>McIrvin says killing the wolves is the only solution. He believes the 
calf carcass should have been laced with poison to get the “culprits.”
“Until somebody gets serious about opening season on these wolves, I don’t know that there is any answer,” he said.
Just as he did last year, McIrvin plans to continue to refuse compensation from the state.<
Excerpted from:
Another calf found dead as ranchers question state wolf investigations
By MATTHEW WEAVER
A northeast Washington cattle rancher says wolves killed a three-day-old calf from his operation last week.
Len McIrvin is owner of the Diamond M Ranch in Laurier, Wash. That’s the ranch where Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials in September 2012 killed six wolves from the Wedge Pack. The wolves had killed at least 17 cattle from the ranch.
The killed calf was dragged from a barbed wire calving enclosure 200 yards from human presence, McIrvin said. There were fresh wolf tracks nearby in the river, he said.
“We know it was a wolf, but they can’t confirm it because the calf was 95 percent eaten up,” he said, noting coyote tracks were also found in the area.
Stephanie Simek, WDFW wildlife conflict section manager, said the case was unconfirmed as a wolf kill because there were signs of coyotes in the area. The six-strand barbed wire fence did not show signs of a larger carnivore entering the area, she said.
“The issue was the carcass was so far gone, you really couldn’t get a lot of those measurements,” said Dave Ware, WDFW game program manager. “You just couldn’t tell for sure what killed it.”
The department has been monitoring wolf activity, but didn’t find anything that would merit setting a trap to try to collar wolves.
“We’re certain there are wolves in the Wedge area again,” Ware said. “We’re seeing plenty of activity.”
McIrvin said his cattle are on the range, so he hasn’t found other kills or injuries.
“We know the wolves have been harassing them,” he said. “We know they’re there, we hear them howling, they’ve got the cows all chased off the range again. We put them back weekly, but the wolves are running them daily.”
The Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association believes the department’s unconfirmed ruling on the calf shows a “troubling trend” in which the department does not confirm wolf kills, a determination that could lead to killing the predators.
Association spokesperson Jamie Henneman said WDFW needs to clearly outline how they will deal with wolves.
“Right now we are seeing the department buckle under pressure from environmental groups who have absolutely no skin in the game,” she said. “There is no impact to their finances or livelihood if wolf management is done in a poor, watery or slipshod fashion. Band-aid payments of compensation will not solve this problem.”
Ware believes the department’s history proves it is willing to kill wolves, but said it will not always completely be on the same page as ranchers.
“Second-guessing what our field staff does seems to be a popular sport for both sides,” he said. “In their hearts, most (ranchers) feel, ‘Wolves are the things different from the landscape — it must be wolves that caused this.’ In some cases, we can verify that, in some cases, we just can’t.”
McIrvin says killing the wolves is the only solution. He believes the calf carcass should have been laced with poison to get the “culprits.”
“Until somebody gets serious about opening season on these wolves, I don’t know that there is any answer,” he said.
Just as he did last year, McIrvin plans to continue to refuse compensation from the state.
“We are not in the business of raising cattle to feed wolves. We’re in the business of raising cattle to be a cow ranch,” he said.
Information
Washington Department Fish and Wildlife:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/
Stevens County Cattlemen Association:
Exposing the Big Game 
What a dumb ass! Lacing the carcus of a dead calf will kill any unsuspecting animal…a family dog (someone’s pet), birds, hawks, eagles who are protected, and many other animals!…what a stupid, ignorant suggestion!
Yep, any scavenger or carnivore could come across poison meat, just like they did in centuries past
disgusting human being that rancher
So True
Rancher McIrvin, why don’t you just RETIRE!!?? You’re an old idiot who thinks the world and all it’s wildlife revolves around your ass. “IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!”
(this guy has become a real annoyance).
Aside from the obvious, if this rancher wasn’t such an ass, he would know that barbed wire and young critters has always been a bad idea. If he wants to know what to do, put the cow in a horse stall and put in a couple of bags of shavings. Let her in when she bags up. Leave her and the calf in the horse stall fot a couple of weeks or longer if it’s her first calf. Never, never use barbed wire for an animal pen. It won’t keep predators out but it will cause horrible injuries, pain, suffering and vet bills. I used to be a ranch manager back in the early 80’s. I never lost any animal to a predator, ever. I had Shelties and a border collie, they yap like crazy if anything comes around!
People like McIrvin are assholes!
Total
We need to do all we can to stop these killings immediately!! Its so inhumane and cruel!!
You’re right Lizelle.
Mcirvin and John peavy from Idaho are examples of the Rancher Dinosaur. Peavy would just keep killing wolves that would continue to fill the void from the open space created when you kill wolves. It would be never ending- a barren landscape would suit this throwback to the 1920’s just fine.
We have an incredible disregard for life – from killing wolves to killing cattle. Veganism is the answer.
“McIrvin said his cattle are on the range, so he hasn’t found other kills or injuries”
Melody, if this is the case, it sounds like he has too many cows calving at one time to consider a “horse stall”. Maybe not practical for a large operation?? Notice he says “200 yards from human presence”. I’d really like to know just what precautions this guy DOES take. I see no mention of dogs, llamas or anything else. Many questions including are the calves with their mothers…or are the mothers nearby? I’d think the moms would be bawling their heads off and any human presence within 600 feet would hear the commotion.
His entire story stinks….as it did when they killed the Wedge Pack to accomodate his wishes. What a damn nerve he has.
Gail go to the Cattleman’s link, Jim has posted above you can read the entire article he does have dogs but they were tied up. I personally think the calf died and he dragged it out there and just wanted to make waves
Gail, one cow is too many for this asshole! I wrote the proper family farmer method of birthing in the barn. Depending on one’s set up and cash flow, this can be done on the cheap/free. A friend of mine found a place with free oak scrap. He built a small barn but two stories and roofed it with free recycled metal roofing. He even got the nails out of coffee cans of nails at the dump. Free barn! Another way is pull down and recycle an old barn somebody wants gone. This involves a backhoe but it’s fast. Another old-time trick is using two old car hoods for a roof for a calf, goats, sled dogs etc. I also failed to mention that stones/bricks/etc can be recycled to just make a predator proof pen. Towns used to call it a pound for impound. Loose farm animals would be put in the pound and the farmers were fined. Just curious, but if this guy is losing so many animals, wouldn’t that fall under a neglect case, not a wolf problem? Then my idea of a problem wolf is one that craps on the floor. đŸ™‚
Jim I don’t know can if you find it or not, I think it was Save the Wolves post. I accidentally put it in the trash, that also had how much it cost the government to kill the wolves for a helicopter, marksman, ect.
You might find the article you’re looking for by going to the homepage and searching for clicking on or Washington Wolves in the tags list. Or there are older posts arichived by the month they were posted.
Thanks Jim, This is what it cost” beliving one man” of taxpayers money. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spent an estimated 76,500 to kill the pack. They spent four days and about 22,000 killing six wolves in the pack using a helicopter and a marksman. That was after the agency spent 39 days and 54,500 killing one wolf. Taxpayers should be angry at them spending that much money even if they hate wolves.
It would have cost the taxpayers a LOT less if McIrvin would have accepted the compensation…
thanks for doing the research, nancy! that is just crazy.
Wait, help me understand. Isn’t this man raising animals — animals that will eventually be sent to slaughter? So in other words, he supposedly lost one calf due to a wolf or wolves, a calf he would have profited from by sending to slaughter. I wonder how many calves and cows he loses due to his egregious practices? I agree with @Beth, veganism is the only way to go. I also agree with all the other comments, this guy is a fucking dinosaur and should be put out of his misery. When will these narrow minded idiots wake up and realize THEY ARE THE PROBLEM NOT THE WOLVES???????????? JWTF? I am so sick of this witch hunt campaign against wolves. Tell you what Mr. Rancher, why don’t we just nuke the entire planet from orbit and kill all inhabitants. Would that make you happy?
It might make him happy, as long as the wolves were killed.
Hey Jim,
Did you see this post today. http://michaeleltonmcleod.com/2013/07/19/annals-of-game-management/comment-page-1/#comment-1654
Don’t give them any ideas, we’ll see Sarah Palin hanging out of a chopper with tactical nukes, blasting the radio collared alpha females in their dens with their pups! They are one short hair away from that now.
Good point!
The rancher McIvins confirms that the wolves are running the cattle which clearly means the wolves have no intention of a kill or they would be evident during the running of the cattle. To the lesser but more observant eye, it is OBVIOUS TO THE POINT OF CHILDLIKE PERCEPTION, that these wolves are protecting that cattle from the actual predators which would illicit the coyotes. This is such a no brainer folks. It is the workers on the ground that are non-commital. which then sets the course farther away from the source where it is burried in political double talk. This leads to the thoughtless legislations and regulations set by government to protect prejudgemental persons. Ironic? No one stands up – we don’t fall yet in the long run – we are dead already simply from not acting on such simplistic measures.
Good point. How about propose some special perc for Congress they haven’t thought of yet and in the middle of the night, before they vote, give First Nations sacred creatures personhood forever? Congressmen each get a ‘memorial bridge’ in their state, we get them to stop killing our predators. Stranger thing happen in DC.
Perhaps a little off topic, but hopefully of interest: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201307/murder-incorporated-wildlife-services-under-public-scrutiny
Interesting article, Beth! Thank you. I’m sending it to Dave Ware at DFW.
Great!
Thanks Beth, I was planning on posting the text of Marc Bekoff’s blog post about “Wildlife Services” today, but I don’t think the hot links he underlined would carry over. The link you shared above includes them all.
My pleasure.
Meat production and consumption are the worst things on this planet. Greenhouse gasses and cancer galore. No more beef. Save the wolves. This guy needs to be poisoned. He is a real cretin.
I’m a meat eater and I’m not going to pretend I’m not, but cattle ranching as it used to be DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE and we all know it. We need to eat a whole lot less meat (beef especially) and more organically raised meat, without chemicals and hormones, and approach it that way. Ranchers are some of the most arrogant sons of bitches on the planet b/c they’re used to having everything their own way BECAUSE the demands for meat and beef has been so high. but if we would ask everyone to eat less rather than to eat none, we might get some cooperation — speaking as a meat eater. My metabolism is such that if I don’t have animal protein, I don’t do well physically. That might be b/c i’m thin, I don’t know, but my body tells me I need meat, I listen.
But ranching as done in the days of old IS OVER and the sooner ranchers and regulators admit this, the better.
You’re welcome to ask everyone to eat less meat–I encourage you to do so. Personally, I’m going to ask them not to eat any. The animals don’t have time for half-way measures. Every day that people compromise or take baby steps, thousands more animals suffer and die needlessly. Yes, I say needlessly; even though you think your metabolism requires you to eat animal flesh, I’d be willing to bet you haven’t tried all the high protein meat alternatives out there.
I’m all for calling a spade to spade on this thing (I can’t even call him human). Speaking of “spade to spade” where is our resident blog commenter and clandestine action Geoff? I need so hope for the future.
He’s busily writing a novel about all this.
How much more proof does everyone need to see this idiot just wants all the wolves killed.? He doesn’t care about anything except his flea bitten cattle…I hope someone does knock some sense into him but you have to have brains to realize it..!!!
No more evidence is needed indeed.
We’ll notice that some of the land they have their flea bitten cattle on are STATE and FEDERAL public lands. That little perk should end immediately. How is that even fair and why should we all subsidize their ranching and killing? That’s very angering.
Here’s a bit of a breakdown on how many cattle he has and the amount of land it encompasses
http://www.capitalpress.com/lvstk/mw-Len-McIrvin-082312-art
This is interesting, too – The Stevens County Cattlemen’s Assoc. comments and their assertions that dogs don’t work (note the types of dogs lying dead…they look like coonhounds or something similar).
http://stevenscountycattlemen.wordpress.com/
he old cuss doesn’t even know if a wolf killed the calf but he still has to raise hell and start another wolf war that will end up in the destruction of these wolves (just like the Wedge pack). I would make him get his cattle off public land unless he seriously invests in non-lethal methods of dealing with predators. McIrvin is the problem not the wolves. Do not kill wolves just because ranchers are too lazy to look after their animals anymore!
How much is he leasing the public land for that he grazes his cattle on? $1 a year? He needs to be reminded that it’s the PUBLIC’s land and, if he can’t behave, maybe it’s time to deny him the ability to graze his cattle on public land and shut him down permanently.
Again, I’d like to urge us all to write to Wash State DFW program manager Dave Ware and let HIM hear our thoughts and all these comments. Let’s do more than preaching among ourselves. (I’m sorry I don’t have his email address.)
Dave Ware
Game Program Manager
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
201 N. Pearl Street
Ellensburg, Washington 98926
(360) 902-2509
Thank you for posting his contact info.
The evil streak in me would like to see both him and his dogs be subjected to a slow poison, to see him suffer would suffer.
Re-blogged on Carina’s Space.
It’s time to leave the wolves alone…lets not forget….You took their hunting grounds from Them….you sir are an extremely ignorant man.
You are a very cruel self centred and selfish human being this is not just your world God created animals to live on it as well.