4-23 IAN Hoof & Mouth

 This is one tricky story to tell. How do wolves preying on the ungulate population, writing a book, learning Russian, going to Mexico and foot and mouth disease all come together in one conversation? The answer comes in the form of a phone call I had with a listener by the name of Will Graves. I had written a story in my Sportsmans Spotlight segment about wolves eating or attacking people. I got an e-mail asking me to call Mr. Graves regarding his book on wolves.  So I did and here’s what happened: “it started back when I worked with the US Department of Agriculture Bureau of animal industry for a short time in Mexico. We were helping stamp out the foot and mouth disease. A veterinarian down there told me that the reason we were having so much trouble stamping it out is that coyotes and dogs were spreading the foot and mouth disease. When I started to study Russian, I was interested in foot and mouth disease, and if dogs and coyotes could carry it, I figured wolves could carry it. That’s what I guided studying if wolves could carry foot and mouth disease. And from there it program. I became fluent in Russian and just started studying the general characteristics, habits and behaviors of wolves.