The Laughing Wolf

Friday Wolf Blogging

Today you get a two-fer, as I just could not resist. First up is this shot of the wolves playing with a ball out on the ice. Yes, that is ice over a lake, and the wolves love the flat surface for games and more. They also like that it allows them to take shortcuts between different parts of their domain.

This second shot is of Basil, the fox, and the Unknown Intern. Yes, I know who it is, but they are bundled up so much it reminded me of the Unknown Comic of years past.

In the comments to this post, we got off into the start of a discussion on the benefits of wolf re-introduction. I am going to just summarize a bit here, and plan to write more on this one day soon.

The short version is that when wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone (and other areas), they did indeed prey on the Elk, along with some other animals. The Elk herds did suffer losses, but also grew healthier in the process. As the Elk herds went down, Aspen began a resurgence, leading to re-forestation. With that came the return of birds and other species that had been driven out. With them came other animals, leading to a more balanced ecosystem. I want to cite some of the papers done on this as it is quite an interesting story. One other thing going on that does not get a lot of attention is the resurgence of herd protection dogs (Hi Sophie!), as having them can and does cut down on farm predation by wolves, coyotes, big cats, and other critters -- including dogs. Another fascinating story to go into in more detail one day soon.

Enjoy!

LW