Colorado wolves

I have a tremendous passion for wolves. My wife and I went to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colorado Saturday night for a Full Moon Tour. As you can see, the interaction with the wolves is remarkable. They are an endangered species and ill-informed people (nice way to say it) continue to try to destroy them. Their role in the ecosystem is complex and significant, including controlling exploding elk and deer populations. No - the hunters aren't very good at that. Populations (as a whole) continue to grow.

The other smaller animals are red foxes...even the white ones. They are bred in captivity for fur, then killed in a most inhumane way. An electrical rod is violently shoved into one of their 2 main orifices - really - then the power is turned on. Obviously, that's horrible but it gets worse. Sometimes it doesn't kill them. Dead or dying, they're hung from a hook and skinned - yes, oftentimes alive. Their fur then goes to coats and other furs - it can take 40 or more foxes for one coat, depending upon the style and size. So, the next time you see Jennifer Lopez, remember what happened and what suffering went into making that coat.

Anyway, I'll try to stop preaching here. To see much more about the wolves and foxes (and coyotes), go to http://www.wolfeducation.org/. To learn about what you can do to try to stop the slaughter, check out http://www.wildearthguardians.org/.

It matters.

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