Marc Beckoff, Camilla Fox and my other friends at PROJECT COYOTE and the YAHOO COYOTE GROUP bringing to our attention the following: Killing Carnivores in the name of assisting Ranchers and Farmers is one of the discretionary wasteful expenditures that should be cut from the budget bill being debated on Capitol Hill at this very moment..................The cost of this Carnivore destruction is out-of-control and proven to be counter-productive to optimizing profitable husbandry(let alone the ethical horror and genocide we have brought to bear on our fellow animal earth travelers).................We can spend a fraction of the current Predator Control money on re-educating Ranchers on how to reduce carnivore habituation to domestic stock(gut piles being cleaned up..........livestock being penned and guarded at night, etc)........

Killing animals redux: Animal damage control means unrelenting slaughter and a huge waste of money

The 80th anniversary of the Animal Damage Control Act is a time for mourning

In 1931 the Animal Damage Control Act was authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture to "conduct campaigns for the destruction or control" of animals considered threats to agriculture/ranching interests. Eighty years ago, this Act codified the federal government's involvement in predator control. Under this guise of this arcane law, government agents continue to trap, snare, poison, and shoot any animal who "may" harm livestock, aquaculture, or agricultural crops.

Camilla Fox, founder of Project Coyote, recently reviewed the lurid history of this government killing machine. Animal genocide, truly outright war on wildlife, continues today so there is no reason at all to celebrate anniversary of the Animal Damage Control act. As Ms. Fox notes, "Under this Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services (WS) program conducts its quiet, relentless war against North America's wildlife. In 2009 alone, WS killed more than 4 million animals in the United States including 115,000 mammalian carnivores; close to 90,000 were coyotes. Much of this killing takes place on public lands throughout the West.
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Last year a fellow who actually built our log home over 44 years ago stopped by while visiting his ill sister, to introduce himself and look at the changes of his original homestead. He lives in Saskatchewan now on a 1,000 acre ranch raising cattle.

We had a great talk about his life as a rancher and of course I gravitated towards the topic of coyotes and the bounty killing there. He told me he has fed coyotes on his land for over thirty years (the cows that die) he drags them out to the edge of his land and the coyotes clean up the dead. He also said that he had never had any losses due to coyotes. Hmmm.

Interesting how someones take can be so different from one situation to the next. One thing is for sure, coyotes have been cleaning up dead stock across Canada and down south for a very long time.
Lesle
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BELOW IS THE TYPE OF PERSPECTIVE WE NEED TO MITIGATE IF WILDLIFE KILLING SERVICES IS TO BE DONE AWAY WITH


> Last year, the Saskatchewan Government placed a bounty on coyotes, paying $20.00 per coyote. A total of 71,000 coyotes were turned in, making the payout reach nearly 1.5 million dollars. Naturally, critics stepped forward â€" critics claiming to care about wildlife in Saskatchewan. Through various avenues on the internet, some attempted to create the impression that farmers financial losses (in one instance, farmers losses were minimized as a mere few thousand dollars) did not justify a near 1.5 million dollar payout on coyotes â€" while putting coyote population at risk.


> We all have an opinion. Free speech is a wonderful thing. Critical thinking and retrieving the facts are equally important in wildlife conservation efforts and responsibilities to it before misleading the public with no real investigation or direct experience with a dangerous problem. By thinking logically and truly analyzing every side of this issue, it becomes apparent that many of the well-meaning debates in defense of coyotes are not rational.

> The fact is that each individual farmer loses thousands of dollars in livestock per year due to coyote problems. Coyotes that begin eating innocent calves before the birthing processes are complete. The truth, starting with the economical side, is: A few thousand dollars are not the total loss for all of Saskatchewan farmers. Instead, when one farmer loses his first calf, it is a financial loss anywhere from $600.00 to $1,200.00 per calf, ultimately. One calf. This does not take into consideration the value of other livestock, such as horses and goats for instance.

> One goat producer reported 40 goats and lambs fell prey to coyotes, averaging $200.00 per goat/lamb, resulting in an $8 000.00 loss for that farming operation in one year. Coyotes also pack and terrorize young domestic horses, killing and consuming them. I know first hand, because coyotes ate three of my young horses to date. The losses far exceeded the monetary.
> Coyotes will opt for an easy meal â€" and pets and fenced in domestic livestock qualify.

> According to 2001 statistics, Saskatchewan had 44, 329 farmers farming an average of 1,450 acres each. It is important to keep in mind that small acreages â€" 40 acres and less â€" are not considered farms, and it is reasonable to say that the animals on those acreages were not considered part of farming operations. From this number, 24.3% of farmers in the province are livestock producers â€" about a quarter of all farmers. A quick estimated calculation (on the low end) shows that about 10,000 farmers raise livestock. Due to predators, mainly the coyote, a low estimate for livestock loss can reasonably be said to average $2,000.00 per year per farmer becoming a $20 million dollar loss for livestock producers each year in Saskatchewan. We are talking about a substantial amount of money. Even by cutting this low estimated loss by half to $10 million still results in a lot of lost income to support farming families in one year.

> In 2007, the Leader Post reported that the average farmer makes a meager $17,000.00 per year â€" working year round. Working longer hours and making less money. Farmers who provide food and services that are required for all people to survive.

> Considering that 71,000 coyotes were killed in Saskatchewan in 2010, areas are still grossly over-populated. In 2010, the problem could no longer be ignored. That year, Crop Insurance also initiated a program to compensate for livestock loss due to coyotes. Certain steps need to be taken, such as proof â€" the animal owner needs to locate and preserve the bloody kill site and remaining carcass the best they can and call an adjuster. Then, professional coyote hunters can be called with Crop Insurance covering the expenses. It can be a difficult process, but it's a good start. Or, a farmer can legally opt to protect their families and livestock - it's open season on coyotes.
> Perhaps, farmers should start carrying their cameras when checking their livestock during the birthing season, the farmer distressed at the scene but with shaking hands, capturing on film the image of coyotes terrorizing the maternal animal as she gives birth to a new life that coyotes view as a delicacy. Releasing those images to the public may prove more enlightening and educational for some.

 > Coyotes are predators. What some consider myths about coyotes attacking children, others know as truth. They have also proven to have no vices about endangering human life. Their sense of boundary has become skewed and needs to be re-set. I was horrified as a coyote trotted into my farmyard, dangerously close to my young child. I was also approached by a large coyote in my pasture â€" three dogs with me â€" and that coyote held his ground and would not back down. My nature walks came to an abrupt halt. Nature walks I enjoyed, observing the various wildlife from owls to hawks to eagles to deer â€" well, you get the picture.

> With the increasing coyote over-population problems and my first hand experiences, my views have changed when it comes to hunting coyotes. To love nature is to truly respect it on all levels, including its dangers. To love nature is to aid in keeping populations at a healthy level.
> The fact is that the coyote's main predator, whether accepted or not, is the human race. Humans. Men and, in some cases, women. Natural selection in the wild does not control the coyote populations â€" unless they contract and spread horrible diseases and sicknesses amongst each other due to over-population, such as rabies and mange, making the coyotes more dangerous. Humans are needed to control coyote populations, especially in geographic areas where the coyote's animal rivals do not readily exist â€" mountain lions, bears and wolves. Interestingly, the latter â€" wolves â€" have been scientifically proven to mate with coyotes in the wild, creating a hybrid known as the coy-wolf. Talk about sleeping with the enemy. The hybrid is a much more efficient and intelligent wild canine who poses heightened threats.

> And so, humans must carry the great burden and responsibility of coyote population control â€" a responsibility necessary that is under fire by some who perhaps do not realize this aspect. Nature, you could say, selected humans to aid in the circle of life, in the population control of the coyote â€" a twisted plot.

> Hard and fast opposition to coyote hunting demonstrates an inhumanity, a lack of compassion for rural members of the human race, small children, domestic animals and, ironically, wildlife. Whether or not those imposing such opposition intend this to be the perception or not, it is there.
> The very people who provide food for human consumption â€" the farmers who are also hunters â€" are the ones forced to carry the burden and become the targets of criticism regarding coyote population control. Insulted and degraded at times as "uneducated". I guess, for the good of all, someone has to do the dirty work while the well meaning couch critics implement a self-righteous stand from the comforts of their dwellings, eating the food harvested by farmers who work the land and understand the balance of life and its necessity to the natural and civilized world. Farmers, living with and experiencing actual field studies of the coyote and its true habits.

> I am grateful for those, who to date, were willing to carry the burden of coyote population control, albeit many times forced to do so in order to protect their families and livestock. Thank you. And, thank you, Saskatchewan government, for understanding a serious rural issue and having the courage to be responsible enough to bring it to light.
 
> … 71,000 coyotes killed in the large province of Saskatchewan in 2010 - and some areas are still over-populated