Spider
07-29-2005, 09:06 AM
Editor:
Due to the wet spring, the Forest Service delayed the turn out of our cattle, with the first of them arriving in my camp on July 2. On the Fourth of July, a grizzly killed an eight hundred pound yearling steer right behind my cabin. Since that time (roughly two weeks) the griz have been on a rampage with at least six head of cattle confirmed as griz kills in our association alone. Prior to that three were killed just down the road in our neighbor's pasture.
As of July 18, Wyoming Game and Fish had already trapped five grizzlies. Three of them were relocated, another was euthanized for being a habitual killer of livestock and the last one, a 170-pound sow, was released. It's like the movie "Ground Hog Day." Each day is almost an exact replica of the last, with griz kills being found almost daily. And if that wasn't enough, now the wolves are starting to hit us.
Our allotment sets at the north end of the Wind River Mountains in the Green River Lakes area, about 30 miles east of Jackson. If you went up the Gros-Ventre River to Fish Creek and then followed the South Fork of Fish Creek to its head, you would be in our allotment. This area is within the Grizzly Bear Recovery Area and therefore gives grizzly bears precedence over livestock, creating a virtual feedlot for the bears. Anyone who thinks there are not yet enough grizzlies needs to come down and take a look at what is going on down here.
Two years ago the Wyoming Game and Fish said there were at least 12 grizzlies in a 9-square-mile area around our allotment, and those are the ones they knew of! Who knows how many there are now? The number of recreationalists in the area is growing and it is just a mater of time before human-grizzly conflicts start increasing. Unfortunately it will take a fatal or near fatal encounter before the general public realizes how intense the situation is.
I don't overdramatize or sensationalize. I warned folks of the increasing aggressiveness of wolves. Shortly thereafter, a couple was threatened by a large male wolf while out hiking. The man had to keep the wolf at bay with a large stick while backing away. So believe me when I tell you things are going to get worse before they get better. Grizzlies and wolves have lost all respect for man, not to mention fear. If the environmentalists file suit to stop the delisting of grizzly bears and succeed in dragging this thing out, somebody will literally pay the price and I don't mean monetarily.
Due to the wet spring, the Forest Service delayed the turn out of our cattle, with the first of them arriving in my camp on July 2. On the Fourth of July, a grizzly killed an eight hundred pound yearling steer right behind my cabin. Since that time (roughly two weeks) the griz have been on a rampage with at least six head of cattle confirmed as griz kills in our association alone. Prior to that three were killed just down the road in our neighbor's pasture.
As of July 18, Wyoming Game and Fish had already trapped five grizzlies. Three of them were relocated, another was euthanized for being a habitual killer of livestock and the last one, a 170-pound sow, was released. It's like the movie "Ground Hog Day." Each day is almost an exact replica of the last, with griz kills being found almost daily. And if that wasn't enough, now the wolves are starting to hit us.
Our allotment sets at the north end of the Wind River Mountains in the Green River Lakes area, about 30 miles east of Jackson. If you went up the Gros-Ventre River to Fish Creek and then followed the South Fork of Fish Creek to its head, you would be in our allotment. This area is within the Grizzly Bear Recovery Area and therefore gives grizzly bears precedence over livestock, creating a virtual feedlot for the bears. Anyone who thinks there are not yet enough grizzlies needs to come down and take a look at what is going on down here.
Two years ago the Wyoming Game and Fish said there were at least 12 grizzlies in a 9-square-mile area around our allotment, and those are the ones they knew of! Who knows how many there are now? The number of recreationalists in the area is growing and it is just a mater of time before human-grizzly conflicts start increasing. Unfortunately it will take a fatal or near fatal encounter before the general public realizes how intense the situation is.
I don't overdramatize or sensationalize. I warned folks of the increasing aggressiveness of wolves. Shortly thereafter, a couple was threatened by a large male wolf while out hiking. The man had to keep the wolf at bay with a large stick while backing away. So believe me when I tell you things are going to get worse before they get better. Grizzlies and wolves have lost all respect for man, not to mention fear. If the environmentalists file suit to stop the delisting of grizzly bears and succeed in dragging this thing out, somebody will literally pay the price and I don't mean monetarily.