36 Replies to “Have You Hugged An Environmentalist Lately?”

  1. On the topic of environmentalists.

    On this hour, at Eureka, Nunavut. Temp is -35°C. Do glaciers melt at that temp?? Average for Nov. 09 is -32°C.

    Damned global warming.

  2. In related environmentalist news, Ben and Jerry Ice Cream is being sued in court by environmentalists for saying they get their milk from happy cows. I guess they did some interviews with the cows or something.

    1. The cows are so traumatised, they’ve taken up drinking , smoking, and some even gambling….

  3. They had me until they claimed the wolves were giving the cattle PTSD.

    Shell-shocked cows? Really?

    1. It’s a hind brain function of species that have been predated. The fact that it is a primitive response is why it is so resistant to treatment.

      Contrariwise, species that evolved without predators may lack the ability of even basic anxiety. You can walk right up to them with a spear and they will look at you like, “Oh. Hi. What up?” As Douglas Adams put it when talking about the blue-footed boobie, if you pick one up he assumes you will put him down again when you are done with him:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

  4. Oh my, you ignorant rural deplorables, how dare you talk back against us urban environmentalists! Didn’t you get the message that we are your intellectual betters?! We know what’s best for you and soon, when we get rid of your president and seize the reins of power again, we’ll show you who’s in charge.

      1. Hello, what a nioce dog you have. What’s his name?
        Vegan.
        That’s an odd name for a wolf.
        It’s what his diet is.
        OH I never heard of a vegan wolf – that’s special.
        No, his diet IS vegans.

  5. This is humanity chasing its tail. Wolves used to roam those woods before the farms. Then came the farms. The guns got rid of the wolves. Humans prevailed.

    Then came the environmentalists. They probably don’t live in the area but they decided the wolves should return. So they bring back the wolves and the wolves eat the cows. This affects the cows which react against the dogs as noticed by the farmers who have guns to solve problems like this.

    The correct approach would have been to get rid of the farmers. The cows, the farms and the dogs would all disappear. The wolves would come back on their own, hopefully to eat the environmentalists who would show up on the weekend by SUV to check out their handiwork.

  6. “The correct approach would have been to get rid of the farmers.”

    Consider the possibility that that’s the idea and that the wolves are the mechanism.

  7. Wolves are a natural part of the environment. Their absence had severe negative effects and their re-introduction has many positive ones well-documented in YellowStone. The world does not owe farmers a giant safe space to make their lives easier.

    1. In a natural system of predation there are almost no wolves and almost no ungulates. I am guessing the deer/moose population is 100 times pre-settlement population in northern Alberta. There are stories of people traveling from Edmonton to the Yukon who crossed virtually no game tracks. The normal diet of bush Indians was weasel nuts, muskats etc. and a rare fortuitous deer was a bonus. Wolves had the same normal diet plus the odd Indian.

    2. “Wolves are a natural part of the environment.”

      Above the last glacial maximum so are people, arriving right along with the wolves, following the grazers taking advantage of the newly available tundra.

    3. Wolves are an invasive species. The normal habitat at Yellowstone is ice over 1 km thick, over 80% of the time, for the last 2 million years.

      As wolves are invasive, extreme methods should be allowed in wiping them out where they shouldn’t normally exist.

    4. So the environment was adversely affected for the billions of years before wolves evolved?

      And herein lies the nub of the enviro-romanticists’ error. No environment is static or “natural”. If human activity affects the “environment” then so does all the flora, fauna and weather of that environment.

      Enviromantic?

    5. Short grass prairie is a natural part of the environment. Its reduction has had severe negative effects and its re-introduction would have positive ones. The world does not owe Albertans a giant safe space to make their lives easier.

  8. The only thing I didn’t expect was the cattle attacking the dogs … but it makes absolute sense.

    1. I suppose the cattle don’t see much difference between the dogs herding them and the wolves cornering them.

  9. The historic and well documented Lewis and Clark Expedition(1804-1806) had the 30 men traveling across the U.S. from the east to the west coast. The 30 or so men consumed between 8 and 9 pounds each, on average, EACH per day of the expedition. They reported that the game was generally plentiful.
    http://lewisandclarktrail.com/hunting.htm

    Where I live right now, Airdrie(Rocky View district) is beef cattle country. There are wolves, coyotes, cougars and bears.
    The ranchers in my area must know something those poor Yankees don’t about raising cattle and living with natural predators around.

    1. Rocky View isn’t nearly as wild as Idaho. There are wolves, mountain lions (which generally don’t prey on cattle) and bears but not in numbers. SW Alberta is a bit more like Idaho (not as wild) and the ranchers there are in a constant battle with grizzel bears and wolves.

      Shoot shovel and shut up is not efficient. Wolves are prolific breeders and taking out a single wolf is akin to spitting in the ocean.

    2. The difference could be the Idaho farmers are coming under fire for shooting wolves – or perhaps they are not allowed to.

  10. I know some of the Canadian trappers who caught the wolf packs that were used in the initial reintroduction to Idaho and Yellowstone.

    I’ve hung out extensively with the ranch community in New Mexico where the Mexican wolf has been reintroduced. It’s an absolute fact that cattle are stressed by wolves which results in inefficiencies.

    Wolves do belong on the landscape. They need to be managed just like cattle.

    The wolf population is growing exponentially in North America. They are showing up in places like California where they have been extinct for more than a hundred years and out on the prairie in western Canada where they haven’t been since the demise of the buffalo.

    If you are interested a good read is: Shepherds of Coyote Rocks by Cat Urbigkit – Public Lands, Private Herds and the Natural World.

    Wolves are difficult to control. They are an apex predator, cunning and illusive. Trappers who can consistently catch wolves are rare because wolves are smart.

    1. There is an open season on wolves for most of the year in Alberta. You don’t even have to shovel and shutup.

      “Timber Wolf
      A Resident may, without a licence, hunt (but not trap) timber wolf from the opening of any big game season in a particular WMU to May 31, 2020, or until June 15, 2020 in WMUs where black bear seasons are open until June 15, 2020.”

      “Baiting for Wolves and Coyotes – On public land, hunters cannot use bait for hunting wolves or coyotes except a) from Dec. 1 to Mar. 31, or b) during an open season for the hunting of black bear where the setting out, use and possession of bait for the purpose of hunting black bear is permitted.”

      Shooting a wolf is a matter of luck. Your luck increases if you carry a rifle in your pickup.

  11. You know what the next logical step is, right? They stop taking the horns off cows. You poll your cattle, because they charge extra to take those because an animal with it’s natural weapons in place is harder to handle.

    But again, this also drives up production costs; cause cattle fight each other too.

  12. What do you think it would cost to hire 4, 6, 8 guys, and horses, to live with your cattle herd full time the part of the year they are in pasture? Cause all you need in absence of predation and rustlers, are some fences.

    Herding dogs are also different from herd guardians. Herd guardian dogs don’t care where the herd is, they just go with them.

  13. It just snowed again in Chicago Greens what you think of that according to you bean brains it was never against suppost to snow

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