The Existence of the Wolf and it's Journey for Survival.

     While searching for possible topics to write about for my Rhetoric of Literature blogs, I came across a recent story that doesn't exactly deal with the environment but certainly focuses on a creatures of the natural world inhabiting our surroundings. In the Jeff Barnard article titled "Wandering wolf inspires hope and dread," the story focuses on a particular wolf named OR-7 who has gained some attention in the media for his long journey from Oregon to California in search of a mate. The presence of the wolf has been met with interest and worry at the same time. This article on the Oregon wolf being spotted, along his journey through the Northwest, offers a contemporary perspective on a rare animal that is not as seen so much in the wildlife that it once inhabited, and a form of rhetoric that includes responses from people who are affected by the presence of wolves in their lives.
     One of the first accounts of the Oregon wolf is mentioned in the article when Barnard write, " Last February, OR-7 was in a snowy canyon in northeastern Oregon, when a state biologist shot him with a tranquilizer dart from a helicopter, then fitted him with a tracking collar and blue ear tags." I am actually relieved that the wolf was approached by a scientist with a tranquilizer rifle as opposed to a hunter who would hunt the wolf for the sake of sport, or payback for killing and eating farm animals on some one's property. I think wolves are great animals that possess many myths that are famous in works of fiction. More importantly, I'm scared to think that there are not a whole lot of wolves in the regions that the story takes place in. There is probably a reason for the lack of wolves in the farming communities, but I still feel that many wolves should left to exist in packs and roam the wilderness as functions of natural selection among the animal community. Returning back to the article, a cattle rancher named Nathan Jackson who lives on Oregon, gives his opinion of wolves such as OR-7 traveling across the Oregon state when he says, " In this country, we worked really hard to exterminate wolves 50 years ago or so, and there was a reason." I'm very troubled the way that the rancher used the term exterminate when mentioning wolves as if they were a nest of cockroaches that need to be killed immediately. I can understand the need to drive away the wolves or kill them out of self defense, but to "exterminate" them seems barbaric to me. The rancher Jackson offers another opinion that speaks toward the people who feel the need to protect the wolves by saying, "A lot of people who don't have a direct tie to the agricultural community tend to view wolves as majestic, beautiful creatures. They don't seem so majestic and beautiful when they are ripping apart calves and colts." So I guess the matter of having sympathy or conviction for wolves is a matter of point of view. I must admit, if I was a farmer who had cattle and other farm animals to care for, I would be very upset that they faced the possibility of a gruesome death by a pack wolves. I think I also might feel that need to drive away or eliminate any wolf that tries to harm me, my close friends, family, and animals under my watch. Then again, I don't have that responsibility. So I think that I must go on the defensive for wolves just a little bit here.
     The article also mentions the state of Oregon's attempt to legally protect wolves for the sake of wild life preservation. In the story Jeff Barnard writes, "Federal protection for wolves was lifted in Eastern Oregon, but they remain under state protection. West of U.S. Highway 97 they are back under federal protection." I'm somewhat grateful that the nation is willing to save the American wolves and some Canadian wolves that pass along our regions for breeding,hunting, or whatever. From the article I also learned some interesting facts about wolves as well such as, "When wolves reach about 2 years old, they typically strike out on their own, looking for a mate and an empty territory they can call their own. And that's what OR-7 has done"(Barnard). The age of two may be considered too young to go out and mate for a human, but for a wolf I assume that is considered as an adult age. This is a way of life for the wolf that may be overlooked by many people who are not experts on the animal, and don't quite realize the natural impact that could come from their demise. Since there are wolves that exist, I pray that they never go extinct so people don't have to find out what happens to the environment when the wolf is no longer around.