Wolves in Scotland

ST4 said:
A wind up post from a thread I took part in Yesterday
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Oh I see no worries
We will have to agree to differ on the wolves thing
I don't think it will ever happen anyway
I'm more concerned about the general loss of our wildlife I don't know about Scotland but in my lifetime there's been a huge decline in things like hares kestrels and butterflies in England and Wales
The last site for the grizzled skipper butterfly in north wales is being developed close to where I live
 
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Your whole account appears to be a wind up to be honest.

If you cannot tell the difference between animals that are extinct and have been for hundred of thousands/millions of year vs. something still alive but eradicated in a location less than 250 years ago then I pity you.

You said there were no ecological reason. I have told you the ecological argument

Keeping it simple for you:
More wolves, fewer deer, more heather and pine forest, less physical erosion and more nesting areas for birds.
 
game keepers mean increased cost
wolves get introduced, do the same job or better, and generate tourism money

increased cost or increased revenue? I know what I'd go for
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
game keepers mean increased cost
wolves get introduced, do the same job or better, and generate tourism money

increased cost or increased revenue? I know what I'd go for
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Want to see a wolf? go to any wildlife park, want to see a wolf in the wild? best of luck to you.
 
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for a start they are probably roaming at large already just not been heard or spotted ,i can state with total truthfulness that there are black panthers loose in the midlands as i came face to face with one a few years back just a couple of miles from much wenlock .and when i say face to face i mean at around 10 mtrs range .that is fact .
so its not entirely unlikely that there will also be wolves and other escaped wildlife out there and hopefully some of it in breeding pairs to ,mans arrogance never ceases to astound me we are not the only creatures on this planet we need to learn to live with it instead of killing animals and birds simply for fun and because we can .
 
biggestkillers_final_v8_no-logo_zpsfd6dd927.jpg


KILL ALL HUMANS!!!!

wait, what..

(source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-mind-blowing-infographic-mosquiotes-2014-4)
 
Mosquito nearly killed my friend yesterday.

He ended up in hospital with delayed anaphalaxis after being bitten just TWICE on Thursday night! Came on fairly gradually to start and then rapidly escalated with over 100 large red lumps all over and severe swelling of face, eyes throat and limbs.

Not nice at all and very scary.

Kill them all! :D
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
Your whole account appears to be a wind up to be honest.

Keeping it simple for you:
More wolves, fewer deer, more heather and pine forest, less physical erosion and more nesting areas for birds.
Click to expand...

I watched an interesting documentary on Wolves being re-introduced to Yellowstone a few years ago. It talked about the changes you mention, some were not due to less animals, but animals having less time to stay in one place \ being chased. The effect was by rivers plants were growing slightly taller, beavers were coming back etc. I can't remember enough of it to describe it accurately here, I think it was a National Geographic program, worth watching for those genuinely interested in this.

I'm all for it in Scotland. You would need to cater to loss of livestock to farmers should that occur, but I'd expect to be a positive attracting lots of tourists. I've been to Yosemite looking for bears (didn't see any mind you) but lots of people travel to these places to hope to see some of this, same as safaris etc.

If everyone in the world took the approach of the OP, you'd just go and kill every dangerous wild creature. Bye bye lions, tigers, sharks, elephants, snakes etc etc - we're on our way to do that of course. There is a balance to be found I admit.
 
Tigger.ufo said:
Mosquito nearly killed my friend yesterday.

He ended up in hospital with delayed anaphalaxis after being bitten just TWICE on Thursday night! Came on fairly gradually to start and then rapidly escalated with over 100 large red lumps all over and severe swelling of face, eyes throat and limbs.

Not nice at all and very scary.

Kill them all! :D
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Nice. I don't think a single person would miss Mosquitos if they went extinct next week.
 
akr said:
I watched an interesting documentary on Wolves being re-introduced to Yellowstone a few years ago. It talked about the changes you mention, some were not due to less animals, but animals having less time to stay in one place \ being chased. The effect was by rivers plants were growing slightly taller, beavers were coming back etc. I can't remember enough of it to describe it accurately here, I think it was a National Geographic program, worth watching for those genuinely interested in this.
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I remember reading an article on the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone apparently all of the ecosystem benefited
I imagine that for it to work in Scotland a very large uninhabited area would be needed I'm not sure if theres anywhere suitable though
 
akr said:
I watched an interesting documentary on Wolves being re-introduced to Yellowstone a few years ago. It talked about the changes you mention, some were not due to less animals, but animals having less time to stay in one place \ being chased. The effect was by rivers plants were growing slightly taller, beavers were coming back etc. I can't remember enough of it to describe it accurately here, I think it was a National Geographic program, worth watching for those genuinely interested in this.

I'm all for it in Scotland. You would need to cater to loss of livestock to farmers should that occur, but I'd expect to be a positive attracting lots of tourists. I've been to Yosemite looking for bears (didn't see any mind you) but lots of people travel to these places to hope to see some of this, same as safaris etc.

If everyone in the world took the approach of the OP, you'd just go and kill every dangerous wild creature. Bye bye lions, tigers, sharks, elephants, snakes etc etc - we're on our way to do that of course. There is a balance to be found I admit.
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When Yellowstone became a National Park back in the day wolves were regarded as an undesirable predator and hunted heavily. This did to just apply to the park but all across the wolves northern range. There wasn't a massive wolf population in the park. When the wolves had been removed the condition of the parks flora deteriorated due to the elk numbers increasing and the effect that they were having. Elk were then trapped and removed and when this didn't work the park rangers started killing them over the next 30 years.

The wolves were reintroduced in 1995 and their reintroduction has had a wide ranging effect on the parks ecology. Elk numbers have been reduced as have coyote numbers. Other animals have increased such as foxes and beavers. The beavers activities have resulted in new habitats being formed for other animals.

I think only about 30 wolves were released and numbers fluctuate but it has been seen as a huge success and a good example of natures balance being far more effective than mans efforts.
 
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What about the highland midge?
Its the sneakier nastier cheekier Scottish cousin of the mosquito.
Forget dangerous dogs and wolves. Invest in a way to rid us of the dreaded midge :p
 
There's over 400 wolves in Yellowstone, and in excess of a dozen large active packs - Druid being the one that visitors seem to want to spot the most, and also the most filmed in terms of documentaries. They're now a highly integral part of a rather delicate ecosystem.
 
canon_togger said:
What about the highland midge?
Its the sneakier nastier cheekier Scottish cousin of the mosquito.
Forget dangerous dogs and wolves. Invest in a way to rid us of the dreaded midge :p
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:plus1: I lived and was educated on Skye. It's worthy to note that with midges, it's only the females that bite. That seems to reflect on life itself somehow:(
 
The law as it is means that you can't feed anything that is enclosed of living animals, so if you introduce wolves into a large area, as long as there is a fence to prevent them
straying you can't keep live herbivores etc. in the same area. So would have to still feed them on dead meet.
Wolves are basically very shy creatures and will avoid human contact, hence many of the wolf watch holidays you go on don't see much of them and you have
to trek for miles before you do, if you are lucky.
Of course as with supposed big cats etc, who knows there may already be some roaming free.....................................................................
 
Gremlin said:
Of course as with supposed big cats etc, who knows there may already be some roaming free.....................................................................
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That's a very good point actually.

We have (I know for a fact) at least 2 large private collections of "wild" animals,
(And a few years ago, one of them was forever "losing" smaller monkeys.
and a suspicion of a couple of the "smaller cats" largely un-proven as they were
never recovered, if they did in fact escape )
We also have two "zoos" / wildlife parks all within close proximity to MK.

Wallabies are certainly free roaming in an area just outside Bedford,
I've seen the road kill (when will they ever learn to not play with the traffic?)

And over many years of living in, and traveling around the area,
I've seen a couple or so "exotics" plastered all over the road.
Admittedly mostly unidentifiable due to the "mess"
But the coat texture and colours (and sizes) denote "exotic"
Not natives (not deer, foxes, badgers etc)

I've also seen very very large cat prints, on 2 occasions,
on local farm land, just a few miles from MK.

So who knows what actually is out there?
(This is my image BTW, not nicked from the web)

View attachment 11913
 
There are Wallabies in the Peak district too.

Some years ago, a mate of mine, as honest and no nonsense guy as you could wish to meet, came face to face with a large cat as he sat in his car in a lay-by one night in Devon.
 
simon ess said:
There are Wallabies in the Peak district too.

Some years ago, a mate of mine, as honest and no nonsense guy as you could wish to meet, came face to face with a large cat as he sat in his car in a lay-by one night in Devon.
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From what I've seen around here over the years, I have no reason to disbelieve you or him.
 
Mbuti said:
Panther would be interesting as there is no such animal!
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Many people see big black cat...they think Panther. It's a fair enough description IMO.

I've seen the wallabies near Leek more than once. The colony used to be quite large. As a teen I remember a couple if them being rounded up as they happily hopped south along the A6 :lol:
 
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