If you think a bit you can conclude that for a
predator to be successful each part of the hunt - kill - eat must be
pleasurable. This is easy to see if you consider a close relative to
the wolf, the domestic dog. In the dog selective breeding has
emphasized parts of the process to make the breeds more
useful.
The bird dog takes most pleasure in the
finding of the game. The retriever likes the bring it back to the den
part of the hunt. The border collie likes the bring the prey to bay
part of a hunt.
Wolves of course enjoy all of the parts of a
hunt. Now, in 1805 the wolves living in Dillon enjoyed killing their prey,
but the Buffalo were not confined to a feed lot. After one or two
(probably the slowest = old, sick or very young) were killed the rest ran
off. The pack then settled down to eat. Unprotected sheep are
particularly easy prey to predators, because they are either confined or are
slow and sometimes don't know enough to run off.
If a pack killed more that they could eat, say
young elk caught in a freak snowstorm, they stayed around and ate off of
the kill for a long time. In the late 19th century,
cattlemen taught wolves and other predators that they should not stay near
a kill. They poisoned the kills, and ambushed predators coming
back.
The next thing that happened is that some of the
prey, especially Elk, does not comfortably live near people. The
Bitterroot is an example. As the ranches get cut up into small tracts,
the Elk that used to winter in the almost snowless valley floor,
have to stay in the mountains increasing the chances that a group of
young will be caught in the snow and killed.
The solution? It is
hard. One part is being done. Wolf packs that specialize
in cattle are eliminated by the government. The next step is to allow
limited and regulated hunting. If hunted, predators learn that people are
something to be avoided. It doesn't solve all the problems but it
helps. We also will have to learn to live with some losses of domestic
livestock. If we, as a nation, want to have wilderness and wild creatures,
there are two possibilities. We could all move somewhere else and let
nature take its course. Since this does not seem to practical, we will
have to manage the wilderness and wild things carefully.
There are lots of mountain lions in MT,
but attacks on people seem to be rather rare in comparison to the
reports we get from south CA. I'm sure that the greater population density
in CA has something to do with it, but part is that they are hunted with dogs
here and thus think of people as a danger, not an easy meal.
Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower
Road Victor, MT 59875
