Yellowstone Fans Are Offering Alternatives To The Wolf Killings In Season 5
The Paramount series "Yellowstone" has become a major hit during its run. The show, which follows the Dutton family's trials and tribulations in running their Montana ranch, is currently in its fifth season. This season sees the two Dutton siblings, Jamie and Beth, played by Wes Bentley and Kelly Reilly, respectively, declare open war on each other. This follows the events of the fourth season, where Beth forces Jamie to kill his biological father and is now blackmailing him. Meanwhile, the family patriarch, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), starts the season as the new governor of Montana, a position Jamie was also running for.
While the show's nonstop drama has been praised, its display of ranch life has raised some questions among its viewers, particularly in the opening episodes of the show's fifth season. During the episodes, ranchers are seen killing feral wolves after they find a cow from their livestock dead, assuming the former were responsible. Fans of the show noted that there are other ways to handle this kind of situation, and here are some of the alternatives they proposed.
Viewers noted that ranchers are proactive, not reactive, about predators
On the subreddit r/YellowstonePN, Redditor u/niktrot highlighted the issues with the scene where ranchers shoot wolves dead to protect their livestock. They noted that, in reality, ranchers use guard dogs to deter wild animals from attacking livestock, which results in both the livestock and the wild animals remaining alive. The poster added that "Wind River," which was written and directed by "Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan, also had a similar scene, indicating that Sheridan may think shooting wild animals is how ranchers handle the problem.
Poster u/zsreport added that ranchers have also used donkeys in the past to protect livestock from wolves. At the same time, u/txman91 also touted llamas as a viable option, although the threat the llamas guarded against coyotes rather than wolves. U/ScTcGp added to the confusion by noting that Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) had previously mentioned that the Yellowstone ranch does indeed use donkeys to deter wolves.
Redditor u/TheSavageDonut lamented the change in the show. They elaborated that in one of the early seasons, a group got together and stayed awake in shifts to protect a herd from predators while they were being moved from one side of the ranch to the other. Along with the shooting of wolves, the poster also noted mocking the tracking of animals over the internet and attaching collars to logs before sending them downriver, a move that puzzled them.