and not seeing any effects on deer by wolves.  But I remember reading about how in NE Minnesota (close/next to UP Michigan) that the combo of bad winters and a bursting wolf population has hit the deer pretty hard.  To the point where they cancelled antlerless hunts and did some other season adjustments.  Seems like if it is right next to you, you would start to notice something going on.   

They've impacted deer there. Almost all of the UP has no antlerless hunt. You go to the LP if you want more of a sure thing for deer.

 

[buglebrush]

I live in, and hunt the NE corner.  Wolves are a big deal folks.  They are the shove over the edge into a predator pit. 

[Special T]

That artice is missing lots of facts. I think my 10year old does more fact checking for her homework than what went into this arcticle!

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