Cassiopaean Sandbox > Our 2D Friends
Wolves attack people
Arctodus:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026125539.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2009) — Although most wolves in Yellowstone National Park live to be nearly six years old, their ability to kill prey peaks when they are two to three, according to a study led by Dan MacNulty and recently published online by Ecology Letters.
The study will appear in the journal's December print issue.
The finding challenges a long-held belief that wolves are successful predators for their entire adult lives. It now appears that like human athletes, they are only at the top of their game for about 25 percent of that time. It also shows that physiology can limit predation.
"Wolves are not perfect predators," says MacNulty, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Biological Sciences' Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. "They lack physical characteristics to kill prey swiftly, so they rely on athletic ability and endurance, which diminishes with age. They're like 100-meter sprinters. They need to be in top condition to perform."
By comparison, mountain lions, with their short snouts, powerful muscles and retractable claws, are designed to kill, MacNulty says. Not surprisingly, they live and hunt alone.
In Yellowstone, wolves, who hunt in packs, depend on elk for survival. The finding is timely because the park's elk population is shrinking and wolves are being blamed. Wolves were hunted out of the area in the 1930s and re-introduced in 1995. But the study shows there isn't a strong correlation between the number of wolves in the park and the number of elk killed.
MacNulty says that number fluctuates based on the age structure of the wolf population at any given time. The higher the proportion of wolves over age three, the lower the rate at which they kill elk. For every 10 percent rise in the proportion of wolves older than three, the kill rate declined 10 to 15 percent. He notes that the drop in the elk population is also attributable to drought and to Grizzly Bears.
"Wolves are not the sole factor limiting Yellowstone's elk population," MacNulty says.
When older wolves can no longer hunt successfully, younger wolves share their kill with them, in what MacNulty describes as a lupine version of Social Security. While a high ratio of old-to-young wolves may benefit elk, it could strain the wolf population because there aren't enough workers to support retirees.
Montana legalized hunting wolves after they were removed from the endangered species list in 2007. Although hunting is prohibited in the park, packs wander beyond it boundaries and radio-marked wolves have been killed. MacNulty says hunting won't put the species at risk, but it actually skews the population towards younger wolves, which could mean more deaths, not fewer, for the elk.
MacNulty became a field biologist at Yellowstone after graduating from the University of Colorado in 1995, the year wolves were reintroduced, and focused his doctoral studies on their predatory behavior. He has continued tracking Yellowstone's wolves as a University of Minnesota postdoctoral researcher for Craig Packer, the world's foremost authority on lions.
MacNulty's next step is to create mathematical models to study the long-term effects of fluctuations in the age structure of Yellowstone's wolf population on the elk population. His collaborators include Douglas Smith (Yellowstone Center for Resources); John Vucetich, Michigan Technological University) David Mech (US Geological Survey); Daniel Stahler (Yellowstone Center for Resources) and Craig Packer (University of Minnesota).
Adapted from materials provided by University of Minnesota.
RyanX:
I don't have Without Conscience in front of me at the moment, but didn't Hare say similar things about psychopaths in that their behavior tends to mellow out sometime around mid-life? Maybe this was just the violent/criminal psychopath types? That would be interesting if this trait is shared among certain psychopaths and their symbolic 2D brethren - the wolves.
1984:
--- Quote from: Arctodus on October 28, 2009, 01:54:32 AM ---http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026125539.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2009) — Although most wolves in Yellowstone National Park live to be nearly six years old, their ability to kill prey peaks when they are two to three, according to a study led by Dan MacNulty and recently published online by Ecology Letters.
--- End quote ---
Thanks, Arctodus - it's now posted on SOTT: http://www.sott.net/article_previews/show/59260-Wolves-Lose-Their-Predatory-Edge-In-Mid-life :)
voyageur:
The following is a strange reaction to a post and how sacred cows were employed to a degree by me until the very last moment when a Cherokee legend was found crystallizing the original intent – left the thread as it evolved;
RayanX
--- Quote ---…psychopaths and their symbolic 2D brethren - the wolves.
--- End quote ---
Where did the “symbolic” connection to wolves come from; did I miss this somewhere other than myths and legends?
I have been around wolves for a long time and I don’t necessarily see this as a descriptor. Wolves seem to have gotten a Bad Rap, especially from farmers who decide to set up shop in wolf traditional territory; however a 2 year old male Black Bear most defiantly shows heightened predatory behavior, in fact, they can be quite strange and unpredictable, and humans are, unlike wolves, part of their predatory equation. Some bears, will size a human up in predatory fashion and weigh them within their minds as being take-able or not. The male species of Bear, black or grizzly will play all kinds of havoc on females and their cubs in behavior more reminiscent of psychopathic traits.
Psychopaths in Sheep's Clothing, By George K. Simon, located here; http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopaths_in_sheeps_clothing.htm, does discus overt-aggression and covert-aggression and personalities within. The bible does discus wolves in the negative connotation, but I am not sure that was not part of an edit by a scribe to demonize?
I recall wolves in the Yellowstone as being a very charged issue as bounties were launched and a slaughter ensued and a lot of complaining by all sides as to the causes and effects of wolves in the areas has continued with no real resolve; how can there be with such opposite perceptions? Perceptions that make it just too bad if you are a cow, chicken or a wolf pack respectively.
Elk population wan and wax depending on snow pack (feed source), predator conditions (inclusive of other species), timber canopy densities and even human policies. In respect to the latter, farmers noted a decrease in ungulate species and as that food source depleted, their livestock became at risk. The government biologists in conjunction with recreational hunting managers have made some rather poor decisions. In some areas things like opening the season to cow/calf kills was in vogue and the result was/is that the old traditional female genetics was decimated with the results being that the younger population did not know what to do with the herds, no historical roots of where they should lead them. In a herd of strong genetic female leadership, the females would take the herd into the back mountain drainages, out of the valley bottoms and sometimes to very high altitudes, feeding off fir lichen and such. Because of these genetic interruptions, the herds stagnated in the valleys and were prayed upon until their numbers fell.
The result of this was to vilify the wolves and the culling has been going on since.
Gerry Foster in his ‘Lexicon’ discusses wolves or more appropriately Werewolves in conjunction with Vampires
--- Quote ---Werewolves. (Slav). Those born with a crescent-shaped birthmark, wofish tufts of hair or a caul over their head, were thought to be werewolves. The caul was usually kept as an amulet or stitched into the person’s clothing. This was believed to bring luck and keep the evil animal spirit at bay. The Slavs believed that children born with these things possessed magical powers such as second sight and ability to change into a variety of animals. However, they were thought to much prefer metamorphosis into the savage and bloodthirsty wolf.
--- End quote ---
and
--- Quote ---Vampire lore had its strongest hold over the Kashub Slavs who lived east of the Vistula and their southern cousins. In the south Slav states, vampires and werewolves became so entwined that the modern term for them is Vukodlak (wolf’s hair), but, unlike werewolves, vampires are manifestations of the revenant unclean dead.
--- End quote ---
Actually, thank you RyanX for posting that little symbolic relationship because perhaps this is a factual statement or at least a duality as you will see from this most amazing Cherokee legend that I found as a result of your post – thank you again, I think this may indeed resonate with people as it does show the predator mind and the wolf is being used within as the symbol.
A Cherokee Legend
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html
--- Quote ---An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Here is the same story, but it is called "Grandfather Tells" which is also known as "The Wolves Within"
An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story.
I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.
But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times." He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,for his anger will change nothing.
Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"
The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."
--- End quote ---
Herr Eisenheim:
Ahm, when did the wolves become "psychopaths symbolic brethren" and why?!
Most predatory animals could be symbolic representatives of psychopaths, especially members of felidae family, as much as any animal could be symbolic representative of almost any human psyche archetype.
IMO it is a big mistake to get entangled in this, animals live in the world so different then ours, their reality is based on entirely different laws then ours, therefore it seems to me - searching some deeper meaning in similar comparisons is just a dead end.
If we are going to play with symbols- don't forget wolves have always been the Nemesis of shepherds and this is why humanity declared war until extermination upon them.
There is a number of zoologists who spent their life times studying behavior and social structure of wolves. The results were fascinating, shattering many misconceptions we have about wolves.
___http://www.livingwithwolves.org/project.html
just my five euro cents ;)
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