Re: A selection is now on G+

Post #379,133 by Ashton 8/12/13 2:59:33 AM Reply	Re: A selection is now on G+ Just sent off a piece of 'lectronic gear to Bozeman.. (And hey.. it was made in France.) Then too, that pic of Ansel atop his '42 Pontiac woody --those fenders look a lot like same on my almost olive-drab colored '42 Buick! [lowly 4-door] .. both apparently via the 'special permission' builds, amidst The War? (Did Ansel get special gas coupons re his profession and stature, wonders I.) Loved the red fox: emulating certain cat 'disdainful poses'--turn back, groom==ignore that nearby human. Thanks! for the nicely paced travelogue, a fine intro to the wonders (still protected from too-many-of-us + all those entrepreneurs and realtors.) Concur that The Wolf deserved all those mug shots: the Fright-wing is trying still to get the grey wolves Off the endangered list.. Not content, as they are not: with just the war on homo-sap females' reproductive systems. (My friend with the wolf (who drives around rescuing similar from various animal shelters, before execution) is naturally involved with coordinating anti- Frightful /specious propaganda.) There's A FACE! in that orangish bubbled-up Ca Carbonate thing!
Post #379,179 by Another Scott 8/12/13 7:50:57 PM Reply	More on the wolf. I took and included all the wolf pictures because one can argue that it's just a stray dog otherwise. At least with a few more pictures, it's easier to make the case. ;-) We saw it 10 minutes inside the NE entrance to the park - around here: https://maps.google....com.panoramio.all . That area doesn't seem to be part of any of the packs' normal area, at least according to this: http://www.nps.gov/y...cience/wolves.htm I believe I caught a glimpse of her squatting to pee when she was in the woods. If so, that may indicate she is or was part of Mollie's Pack - http://dipperanch.bl...-yellowstone.html Since our arrival at Yellowstone, I had been reading reports at the Visitors Centers, talking to rangers and reading wolf news on wildlife blogs. What I'd been able to piece together is that last fall Mollie's Pack lost its alpha male. Found by his radio collar, a necropsy determined he was probably killed from the kicks of an ungulate. Over the subsequent winter, the alpha female also disappeared and was replaced by another female, and Mollie's Pack moved north into other wolf territories. With its large size, Mollie's Pack bullied the other packs, killed the alpha male of the Mary Mountain Pack which was then taken over by a young male from the Mollie's Pack. After reading about all these wolf battles, I am fascinated to see the black wolf confidently cover so much ground, but 779's steady pace to the west is seeming a little ominous. For another perspective on wolf 779 and pack dynamics, consider Kathie Lynch's description of the Mollie's Pack on The Wildlife News blog: "The pack's large size, oversupply of females, lack of leadership, and inability to find a new alpha male contributed to the pack splitting into several often-changing subgroups." Lynch and others observed a small cohort of young females from Mollie's Pack consorting in the February 2012 breeding season with two male wolves which had dispersed from the Blacktail Pack, and the secret rendezvous continued through the spring and summer. Would a new pack form out of the splintering pack? Meanwhile, a larger subgroup of the Mollie's Pack continued fighting with other packs. Made up of the new alpha female and several older wolves including the same black Female 779 we were watching a few weeks later, they discover the dalliances of the young females and track down and kill one of the outside flirting males, 777M. Lynch concludes, "Seven seventy-seven lived and died a wolf in the wild, making the most of his chances and risking consequences." After describing the murderous affairs of the pack, she speculates that 777's genes may be infiltrating the Mollie's Pack as pups of the surviving young females. It's a hard life. :-( The wolves do seem to be helping restore a bit more balance in the park, though. http://www.latimes.c...9,0,3444257.story In another example of how the return of a top predator can have far-reaching ecological effects, researchers have found that the reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park has boosted an important food source for the threatened grizzly bear. A study published Monday in the Journal of Animal Ecology is essentially a tale of who eats what. When wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995 after a 70-year absence, they preyed on elk herds that browsed on trees and shrubs. The elk population, which had exploded without the wolves, dropped. The over-browsed plants began to rebound, including berry-producing shrubs that provide nutritious summer meals for grizzlies when they are fattening up for hibernation. We saw lots of young Aspen trees, too. The reintroduction of wolves is having far-reaching, and seemingly beneficial, consequences. Here's hoping they find a way to be a strong, and permanent, presence. Cheers, Scott.
Post #379,187 by Ashton 8/13/13 4:31:44 AM Reply	Hard life, indeed. When I think of Ivan (L's house&field wolf, who parented/brought up a blind housemate ~Malamute?-like pup) and our touching noses as he towered over me with paws on my sagging shoulders.. hard to imagine this lovable beast (surviving?) in that milieu :-/ though his now merely latent abilities might surprise, a lot. Nice sleuthing after seeing that local in the park.. right next to road. And he did look pretty bedraggled. Dipper Ranch link suggests many people regularly following their adventure--maybe some since the '95 start/reintroduction? Trying to extrapolate which species wins/loses? or just the ratios of that... (Ashleigh Brilliant again!) In the final analysis, everything depends on everything else. Still. No wonder MDS can often screw up diagnoses, given Our lists of maladies: and the poor wolves have mites! or distemper or .. (In past few months, lost both Milli and Micro [aka μ of course] the old, small cats--both of whom had had at least 3 yrs of TLC (mission accomplished, I wot.) Each via (not identical) seizures, thus only barely conscious, clearly not 'coming back'. The downside of it all. Wolves don't go out so gently: quite apparently. Just as well we cannot empathize Too-deeply: unbearable if one were bonded with a wild one. Recall that link here, re the people visiting the Big Feline (Tiger?) after some years: whom they'd rescued as a cub (plus his mate!)) ... I still ponder the scene where the two of these! powerful beasts came running AT? .. TO? them--and what must have evoked the very definition of ...trepidation!?! Maybe there are a few wolves out there + special humans too, "who knew them when".. eh? Great to encounter Real Life on such a trip!
Post #379,215 by Ashton 8/13/13 5:51:39 PM Reply	This just in: [Defenders of Wildlife} Woof! Woof!! With the help of supporters like you, we just saw a breakthrough in our long-term fight to stop the premature delisting of wolves. Nearly 60,000 of you spoke out against the exclusion of these wildlife experts, and because of the public outcry, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is putting the brakes on a scientific peer review, which had barred 16 of the most respected scientists from advising on the agency's misguided delisting proposal. We will continue calling on FWS to move forward with a fair peer review of the proposal by experts. Please donate now to support our continued efforts to protect wolves and other wildlife. Sincerely, Jamie Rappaport Clark President Defenders of Wildlife ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- USFWS halts peer review process for national wolf delisting proposal Public outcry over excluded experts raises serious concerns over scientific integrity WASHINGTON (August 12, 2013) Â According to news reports today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) has put on hold the scientific peer review of its proposal to strip federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across nearly all of the lower 48 states. The following is a statement from Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of Defenders of Wildlife: ÂWhile we still disagree on the merits of this premature delisting proposal, at least the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service understands the magnitude of the issue. ItÂs a relief that the Service has listened to the voices of wildlife supporters nationwide who have called the integrity of their peer review process into question. Cherry-picking scientists is not a good way to do business. To ensure impartiality and scientific integrity, we recommend that the Service turn the peer review over to the National Academy of Sciences instead of trying to manage the process itself. Either way, we look forward to a fair peer review of the science behind this ill-advised delisting proposal, and we hope the Service turns to the best experts in the field regardless of whether they have written letters about the use of their science in the proposal.Â #### Background: Last week, several wolf experts were excluded from consideration for a peer review panel to evaluate the scientific basis for delisting gray wolves nationwide. They were excluded for signing a letter in May that criticized the Fish and Wildlife ServiceÂs proposal, saying: ÂBased on a careful review of the rule, we do not believe that the rule reflects the conclusions of our work or the best available science concerning the recovery of wolves, or is in accordance with the fundamental purpose of the Endangered Species Act to conserve endangered species and the ecosystems upon which they depend.Â Among those excluded were Robert Wayne of UCLA, Roland Kays of North Carolina State University and John Vucetich of Michigan Technological University. THAT's ~ #5 or 6 of.. Signed-things that WORKED (more.. that galvanized further interest and further focus, on continuing pressures.. So.. CLICK that bloody mouse--most orgs now make the signing about as effortless as typing Fsck^&#^&ing b l o c k q u o t e idiot-verbosity ... over-and-ov... Law above fear, justice above law, mercy above justice, love above all.
Post #379,216 by boxley 8/13/13 7:18:00 PM Reply	need more in the smoky mountains there are a few but really rare Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free American and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 58 years. meep
Post #379,225 by Another Scott 8/13/13 8:48:11 PM Reply	Good news. Thanks very much.

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