Study: We're Screwed Without Wolves and Bears

[mtbturtle]

Study: We're Screwed Without Wolves and Bears
By Stephanie Mencimer
Tue Apr. 10, 2012 12:53 PM PDT

"Deer have been a blight on suburbia for a while now, munching their way through tract-housing gardens and making some highways extremely dangerous for motorists, as their populations have exploded. (In DC, where they live in abundant numbers in the city's biggest park, Rock Creek Park, they're known by neighbors as rats with antlers.) Deer are also radically changing places like the forests of the Adirondacks by devouring young tree shoots from the storied maples and leaving nothing but beech. But a new study finds that it's not just deer populations that are wreaking havoc on North American ecosystems. It's all of the large mammals that graze on plants."

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/04/why-world-needs-wolves

[weakmagneto]

I can report that I feel quite fortunate to see wolves and bears in the wild. I actually saw two wolves on the road on Friday, they were so big I mistook them for deer. I won't even get into that annoying bear who just recently broke into my shed, but am happy that they are here, nevertheless.

I'm surprised cougars were't mentioned in the article. Cougars have not been in our area for a long time, however sightings of them have become more commonplace. Moose and deer are quite abundant in my area. I actually seen a pregnant cow on the road and had a chance to stop to admire her for a few minutes (it was a on long straight stretch).

[Forest_Dump]

I used to love seeing bear and moose on my way to work. I haven't seen wolves in years but I do see coyotes fairly often although some bio types I know insist they are actually versions of the eastern red wolf. Haven't seen much of cougars but there is a web site I have recently heard advertised on the radio called cougarlife.com I think. It confused me though.

[Watson]

Last week I was traveling through a park area and the deer are quite plentiful. But to let the wolf population grow to manage the deer population will have the cattlemens assoc. calling fowl. Northern states have tried to reintroduce the wolf to the area and met with fierce resistance. So yes we are screwed, cause money is the desiding factor.