Wolves and ranches

Wolves and ranches

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Dawn Nelson is a real life cowgirl who deals in reality when it comes to the wolf issue on her ranch in Creston, Washington. “We deal with the environmentalists and their wolves up here. We end up with a few wolves throughout the winters. They come in and torment the cows and get them spooky. In 2011 we lost 17 calves in one week to wolves. Nothing we could do. Nobody could help us. We would call the game department and nobody would come out and help us. Now that they have reintroduced these wolves into Washington they don’t give us any out. We can't protect our own livestock without becoming a criminal so now we are dealing with that. Last summer I was checking fence line about four hours from the house, I was long trotting my horse home and had a wolf come out behind us and spooked the young horse I was riding. She ended up dumping me and dragging me about 150 yards before I could get her stopped and get myself free of the stirrup and get up. It’s just this one more thing out in the wilderness, how in the range that we have to deal with. Don’t get me going on wolves. Don’t you carry a pistol? Yes I do. Because you could shoot a wolf under those conditions. Yes but the problem was I was trying to get my foot out of the stirrup and my horse stopped. It could’ve ended a lot worse. They came out the next day and photographed the tracks and said oh yeah, it was about a year or year and 1/2 old and was just looking for new territory.
Previous ReportFarmland Threats
Next ReportHealth benefits in beer drinking