Varmints and victims
Subtitle: predator control in the American West
By: Frank Van Nuys
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 338
ISBN-13: 9780700621316; 9780700621682
Subjects: Control; Puma; Government policy; Wildlife management; Predatory animals; Wildlife reintroduction; Coyote; Wolves; Grizzly bear
Description: As controversies over predator control rage on, Varmints and victims puts the debate into historical context, tracing the West's relationship with charismatic predators like grizzlies, wolves, and cougars from unquestioned eradication to ambivalent recovery efforts. We come to see how the story of predator control is in many ways the story of the American West itself, from early attempts to connect the region to mainstream American life and economics to changing demographic patterns and opinions on wildlife conservation in the 21st century.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-330), web resources (page 330), and index.
Table of contents: title: "The wolves we saw them everywhere"; title: "Constant warfare waged against them"; title: "Economically injurious species of the fauna"; title: "Biologically unsound and exceedingly dangerous"; title: "The fundamental naturalness of predation"; title: "The grand opera of primitive nature"; title: "A splendid game animal"; title: Epilogue. "It's nice to have them around."