Overprotected wolves causing lots of harm

Fifteen or 20 years ago, when an occasional moose ran through our pasture, scaring the horses and upsetting the dogs, it was fun to see them. The key phrase is “ran through.” They didn’t hang around, damaging nursery plantings, attacking the dogs, or posing a threat when we went to the mailbox. After a couple of unpleasant encounters with moose, we don’t want the big, ugly things around.

A wildlife man said we are seeing so many moose in human habitats because wolves, transplanted to the Caribou Creek area, are scaring game down to lower areas.

The wolves our Fish and Game heroes brought in aren’t indigenous to this area.

They’re gray wolves, capable of taking down a buffalo. Did anyone stop to think that predators follow prey? Well, duh! If the moose are here, where do you suppose the wolves are? They’ve been sighted near Center Valley Road in Selle. A dead moose, obviously a wolf kill, was found on a mountainside near North Boyer Road. A big bull moose near us had two very bad injuries on its shoulder. Our son-in-law, knowledgeable about such things, was sure it was from a wolf attack. Hunters see moose up Caribou Creek with terrible injuries from wolves, moose with strips of hide and flesh hanging down.

Wild animals, overprotected, are losing their fear of people. This is the real world — not Disneyland. Wild animals are just that — wild. They can be dangerous and unpredictable. I wonder where some people left their brains, bringing wolves into places where they hadn’t been for 200 years?

EVALYN FINNEY

Sandpoint