Elk NetworkInflatable ‘Tube Guy’ Doesn’t Stop Wolf Predation

General | April 15, 2019

You’ve probably seen them, especially at automobile dealerships. They’re tall, inflatable tube guys. The air pumped into them at ground level surges through their bodies causing them shake, shimmy and seemingly dance back and forth.

A rancher in southeast Oregon received two of the “tube guys” from an environmental group after a string of wolf attacks. He hoped the new additions would deter wolves from harassing or attacking his livestock. It didn’t work. He recently saw two adult wolves walk through his ranch just before coming across a 400-pound calf killed in a wolf attack.

“The dancing men have, essentially, failed,” Ted Birdseye, told the Post Register. “Those wolves were within 40 yards of them. Those things were dancing away, and they just ignored them. It’s the same old story, and nobody has had a real answer. It’s going to go on continuously. It’s never going to end.”

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently announced the state’s minimum wolf population increased by 10 percent since 2018, although it concedes that figure is probably much higher.

(Photo source: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)