Coyote populations are on the rise all across this country and more and more each day we hear of increased human/coyote/pet encounters sometimes not ending in a happy way. In Ohio, a woman was attempting to move what she thought was a dead coyote that had been hit by another car. When she went to move the animal, it bit her.
In Illinois, Claudia Daigle took her award winning poodle out into here own backyard around 11 p.m. when I coyote came running out of the woods and grabbed the poodle by the neck and ran off. The coyote dropped the dog just into the woods but the dog died on the way to the emergency room.
Meanwhile in Massachusetts, residence there are discussing increasing a hunting season on the coyote. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is proposing a lengthening of the season to hunt coyotes because of the effects a growing population is having on other wildlife species and increased human encounters.
As one would expect there is opposition to any kind of hunting from animal protectionists.
“The coyote does not necessarily pose a public safety threat,” Scott M. Giacoppo, deputy director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said in speaking against lengthening the hunting season.
Too many coyotes necessarily can pose a public safety threat. People are getting bitten, dogs attacked, etc. The truth is the coyote needs better management and history has shown that doing such is a difficult task. The last thing the animal needs right now if further protection.
Tom Remington
