Many of us who live next to water or in the woods are avocational scientists. We observe, take notes, study, and learn. We have been reading the stories in the Herald these past two years about more encounters with single wolves and the increase in pet, town, and human interaction. I have to ask the question: Are these interactions paralleling our introduction of the Minnesota wolf hunt?
As a scientific observer, I am wondering if we, by culling the hunters of greatly evolved communities that are relatively high on the food chain, have unknowingly taken the alpha males and females, leaving the equivalent of a ship and crew without a captain.
Are we leaving these wolf packs to drift and fall apart, causing them to become solo hunters of tame pets out of survival, rather than hunt their traditional prey as a pack in the woods?
We don’t know what we don’t know. We are all part of this circle, and it is critical that we ask questions, observe, and then learn with open minds, from the results.
Colleen Hollinger Petters
Lutsen Property Owner
Avon, Minnesota
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