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Northern Idaho | Idaho does have compensation for wolf losses, most all fish and game officers, forest service employees, etc. are against wolves but the rules come from higher up of course. I am not up to date on how it works now that they are off the endangered species list. Just this fall a hunting season opened up for wolves in our state and before that ranchers could kill wolves caught in the act of harassing livestock. Ranchers were paid market value for cattle killed by the wolves.
Deer and elk damage is a major problem right where we are at because of all the timberland surrounding the fields. Elk can be extremely destructive but can be driven off easier than deer. Often the Fish and Game will come out and kill an elk and leave it laying dead and that scares the whole rest of the herd away. We also can get depredation hunts for 10 hunters to kill a doe in the field during the summer. Deer are a different story and we have tried to get compensated but it is hard to estimate damage and the majority of the damaged crop is not actually eaten, it is simply trampled. The fish and game will supply any farmer with propane powered cannons, large firecrackers, and cracker shells for shot guns for free to scare game away. There are a couple weeks in the summer when the crops start drying up but the lentils are still green that we go out in the evening to drive the deer and elk out of the crop.
I am lucky living in Idaho; I know during one recent presidential election Idaho ranked 2nd in the nation in percentage of voters to vote republican. Northern Idaho is just as conservative as eastern washington and we are considered the more liberal portion of Idaho. The Boise metro area down south does contain the majority of the voting population and do pass laws that may not be popular with the rural areas but it is no where near the problem that Washington and Oregon have.
Thats a nice kitty, we had one hanging around the place one year but now it is hanging on the neighbors wall! | |
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Hillside harvest pics
