Rattlesnake roundups, Coyote Cull Contests and the like are truly symptoms of the egotism of man gone awry...................How do we sit in Church, Synagogue and Mosque and discuss peace on earth during this holiday season when we are so quick to destroy natures(Gods) creation wantonly and with apparent glee? I urge clergy to focus on this theme week in and week out until even the most callous of us grow a conscience on the right for all life forms to seek "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".............And yes, I would like to think that if Thomas Jefferson were alive today, this most brilliant of our Founding Fathers would agree that this evolutionary phrase in the Declaration of Independence should indeed apply to our native plants and animals found around the world

Let's not glorify killing coyotes

published in the Ottawa Citizen 

Osgoode's "Great Coyote Cull Contest" demonstrates that humanity has failed to morally evolve over the past century when bounties were placed on wolves, cougars and other large predators.
Any attempt to stigmatize "problem" wildlife by rural municipalities is quickly capitalized by unethical hunters and gun lobby advocates, to wantonly kill wildlife without any intent to use the carcasses.
Coyotes are labelled a threat when we project our own fears on these otherwise intelligent animals. The burgeoning deer population has produced an increase in coyote pup survival. It's nature's regulatory mechanism to keep these ungulates under control. But trigger-happy terminators ignore the ecological contribution of coyotes which also reduce rodent populations saving farmers thousands of dollars annually in lost feed. How would society respond if domestic dogs -- that kill and injure hundreds of people each year -- were run down and slaughtered in competitions sanctioned by local governments and fish and game associations? When wildlife is treated like a commodity, it is subject to abuse. We have learned that bounties contributed to the extirpation of the eastern cougar, wolverine, and red wolf.
Glorifying these competitions nurtures the most base instincts of humanity and is an insult to both our culture and the fraternity of ethical hunters.
Ian Hugget,