Killing Wolves
®Wolves¯ are killed today by illegal hunting, killing to protect livestock, poisoning, traps and shooting from helicopters and planes. A wolf hunter or trapper can earn more than $150 by selling the fur of just one wolf. In fact, out of all the elements of nature, only man has been able to threaten to wipe the wolf off the face of the earth with the use of devices such as traps, pits, corrals, deadfalls, the ice box trap, the edge trap, piercers, fishhooks, snares, den hunting, professional hunting, bounty hunting, poisoning and airplane and helicopter hunting.
TRAP: Steel traps are devices that when triggered cause a set of strong metal jaws to spring around an animal's ®foot¯ and hold it firmly. The trap is shallowly buried near natural or artificial scent posts, around carcasses of large animals, on wolf trails, or in front of small baited holes known as "dirt holes". ®Wolf¯ urine and/or powerful-smelling scent is often used near the trap. Steel traps have been used on wolves for decades and are still utilized today by individual trappers in both North America and Eurasia. They are especially effective in autumn, when ground conditions are good for setting them. However, they have the disadvantages of being expensive and heavy.
SNARING: The disadvantages of the steel trap can be completely overcome by the use of snares. These are made of wire or cable set in a sliding loop and hung along ®wolf¯ trails. The wolf accidentally sticks his neck through the snare and chokes itself. Snares are inexpensive, light, simple to set and easy to keep operating even in cold and snowy weather.
AERIAL HUNTING: One of the newer techniques of killing large numbers of ®wolves¯ involves the use of either fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters. This method is usually limited to periods when snow covers the ground, for it depends a great deal on an aerial hunter's ability to track wolves over long distances. However, because of the efficiency of this technique, large numbers of wolves can be wiped out of a region in just a few weeks of winter hunting.
POISONING: The use of poison is no doubt the most effective and efficient method of controlling or exterminating ®wolves¯. Past efforts at poisoning have been hampered by inadequate means of distributing poison baits, but now this problem has been overcome by the use of airplanes, helicopters, and snowmobiles.
BOUNTIES: Money or other valuable tender, such as livestock, paid for the killing of animals, is known as a bounty. Bounties have been paid for ®wolves¯ for at least 2700 years, and in the United States they were begun as early as 1630, in Massachusetts. The payment of bounties has provided much of the motivation for private citizens to kill wolves. Bounties are usually paid by federal, state, or local governments, but they have also been offered by various special-interest groups such as livestock organizations. In general, the bounty system is an ineffective and inefficient method of reducing, controlling, or eliminating a species, and millions of dollars have been wasted through bounty payments. However, when payments are high, capture techniques efficient, and the density of the species low, bounties may be effective.
