Massachusetts Eastern Coyote(Coywolf) Biologist Jon Way reiterating that the State of Maine is allowing Sportsmen Groups to propagate intentional misinformation in the Media so as to convince residents to create an artificial Deer "Disneyworld" for hunters.................As Posted in previous columns, Maine historically had a much smaller Deer population in Colonial times then during the mid and latter stages of the 20th Century when Forest clearcutting, warmer Winters and extirpation of Wolves and Cougars allowed for an irruption of Deer ..............Now, with fewer clearcuts, harsher Winters and Coyote/Bear predation, the deer herds have fallen to more sustainable levels............Sportsmans's Alliance of Maine and their Political Allies seeking to kill off Coyotes to again bloat the State with more deer---Jon rightly calls them out on the propaganda they are floating

Column about coyotes uninformed, biased

George Smith's recent column about coyotes, "With fewer deer, coyotes move south," is one of the most uninformed and biased pieces I have read recently on the subject. His entire mindset is dedicated to making Maine a wildlife farm for hunters, which is scary for the group he used to run (Sportsman's Alliance of Maine).
Coyotes live throughout the state, and there is no evidence that the lack of deer has forced coyotes to move south in search of other food. Smith's column deflects the blame in order to propagate more management (i.e., killing) of a social, intelligent, family-oriented species.
Two people have been killed by coyotes in all of North America's recorded history, yet 20 die from dog attacks every year in the United States. Also, 5 million people are bitten or attacked by dogs every year. Where are those statistics in his rant against coyotes?
In my book, "Suburban Howls" (www.EasternCoyoteResearch.com), I detail how these animals live very close to people and cause very minor problems compared to the potential for conflict, since they live everywhere in the country. Coyotes go out of their way to avoid people, in fact.
As far as deer go, perhaps we should attribute diseases to inflated game populations (like deer) that Smith espouses to maintain. What about excess car collisions and Lyme disease potentially attributed to hunters who are selfish and not responsible individuals who accept predators as a part of nature?
Jonathan Way
Osterville, Mass.