Mental Exercise: Wolves or Cattle?

[Customweld]

I know wolves are some lethal predators, but I wonder if they would go after a healthy adult horse? I heard they will kill colts and sick ones. A healthy herd of wild horses isn’t really a soft target. I’m guessing the wolves would wreck their regular quarry populations before resorting to the feral horses. Just speculation.

There is a small population of feral horses above where I live. Wolves aren't around them year-round but definitely spend winter and early spring with them. I haven't noticed many horse carcasses when I am out bird or shed hunting. There are also hundreds of elk and deer that share that winter range, and I do find quite a few deer and elk kills. Just an anecdotal thought.

 

[49ereric]

I know wolves are some lethal predators, but I wonder if they would go after a healthy adult horse? I heard they will kill colts and sick ones. A healthy herd of wild horses isn’t really a soft target. I’m guessing the wolves would wreck their regular quarry populations before resorting to the feral horses. Just speculation.

I know of a horse kill by wolves but not sure of the circumstances.
the owners shot the next wolf they saw and let it lay and no more wolf problems with their horses. I found out long after the event. Can’t say I blame them a bit.

 

[gbflyer]

Good point and that’s another thing to consider. Did they have a similar impact to todays cattle? There were certainly enough of them to do some damage, maybe the herds roamed enough that the ecosystem recovered between herd visits? We know that overgrazing can be pretty damaging, but did millions and millions of bison do the same? I don’t have any clue.

The modern bison in the Yukon Territory as an example are fairly destructive. The damage they do along the road is impressive. I’d imagine that millions of them were very hard on parts of the ecosystem, any discussion there would be mostly anecdotal today.

 

[JFK]

Cattle. It’s not that cows don’t create issues with game habitat, but that the alternative is much worse. If cattle go away, so do the ranches and ranchers. Who buys that land? It’s not people who are pro-hunting. If land isn’t viable as a cattle ranch then the alternative is almost always worse. Subdivision takes place and habitat is lost forever. How about the game that benefits from hay fields, water troughs, predator management?

 

[mt terry d]

Mail it to me and I’ll do it

Still looking for it. We moved a bunch of stuff to a storage unit a couple years ago and then back so nothing is where it's been for the last 15 years.

Has to be in a box with other stuff and not listed on the label.

Patience. I need to get a few of these converted.

 

[Blackdog317]

Cattle.