preditor controll

we have a small endangered population of marmots here, and they've been trying to stop them from disapearing.One of the main causes of the decling population is preditors- specifically wolves and eagles.So- after considerable study, the wildlife branch decided to shoot half a dozen eagles and a wolf pack that was targeting this marmot population.
You guessed it!The very same groups of ''armchair environmentalists'' who were demanding the government''do something'' about ''saving the marmots''now is all up in arms because they did!
Presumably they wanted a ''grant'' to teach the preditors to become vegetarians........

 

Fact is, there are a lot more eagles and wolves than Vancouver Island marmots[ an endangered subspecies], and eagles and wolves snack on marmots.The whole thing of course shows how rediculous the environmental croud is- they would have us believe everything can be turned into vegetarians.T'aint so!
The reasons why the populations have dwindled are pretty complex and it probably has to do something with the wolf population- when I was a kid 40 odd years ago nobody believed there were wolves on Vancouver Island at all- then something happened and the population exploded.The wolves have pretty well wiped out the blacktail deer[ 90% decline]and they have put pressure on the cougars, which are now seen frequently in the suburbs[which is where the deer retreated too]Wolves being oportunistic preditors will take anything they can kill, and with the decline in deer populations, marmots were on the menu.
The big thing, of course, is all the animal rights groups are now screaming about killing ther wolves and eagles, when they were the ones demanding the government''do something''[ which means give them grants to''study'' the marmots]When the government actually did something- remove the preditors, they screamed even louder-of course, most of these people have never set foot in the woods anyway- they confine their ''protests'' to shopping malls and putting ''save the marmot''
bumper stickers on cars

 

whoever thinks killing eagles wolves and cougers is ok you should go see how you feel when your shot to DEATH!!!!!!!!

i dont think you'd want that
so why is it ok to kill animals????

 

getting ''shot to death'' isn't pleasant, but I suppose in the grand scheme of things is a much better alternative than getting ripped to pieces , dying of starvation, or disease.The fact is, everything is born, lives and dies.There is a certain element in our society that would have us believe that not shooting an annimal means it lives forever- and when it's time has come, peacefully ''goes the sleep''.Or equally, killing an annimal is somehow ''wrong''but if it dies by being ripped to pieces by a preditor, starves to death, or succumbs to disease- that is ''ok'' because it is somehow ''natural''.
What we have here is a unique situation of a small endangered species that is going to be extinct in the very near future , basically because preditors are wiping them out.I agree preditor control is and can be only a small part of the overall picture- but if not addressed immediately- no amount of other habitat factors are going to be relevent- because there will be no more Vancouver Island marmots.
And one futher point-''cruel'' only exists in human terms- a wolf hamstringing a doe isn't being ''cruel'' it's only fulfilling it's role as a preditor.However- neither am I being '' cruel''when I shoot the same deer to feed my family.And- if one wishes to extrapolate the environmental impact- I make far less impact on the flora and fauna of the environment when I walk into the woods, shoot a deer, and leave, without disturbing any other part of the eco system.Conversly, the vegetarian/ vegan must till the ground, change and displace the whole enviroment of natural plants and annimals that used to live there, just so he can plant a crop- a major disruption of the natural eco system..

 

signifiacant steps have bben taken to ensure suitable habitat for the marmots, but the immediate concern was stopping them all from being eaten.
What the historic wolf populations were is unclear- they were there, but existed in small numbers for many years, and then the numbers exploded, resulting in about a 90% decline in deer populations.Logging roads were a major factor, enabling the wolves to travel widely with relative ease.
When the Fish and Game department wanted to reduce the wolf population to rallow the deer population to recover, there were significant protests made by environmental groups.What happened was the wolves ate out their food supply and starvation was widespread.But- the marmots were also a target fotr the wolves, once the deer were gone.Hunting was not a factor in the decling deer population- the limits were reduced, but this was irrelevent- the deer simply weren't there for either wolves or hunters.

 

this mornings news reported 7 more marmots being eaten,so this species may well become extinct.Funny, isn't it- people become paranoid about preditr controll- you'd think they truely believed that if a preditor wasn;t removed, they would live forever.Somehow the have the notion that starvation, disease etc are acceptable because they are ''natural'', but human intervention is ''cruel''

 

Believe it or not, this is shaping up to be a big issue out here.This morning's newspaper had an editorial decrying shooting the eagles, wolves and cougars that were decimating the endangered marmots.Their proposed ''solution''was to hire ''shepards''who would protect the marmots from being supper.Nice idea, but cougars and wolves hunt mainly at night, and how you stop an eagle dropping out of the sky to scoop a marmot, I really don't know.

 

while they can't reverse logging or logging roads, they have done a number of things- including live trapping some breeding pairs and raising some young, to release back into the wild.They are attempting to re establish some additional colonies to make them less vulnerable.Also they have done a lot to create public awareness[humans- stay away, please!]But- the immediate threat is predation and they did something about that too- which is what all the fuss is about.I'm all for not artificially enhansing habitat simply to boost populations , but sometimes when a species is in immediate danger of extinction, some intervention is neccesary.

 

I'm a hunter , fisherman [ not''fisher''] and outdoorsman.I'm no tree hugging radical, but I also believe we were given the job of being stewards over the land, and if we can do something to keep a species from disapearing forever, we should.In this case it involves shooting a few non endangered eagles , wolves and cougars.I'm just documenting the ''conflict'' between armchair environmentalists, most of whom have never set foot in the woods.And- I was brought up to repect all life-not to kill for the sake of killing.My dad taught me that apart from vermin, ''if you shoot it, you eat it''.Pretty simple ethics.