Wolf myths noted

To the editor,

In reading the 12/21/08 Inter Lake Guest Opinion on wolves by Tom Shaughnessy (“The most efficient killing machine on the planet”) I was reminded of the old saying that “One should never let facts get in the way of a good story.”

While Mr. Shaughnessy speaks of the wolf’s efficiency as a “killing machine,” and claims a pack can “kill anything they see,” 50 years of facts tell a different story. Documented hunting success rates for wolves are as follows: deer (20 percent), moose (5-9 percent) and elk (20 percent).

A “failure to catch” rate of 80-95 percent hardly qualifies as “efficient.” In fact, we sportsmen, with high-powered, scoped rifles are far more efficient than any wild carnivore.

Mr. Shaughnessy claims that a wolf pack can cover an area of 2,000 square miles (larger than Glacier National Park), and leave the area devoid of game. Yet a check of 20 years of wolf home range data for the Northern Rockies shows that such a territory has never existed.

When the Magic Pack first recolonized the North Fork Flathead from British Columbia in 1986 — Mr. Shaughnessy incorrectly claims they were “introduced” — they had no competition from other wolves, and prey animals everywhere, yet their home range was about 250-350 square miles — not 2,000. And last week, a friend traveling north of Polebridge watched a herd of more than 100 whitetails that somehow has eluded Mr. Shaughnessy.

Mr. Shaughnessy claims Yellowstone wolves have “multiplied like fleas … resulting in massive livestock depredations.” The facts show that while wolves increased rapidly in the first five years — as one might expect — in the last five years the population appears to have settled in between 335 and 453, with a decline in 2008 a possibility. And those “massive” livestock losses have been approximately 0.30 cattle per 1,000 grazed, and 0.40 sheep per 1,000 grazed.

Finally, Mr. Shaughnessy notes that 100 years ago our ancestors “were smart enough to know that wolves can’t co-exist with people.” He forgets that in the 12,000 years before our arrival, wolves co-existed just fine with Native Americans, 50 million bison, and tens of millions of deer, elk, and pronghorn.

What did they know that we’ve forgotten? Well, apparently a healthy dose of humility and respect for the natural world, and a realization that we’re a part of the universe — not its center.

Brian Peck

Columbia Falls