WolfQuest

I would try to scare him/her away, if that didn't work, i would probably hit him/her but not too hard.

Vida wrote:If it was attacking my family or friends I would try and drive it away/tranquilize/stun whatever. I personally don't know if I could kill it. But I don't have to worry about that because we have no predators in New Zealand xD. Only birds, deer, mountain goats, possums and feral cats.

Same. I also live in NZ.

Kaheaniehal wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 04, 2007 7:08 am

Question: Would you ever kill a wolf if the life of you/a friend/pet(something living you hold close to you) were in danger from it?
Or just a human being in general?

------
Personally I never judge by the species, but by my personal value to the being. So yes, if a wolf was going to kill my dog(which I like more then I do most people), I'd defend my comrade before I'd let a wolf have his lunch. (yes wolves do eat dogs/other canines.)

NO ONE.. and I mean NO ONE come at me with the "Oh well wolves never attack people" nonsense. I don't really care, I am asking for an opinion.

Also to the WQ staff people- if this topic is inappropriate... err I'm sorry for being thick headed. Sometimes I have poor judgement on what and what not should be allowed.

I would only attempt to kill a wolf in life-or-death scenarios like this. I doubt I'd ever be able to kill a wolf though, the most I could possibly do is to ward it off with sticks, stones.. anything in the immediate vicinity. I'm sure if I somehow ever managed to find the wolf again, I would contact the appropriate officials to humanely destroy it (I know this is all hypothetical but realistically the wolf might be rabid or ill). Secondly, I vehemently oppose "Trophy hunting". It kills animals in vain. Wolves are considered "charismatic megafauna", meaning they have a strong relationship with the general public (think of your love for dogs).Trophy hunting wastes the animal (there isn't a big market for wolf meat here, don't know what happens to it), and I think any Trophy hunter is plainly arrogant. Some say it "does good to prevent poaching" amongst other conservation efforts, but I say those are nonsense excuses used to hide their intentions. What majority of trophy hunters hunt exclusively for conservation? Virtually none, that's what makes it trophy hunting.. the wolf is a trophy.There is a major difference when hunting for food and when hunting because you want to display a dead animal. The latter not for necessity. Trophy hunting will never replace actual conservation.
Anyway, I guess I could say the same about dogs. In life-or-death scenarios, if I absolutely had to, I would kill the dog. However I know a few techniques when a dog is attacking you, and none of them involve killing the dog.
I think all ranchers should make an attempt to prevent killing wolves and to also prevent their livestock from being injured or even killed. Preferably, humane but effective deterrents.. don't wait until a wolf has killed your sheep, and then declare all wolves as greedy and dangerous animals.. when they're just that. Animals. Wolves are very vulnerable, especially in the lower 48 states. I don't think they have the potential for overpopulation and desensitization to humans, similar to the explosion of white tail deer (population of white tail deer is estimated to be 30 million!!). The wolf population in Canada is only about 50,000 in comparison.. the wolf population can still be easily tipped. That's why I disagree with hunting wolves for population control. They don't need it, nor would they generally benefit from it.

I think I've sort of over analyzed this, sorry!

It's been interesting reading through and seeing people's opinions. I'm unsure of whether I've already stated my answer, but if so, I'll just say it again as I'm sure my views have changed since I first found this topic.

I believe that I would be able to kill the wolf if it came down to them or my friend/pet. I would love to say that no, I would never kill another species, but out of necessity, it wouldn't surprise me if I did, so long as it was in a quick and painless way.

Of course, I would try all of the deterrents first, and if I had any other alternative to killing, I would use it without question. But the short answer is yes, I could kill the wolf.

I completely agree with @valkea with their post as well, as they had some pretty good points.

I don’t think I could, I’m one of those people who, if a burning building was on fire I would save the animals, and stuff (I wish I wasn’t). If it was my sister or my mom, I would try to stun it or lead it away, but that’s probably all I could do.

To elaborate on my answer: I would only kill a wolf if it was 100% necessary to save a very dear and beloved person or pet. Honestly, I hate to say it, but if a random wolf appeared in my neighborhood and I saw a random person getting attacked by a wolf and I had a weapon, I wouldn't be able to convince myself that the person was of more value than the wolf. It's always easy to say "oh, I'd do this" or "oh, I would never do that" when thinking of a hypothetical situation, but sometimes it has to be actually happening to you to know how you'd truly react. Easy to say you'd never kill a wolf... but if it came down to it, would you?
Now, I absolutely love wolves in every way, and believe they have every right to survive- as much as any other creature does, as much right to survive as any human. But, realistically, I don't think I would stand by if I saw a wolf attacking, say, my best friend. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I stood by and did nothing. However, I wouldn't immediately go to kill the wolf. I would only use a method that could possibly be fatal as an absolute last resort, and would try everything else first- whether it be distraction, tranquilizer, a warning shot, or something else. If it came down to it, I would do everything possible to preserve the wolf's life- for example, hitting it somewhere that would disable it, but give it a chance of survival. And only that would be after all else fails.
Killing a wolf for anything that doesn't directly threaten the life of a human, however, I strongly oppose. Trophy hunting is just plain outright horrific, disgusting, and every other evil, vile word I can think of. However, I can't dive too deep into this topic or this message will end up being a page long. Even for killing a wolf because it's on your property, or trying to eat your cattle, is ridiculous. Only a complete, outright idiot would have to resort to killing a wolf to protect livestock or land. There are many safer, more eco-friendly, non-wolf-killing ways to protect livestock or pets if you live in an area populated by wolves. Example- certain dogs, scents, fences, and sounds can easily scare away wolves. At the very least, use some sort of blank round or warning shot- you don't need to kill, but the noise of the gunshot enough will scare the wolf away. Wolves don't know any better- they live by the rules of nature, so how could they possibly understand that a specific type of prey animal already belongs to another predator when it's still alive? Wolves aren't ruthless, vicious creatures who attack without reason- they're intelligent, sensible creatures, just looking for food to feed themselves and their packs. They have been shown to have emotions and cause-and-effect consequential thought processes. In fact, they're as smart as, if not smarter than, dogs. They have also been recorded to mourn lost pack members, just as humans mourn families.
So, basically, please don't kill a wolf unless you really, really have to. Don't kill it because it's a "cool trophy". Don't kill it because it's a dangerous animal. Don't kill it because it's trying to hunt animals that happen to be yours. Try to use non-fatal methods first, and only resort to killing as a LAST RESORT. Afterall, you wouldn't want someone killing you or your family member just for going to the wrong house or trying to take the wrong food.

I would never kill a wolf or any animal I love animals.

I would only do it if it was the necessary/only choice in order to protect myself or equally if not more importantly, my own 'packmates.' I'd probably feel upset afterwards, as a wild animal behaving as it may around humans and strangers is totally different than, say, a murderer or other type of human attacker who likely knows what they are doing is wrong and chooses to do it anyway. Either way, if anything attacks my 'packmates' or myself, their own life is forfeit because I can't allow any of us to die. I'd never harm anything or anyone unless it was my last resort, but if it ever came to that situation, then it's going to be the attacker getting injured or killed rather than my own or myself.

Other methods of deterrent/defense are definitely ideal, but obviously if someone like my parents or my dog or myself was in immediate danger...sorry. I'd honor the animal's life and try to give it a respectful end, after dealing with the threat. But in the moment, I'd do what needs to be done. I consider all living things to be important and I only kill things like spiders or bugs in my house as a last resort (ideally, cup-and-paper trick if I can identify them as not seriously dangerous, and release them outside back into nature - otherwise, gotta kill em if safety is questionable). That said, the lives of my own and myself are equal to others', so we have an equal right to live and defend ourselves just like any other animal on this planet.

If I saw a wild animal wandering the neighborhood but no people or pets were around and it wasn't attacking, I'd likely call state wildlife services or the police and then keep an eye on it until the appropriate professionals arrive to make sure that ideally, neither anyone in the neighborhood or the animal gets hurt. If an animal ended up, say, trying to come at my dog and we're out walking, I'd try to make noise and act as ferocious as possible to scare it off, maybe use pepper spray if I had it, and fight with improvised weapons if I need to. (We've had other residents' dogs occasionally get out off-leash and come at ours and we've needed to use noise, pepper spray, and as a last resort, physical defense, because their stupid owners blatantly disregard both laws and the safety of both their pets and others, but that's for another discussion).

Anyway, it's not like I'd be able to outrun a speedy wild animal anyway, so while the idea of getting mauled isn't exactly appealing, I'd rather do it protecting someone than just running (poorly) and becoming 'fast food.' And, even if I could run, I'd never willingly leave one of my own or possibly even a stranger behind, because I'd feel completely horrible if I did that. So, while I'd feel some level of disgust or remorse or trauma if I had to ever hurt an animal, I'd feel far, far worse levels of those things if I let any of my own get hurt and didn't at least try to do something. And I also have zero interest in dying or getting mauled myself, either. To put it mildly: That would suck. Like, royally.