Can we talk?

Wolves and Coyotes

         Still upset over the wolf and coyote roundup, I did some research today. I'm disgusted. In the state of Idaho, after Christmas, they actually have a legal shootout of wolves and coyotes. The article I found said that basically these people want to say I can do it, and you can't stop me. That disgusts me. Another article said that it's the lack of big game that causes these hunters to go after what they can find in abundance. Again, disgusted.

         I found plenty of articles about coyotes attacking children in California and other places. Now it's legitimate to protect people and their farm or ranch animals. I also read that the overabundance of coyotes is a human error. By eliminating natural predators, like red wolves and cougars, coyotes grow too quickly and have to scatter looking for food and water. At one time, you didn't find coyotes east of the Mississippi, but now you do. In fact, I was surprised to discover they are in my neighborhood in the east. (I live on a mountain by a river, just outside city limits.) They only come into the residential section when they are sick or rabid.

         I have read in the past about the environmental inter-dependency of clean water, grasslands, and wolves. When one part is destroyed or eliminated, the rest of it falls apart. It takes a few years to self-correct, but when the original balance is restored, the area thrives again.

         Some animals do overpopulate, creating bad health conditions for themselves, and others. Squirrels can be destructive, eating the wood siding on homes, vandalizing bird feeders, toys, sheds, and getting too friendly with their sharp claws with toddlers. Deer, yes, Bambi, can eat your vegetable garden, your spring bulbs, endanger drivers, and frequently be found with parasites and skin diseases when the population is not controlled. Seagulls have no known predators, and humans love to feed them. They come inland looking for food and can wipe out a parking lot, creating a nasty mess and make a lot of noise.

         I'm all for hunting for food, or shooting groundhogs before they wipe out the garden. I've eaten wild boar, deer, and bear. I don't eat squirrel or rabbit or quail. I will eat buffalo, but only the kind that grows on a ranch; it's lean and healthy.Killing just for the sport of it is just wrong.