Colorado wolf reintroduction

[jyoutz]

From the statue:
If passed by Colorado voters in 2022, the initiative would have:

• Required that criminal animal cruelty charges be filed against veterinarians for performing common veterinary medical surgeries
• Made spaying and neutering animals a criminal offense, thereby increasing animal suffering, pet overpopulation, and spreading of disease
• Criminalized safe and common artificial insemination of dogs, horses, and livestock as “sexual act with an animal” or **********.

Yep, but never made the ballot and would fail if it did.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Yep, but never made the ballot and would fail if it did.

That is what was predicted for the vote for wolf reintroduction. So Not sure. It had a tremendous amount of backing in the urban areas which can pass anything state wide.

 

[Jstpssng]

Yep, but never made the ballot and would fail if it did.

The problem with this type of referendum is that they will keep trying until it finally gets passed... because people get tired of voting it down.

We passed a referendum a couple of years ago even though it stated right in the question that it went against state statutes. Now people are all POed because the state government " doesn't honor the will of the people."

Most elected officials have taken an oath to follow the state and federal constitutions.

 

[Hay Dude]

No big deal if a wolf kills one of our kids, but wonder what’d happen to wolf reintroduction if one of ‘em attacked one of the elected official’s kids?

 

[jyoutz]

The problem with this type of referendum is that they will keep trying until it finally gets passed... because people get tired of voting it down.

We passed a referendum a couple of years ago even though it stated right in the question that it went against state statutes. Now people are all POed because the state government " doesn't honor the will of the people."

Most elected officials have taken an oath to follow the state and federal constitutions.

You are generally correct, but I’m skeptical that would fly in a Colorado statewide vote. Too many stockyards, ranches, and packing plants there, in addition to all of the horsey people on ranchettes. My opinion of course.

 

[jyoutz]

No big deal if a wolf kills one of our kids, but wonder what’d happen to wolf reintroduction if one of ‘em attacked one of the elected official’s kids?

We have far more lion and bear concerns in the Rocky Mountains. There are lion or bear kills of humans every few years in all of the mountain states. Once again I don’t think the wolf program is worthwhile and wouldn’t do it, but after 20+ years in my region there have been remarkably few issues. People down the road from me have lost colts and goats to lions, and the sheep industry is about defunct due to predation losses from coyotes, lions, and bears. Even eagles take young lambs. Wildlife predators are part of the landscape in the Rockies.

 

[ponytug]

It is funny, but around here mountain lions are almost exclusively predators on deer. There apparently is a window of a few months when two year old males get kicked out of mom's den/pack, when they have to carve out their own hunting territory somewhere and some of them do eat other animals, but talking to my large scale ranching neighbors, nobody has been able to recall losing a calf to a mountain lion. We have two dens pretty close to here (less than a mile), and we haven't ever lost a calf to a mountain lion, or coyote for that matter.

Around here, I would love to see grizzly bears reintroduced as the feral pigs have no apex predator, and grizzly apparently used to hunt them. The elk that have been reintroduced locally are like smoke, and vanish about as soon as they sense humans. We have seen them occasionally, but I have neighbors that have never seen one in their lifetimes. A neighboring ranch had some running with their Herefords, and thought that they would do the elk a favor, and moved the cows to a different area of the ranch. The elk got spooked by the lack of cattle, and left. Last that I heard it has been more than twenty years and they still haven't returned. My takeaway is that wildlife management isn't simple...

All the best,

Peter

 

[jyoutz]

It is funny, but around here mountain lions are almost exclusively predators on deer. There apparently is a window of a few months when two year old males get kicked out of mom's den/pack, when they have to carve out their own hunting territory somewhere and some of them do eat other animals, but talking to my large scale ranching neighbors, nobody has been able to recall losing a calf to a mountain lion. We have two dens pretty close to here (less than a mile), and we haven't ever lost a calf to a mountain lion, or coyote for that matter.

Around here, I would love to see grizzly bears reintroduced as the feral pigs have no apex predator, and grizzly apparently used to hunt them. The elk that have been reintroduced locally are like smoke, and vanish about as soon as they sense humans. We have seen them occasionally, but I have neighbors that have never seen one in their lifetimes. A neighboring ranch had some running with their Herefords, and thought that they would do the elk a favor, and moved the cows to a different area of the ranch. The elk got spooked by the lack of cattle, and left. Last that I heard it has been more than twenty years and they still haven't returned. My takeaway is that wildlife management isn't simple...

All the best,

Peter

In NM a few years ago, a man was killed by a lion while sitting in his backyard hot tub. Last summer a man in Arizona was killed by a bear while drinking coffee on his back patio.

 

[ponytug]

In NM a few years ago, a man was killed by a lion while sitting in his backyard hot tub. Last summer a man in Arizona was killed by a bear while drinking coffee on his back patio.

I saw those incidents and they did serve to remind me to be careful when I'm outside as it is their turf. We have lost a few runners over the years here in California.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jyoutz]

I saw those incidents and they did serve to remind me to be careful when I'm outside as it is their turf. We have lost a few runners over the years here in California.

All the best,

Peter

I used to work on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. When we were driving in the woods, if we saw a bear the Apaches would stop the truck, jump out and chase the bear till they treed it. They said that kept the bears afraid of people.