OUTDOOR CORNER: CRYING WOLF ABOUT THE BIG BAD WOLF

Wolves get a bad rap. Our images of wolves revolve around werewolves and fairy tales about "Peter and the Wolf" and "Little Red Ridinghood."

These stories are designed to scare us and have become the banner for wolf hatred. Missouri has, or more likely had two wolves; the red wolf (Canis rufus) and the grey wolf (Canis lupus). Native Americans lack a hatred for wolves, and it wasn't until the immigration of Europeans that the hatred of wolves made it to North America.

It is unfortunate that wolves are viewed negatively, because the bad information keeps many people from seeing how amazing wolves truly are.

Adult grey wolves are 28-38 inches high at the shoulder. From nose to tail tip they run about 6-7 feet long, and average about 100 pounds. This is a very large animal! I am not sure many people realize just how big these dog relatives are. Their paws can be four inches across.

My 45 pound dog at home has 2 inch paws. Coyotes, which are commonly misidentified as wolves are about 40 pounds and seldom exceed total lengths of 4 feet. Grey wolves have not been sighted in Missouri for decades.

Red wolves are a different story. They are difficult to tell from the coyote to whom they are incredibly similar. The red wolf lives only in captivity now. All of the actual red wolves still living have been captured and placed in refuges for their own protection. A red wolf can be distinguished, by an authority, using characteristics of the feet, head, teeth, nose, and fur. Red wolves were never common in Missouri and do not tolerate human changes on the land. They are most certainly all gone from the wild.

Wolves are surprisingly social animals. They are the second most social land animal next to primates. Wolves roam in packs which are crucial to their survival. Lone wolves have a lower chance of survival and die within a year or two from being outcast.

Packs have a dominance system that establishes who is in charge. Many of the behaviors used for communication in a pack are retained by many of our domestic dogs who originated from the wolf. Dog owners know when a dog is wanting to play and when it means business. Wolves are no different. They care for their young, divide duties, work together and protect their own. These are traits we value in humans.

Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, commented on the thousands of wolves he encountered as "extremely gentle." Early prairie travelers were more concerned with rattlesnakes than the countless wolves singing them to sleep. Early explorers and naturalists deemed them the shyest creatures in the northern wilderness (Canada).

A healthy wolf has never been known to attack humans. There has never been a wolf attack on humans that did not involve rabies. Wolves are NOT out to get us. I do not care what Hollywood tries to sell us.

Furthermore, wolves have no effect on population numbers of the prey they hunt. The animals they kill would have died eventually of something else that season. When they do hunt bigger animals, the prey tend to be old, inexperienced, or sick, and by killing these wolves actually improve herd quality. They do not take down the 14 point monster buck. They go for the slow, injured cripple. Much of their diet consists of rodents, not large animals that defend themselves well. Big game animals are more influenced by man than these predators.

The only legitimate argument against wolves is their ability to kill livestock. They do kill farm and ranch animals. Bear in mind that most wolf kills are associated with poor livestock management; such as leaving yearlings out, neglecting to monitor herds on a regular basis, and not burying dead livestock. Ninety percent of all ranchers who live in areas still occupied by wolves are never bothered by wolves. Wild and domestic dogs do more damage to livestock than wolves, yet ferrel animals are not hunted with the extreme hatred as wolves.

Wolves are victims of ignorance and misinformation. Man has successfully denied himself the experience of seeing wolves in the Midwest. Wolves are a pitiful threat and serve a valuable purpose as a natural predator. Reality about the wolf is more intriguing than the fiction.

Mismanagement of wolves will only stop when residents decide what they want to buy into...myths or real evidence.

A.J. Hendershott is an education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation.