Sunday, February 7, 2010

Wolves in the Valley

A reliable friend of mine was blessed with a reliable sighting of a wolf only 10-12 km from here. For me this is very exciting news. I’m not giving direction or location away of course, but it’s well within my stamping ground so I’m well pleased. As soon as the snows clear and wild camping becomes more relaxing again, guess where I’m going!

I think I’d give bits of my anatomy for a sighting of a wolf in the valley.

(Want to see a good film, check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIDhhmkIxRc&feature=related)

We know they’re here because scats and tracks have been found but (fortunately) nobody is saying where or when because of the terror that the word wolf seems to cause in the ignorant. Terror of baby snatching and predation on domestic animals, attacks on hill walkers and other such crap. The most wantonly dangerous and destructive creature in the world afraid of a dog in miserly numbers so small as to be almost non-existent!!! Diddums.

Just over the mountain in Prali there were only about 30 wolves last year but the unbelievable debate that they caused really was unbelievable bordering on the insane. Despite all our technology and easy access to information we seem not to have evolved much since the 1500s.

So though I’d personally love to have wolves in the woods below the house I reckon they don’t stand a chance of making a serious comeback. People are still too primitive, too ignorant but more than that, just not interested in learning the facts, too happy to believe all the legends and superstition rather than read the wealth of information available at the click of a mouse.

Most of the opposition to the return of the wolf seems to be from farmers. I have no sympathy. They get compensated for any losses. Anyway,as far as I have been able to see these days farmers don’t shepherd their flocks, too much like hard work; instead of being watched over by humans they are now being left in the paws of huge, vicious (in my personal experience) sheep dogs far, far more dangerous and widespread and unafraid than any wolf. I recently got forced off a bloody mountain by two snarling and advancing marrema sheepdogs protecting the flock of sheep. The question I asked is, who protects me from the sheepdog?


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was a good film and you're right about people having no interest.Thanks also to certain children's bedtime stories. I bet that this makes you want huff and puff more than you usually do. ;)

Woozle said...

me? Huff and puff? away with ye! I'm a model of tollerance.
xxx

Anonymous said...

Glad to know that you think I'm reliable! xxx

Woozle said...

well in true Douglas Adams tradition, 'mostly' reliable :-))
xxx