Frequent contributor to this blog, Massachusetts Eastern Coyote(Coywolf) Biologist Jon Way weighing in intelligently and passioantely on the "kill baby kill" mentality of so many Fish & Wildlife Agencies(in this case Maine) as it relates to killing Coyotes in the name of producing larger deer herds(perhaps)............I throw my vote behind limiting the undue influence the hunting community has on decisions made by FWS.............. We have to find another way of financing FWS Agencies..... If all Americans had a say in how Biologists "managed" our woods, prairies, streams, deserts and chaparral lands, perhaps we would get rewilding done based on objective Science rather than "science" governed by the "I have to be able to shoot a deer easily" mentality that is so clearly determining how many carnivores are allowed to "patrol" any given open space landscape in North America

To Bangor Daily News
http://new.bangordailynews.com/opinion/submit/
OpEd
Coyote killing plan rooted in politics not science
As a wildlife biologist studying the eastern coyote (or coywolf, a term I better prefer for this coyote x red/eastern wolf hybrid living throughout the Northeast) I am disgusted by Maine's plan to slaughter "coyotes" in the name of deer population augmentation. I wonder if any of Maine's biologists have a scientific background when accepting this plan – or better yet, have they been muzzled by Governor LePage's new plan to "save the deer".
Coywolves are territorial, and prevent their own numbers in a given area. They live at low densities; a couple/few for every ten square miles in Maine. Killing coyotes/coywolves immediately opens up available territories for nomadic individuals, who are constantly looking for just these type of home range openings. Thus, killing coyotes in deer yards will create a vacant area that may actually invite more coyotes to come in and kill deer than if no coyote control (i.e., killing) took place in the first place.
Sadly, there is no science in the deer plan and no apparent mention of documenting the effects of the "aggressive, targeted coyote control". In other words, are there even protocols to monitor the effects of their actions or is Gov. LePage they just flying in the night hoping it will work. If deer do not recover, and Maine does not document the effects of slaughtering one species to supposedly save another, then shame on them to rely on politics to run wildlife management without any document science to justify this needless killing.
It is very disturbing that this so-called deer plan seemingly involves only hunters, like George Smith, that appear through his comments to think that they own the wildlife in this state. Yet, they are a minority of the population and I bet not even all hunters support this plan. I vacation in Maine yearly and spend much of my hard earned money to see all wildlife, including predators. In fact, wildlife watching contributes more money to the state than hunting does, but hunters have all of the say because they directly fund wildlife management – this is the most undemocratic form of government that I know of. Folks like Mr. Smith should realize that many people and their dollars contribute to Maine's economy, not just deer hunters.
Meanwhile, all state wildlife agencies seemingly ignore that coyotes (out west) and coywolves (here in the Northeast) are highly intelligent, social animals that live in family groups much like humans do. They have evolved into a perfect predator to live in the modern Northeast and its immense human population. The fact that the ethics of this "coyote" slaughter has not even been mentioned makes many, including myself, question how well thought out this politically-driven plan really is. Moreover, the state continues to deny the fact that occasional pure wolves (with no coyote genes) make it to the state and are effectively killed on sight since it is difficult to distinguish coywolves from wolves (Maine allows a year-round legal slaughter of "coyotes").
Given the way that Maine sees their wild canid friends, not as a natural part of the environment that deserves a right to coexist with their prey, but rather a nuisance that needs to be controlled even with no scientific justification or plans to monitor, I can't help think that they are stuck in the 1950s and haven't read about the importance of all parts in a system - not just the game that a minority of Mainers hunt.
Jonathan Way has studied eastern coyotes/coywolves in Massachusetts for over a decade and has wrote a book, Suburban Howls, documenting his research. More information can be found on his website: http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/.

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