Oh lordy...where to begin with this. Well to start off it's a bit of a rant. (Note: When I refer to wolves, I am refering to the grey wolf, since it is the most popular and the biggest problem.)
Wolves....the grey wolves to exact (or is it spelled gray?) and the fanbase that comes with them.
I like wolves, heck, I love wolves all kinds of wolves, the grey is one of my favorite right next to the maned wolf. There are so many cool facts about the greys that just make this one of the most interesting animals to me. How they communicate being one of them, their ranks, how they raise pups, and how they hunt. I know the 'pretty' facts and the side of this animal, so do many of it's fans. But why is that when people hear the 'dark side' of the grey they turn a blind eye and act as if it is an insult?
Let me explain. I was looking around on DeviantArt (an art website.) and found a stamp saying "Wolves Are Dangerous Animals, Not Cuddle Bunnies!". I approved of this stamp, because it is true wolves are dangerous just like anyother wild predator like the bear, panther (another name for the moutain lion for any of you who don't know), ect... Yet, for some reason, many, and lord do I mean MANY fans of the wolf were repeating comments like "Humans are more dangerous!". I nearly wanted to take a rolled up Hunters magazine and smack them across the face with it. Why? Answer is simple, they missed the point of the stamp.
That stamp was trying to tell all of the wolf fans that actual wolves are not the same as the wolves in the Balto movies, Ookami, or Wolf's Rain. If you were to run up to an actual wild wolf you better pray the wolf picks flight over fight and in recent years the wolves have been picking fight a bit more often. I can not stress this enough as it is... Wolves. Are. Dangerous. Animals! Wolf fans who make comments like "Humans are more dangerous" obviously know that, I know that, anyone who watches the news, read history books can see what humans can do. I do not deny that the fact that humans are dangerous, but for some reason so many wolf fans deny the fact that wolves are dangerous. I'm sorry to say, but something that can run faster than you, can take you down, and shred you apart with its fangs and claws is a dangerous animal. Bears can take a human down, run faster, and have shredding fangs and claws, moutain lions can take a human down, has shredding fangs and claws, they are dangerous! So what makes the wolf so special to say that they're not?
Wolves are aggressive and dare I say a bit of a power hungry animal at times. It's disturbing to see the dark side of animal. At first I didn't get why so many wolf fans get so ticked when someone would tell the dark facts about the animal, but now I do. Many wolf fans idolize the wolf to be this perfect being to the point they don't want to listen to facts about the wolf that isn't praise.
Let me list some of the basic 'praising' facts about wolves:
1) They are pack animals, either made of of a family or unrelated wolves.
2) all wolves in the pack pitch in when it comes to raising the pups
3) wolves howl to communicate with other wolves
4) wolves mate for life
5) wolves have been known to adopt pups froma different pack
Some of the not so wonderful side of wolves:
1) Wolves have been known to be aggressive and not just when it comes to territory. Being the smallest of the litter doesn't mean jack-squat, if you can survive to adulthood and are aggressive there is a chance that you will become a high ranking wolf or even the alpha, yep the biggest bully gets to be leader. A she-wolf killed her own father and then becomes the next alpha.
2) wolves mate for life, but they don't stay loyal to simply one wolf.
3) wolves won't always accept pups from other packs, some might even kill them because of competition (this include other predatory animal cubs)
4) wolves will steal another animal's kill, they are opportunistic hunters
5) wolf packs can reach into high numbers in packs it can a simple 5 wolves in a pack to 10 to even 20+, which is alot of mouths to feed (inculding pups) compared to solitary predators. This can cause a huge lose of prey because of wolves, and wolves hunt alot, this means less food for other predators including the wolves themselves.
I have no doubt in my mind if I were to post this on a video about wolves on Youtube I'd get thumbs down so fast it make your head spin, not to mention the many angry wolf fans that flame me for 'talking bad' about the animal.
Wolves are being hunted, big deal!
Deers are hunted, bears are hunted, but you don't see too many people getting up in arms about it. I've asked this question before to several different people who want to ban wolf hunting. This is my question: "Why should we give wolves such special treatment? What makes them a special snowflake to the point that hunters shouldn't hunt them, but it's okay to point the gun at bears and bambi?"
I've seen a thread that was titled "Why do people hate wolves?" (this makes me want to facepalm, but I'll explain that later in the rant) [/color] . This person, Emily (I'm not trying to harrass you and I hope you don't mind me saying you're name.) says she doesn't believe "that we should hunt wolves or predatory animals, there is a balance" not an exact quote, but it was along those lines. This is what I say, predatory animals do kill eachother and it is for competition, they don't care about eachother. All the bears, panthers, and wolves care about are themselves, their survival and the survival of their offspring. Wolves, bears, and panthers, could give less of a rat's backside about eachother, they don't care about the balance.
If bears were to suddenly just die out, all that means is more prey for the panthers and wolves, they don't care if one predator goes excinct it just means less competition. Hunters and humans that do not hunt however, would stop the hunting of bears before they die out and put them on the endangered species list to try to bring back their numbers, and when they're numbers come back they are able to be hunted again this goes for any animal that hunters are allowed to hunt, such as panthers, wolves, and deer. When any of these predatory animals see a shortage in prey, they don't get together to have a woodland meeting and try to work things out. These predators don't have a hunting season like human hunters do. These predators don't regulate themselves, they don't check to see if they need to rationalize the prey if they see a shortage. If wolves were to see a shortage in food they'd probably move off somewhere that does have food.
Simply saying it's okay to hunt prey animals but not okay to hunt predators makes no sense to me. There is more to nature than just the food chain like grass gets sunlight, deer eats grass, deer gets eaten by wolf. There is also, once again, competition amoungst the predators that have no problem killing eachother or see the eachother die out.
Hunters do more than just shoot animals, hunters also help keep balance like how the white tailed deer population went up, the other predators couldn't keep up with the numbers and the large population of deer was spreading into neighborhoods and other civialization so it was up to the hunters to keep the population low. Saying animals that are hunted such as the wolf " have done nothing wrong" isn't a very good point, really it just goes back to keeping the population in check. In away hunters are too part of nature. They justdo more to the animal they kill than just eat it or give the meat to the poor, i.e decoration. And before people rage at me for actually liking taxedermy or animal hydes let me say this. I'd much rather admire the animal's beauty after it's death, like caring for it's hyde than let it rot in the ground. Some call it sick and cold hearted, I say it's a pretty keep sake. A better example is like keeping something that once belonged to a now deceased loved one, like a toy, clothes, or a lock of hair.
Calling someone a wolf hater or disliking someone simply becaus ethey do not' like wolves has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
I'm not going to be very nice when I say this, but who gives two heaps of dog crap if someone hates wolves. I have said this before in a post and I'll say it again. Somone who does not like wolves, or hates wolves is not a big deal. There are people who hate/dislike cats, who hate dogs, who hate roaches, hyenas, vultures, and snakes. But you know what? It doesn't matter, as long as that person is not killing animals or harming animals out of spite I don't see a problem. People who have called other people 'wolfhaters' also need a slap on the face with Hunters magazine.
All what this really comes down to is that I don't understand alot of the wolf fans, they deny things and/or are a bit too sentive when it comes to the animal, hunters (I wonder if any wolf fans has ever had a an actual mature conversation with a hunter and not label them all as 'animal murders') and the people who are not fans of wolves. Not to mention it's frustrating, I've seen such dissappointing things form people in the wolf fanbase that now everytime I see a grey wolf I can only see the rabid fans praising the animal like a god and saying things that are hyporcritcal, and selfish. I mean dear lord can rabid wolf fans be selfish! It's okay to point the gun at bambi, but at Kiba it's no-no? There are wolf fans that well now that wolves are no longer endangered and still want them to be protected as if they are! I know everyone is entilted to their opinion, but my sweet lord that has got to be one of the most selfish things I have ever seen. Save an animal that doesn't need to be saved simply because it's your, special, favorite animal...
Comment and give me your opinion if you wish, I will respond to any comment. All opinions are welcomed here, however don't be suprised if you are given reply that isn't something you agree with.
P.S I am not saying you have to like hunting, it's fine by me if you are against it. I am no fan of hunting myself.