Are ‘kid cages’ protecting N.M. children, or a case of ranchers crying wolf?

A child waiting for a school bus in Reserve, a tiny community in rural New Mexico, may feel a little caged in, perhaps claustrophobic — but that’s precisely the point. About a half-dozen wooden and mesh "kid cages" are located at bus stops in the rural, western New Mexico town, where there have been sightings of the Mexican gray wolf. Some of the 300 or so residents say the shelters could save the life of a child who waits in the predawn hours for a ride to school, but critics say they are part of an effort by ranchers to demonize the animals. “They’re designed so children can step up in them and sit down and wait for the bus,” Catron County Sheriff Shawn Menges told FoxNews.com. “What happens out here in these rural areas is that most of the time, the parents are going to sit and wait with the children [for the bus] in their vehicle, but that’s not always true.” The shelters have been in place for about a decade, but their purpose is under renewed scrutiny as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposes to extend Endangered Species Act protections for an estimated 75 Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona. Ranchers are opposed to the extension, and claim that the wolves, which prey on livestock but have not been known to attack humans in the area, should be hunted. Earlier this year, according to Menges, a wolf frightened a mother and her young son near a bus stop on the outskirts of town. It was removed by FWS agents, but word of the encounter spread. “She saw the wolf and tried to make it leave, but it didn’t,” he said. “It moved toward her instead.” The cages were installed on orders of Reserve Independent Schools officials, according to Menges. Cindy Shellhorn, principal of Reserve High School, initially told FoxNews.com that the school was “not involved” in the cages and referred additional questions to local community members. Shellhorn later acknowledged that the shelters were constructed under the direction of a previous superintendent and school board. “Some of them are still in place and students are able to access them as shelters from weather, etc., at bus stops,” Shellhorn told FoxNews.com in an email. The cages are unnecessary and are part of a larger “anti-government” fear held by some in the Southwest, according to Eva Sargent, director of Southwest programs for Defenders of Wildlife...more

I guess the Defenders folks expect these parents to wait and see if there is an attack before they take action to protect their children.