More B.S.
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2967079
The Cornwall Standard Freeholder
OVER THE FARMGATE: Is coyote contest self-serving?
By ANGELA DORIE
Cornwall's coyote hunt with prize money sponsored by a local business has attracted 100 hunters as well as the attention of several Ontario publications who have written articles and editorials. Their biggest surprise seems to be the 'laissez-fair' attitude of area residents, noting there was barely a whimper of protest.
Requests that the hunters exercise caution when hunting in public areas where skis, snowmobiles and ATVs are used as well as the agreement forests and private lands, have been published. Sounds as if there is a bit more 'red-neck' to this contest than what was indicated.
Spokespersons for the hunt have commented that local farmers are in favour of it as well as blaming the coyotes for a lack of rabbit and groundhogs, as if that is a bad thing. Ask any farmer and this is a good thing - fewer wild herbivores to eat the crops as well as no holes in the fields to damage expensive machinery either in or on. Both species are still around, but usually along fence lines or the edge of bush areas now. The status quo is just fine, thank you, so leave it alone. For hunters, though, maybe it isn't good... fewer varmints to aim at!
The hunt sponsors blame coyotes for reducing the number of deer, others blame too many hunting permits issued. MNR claims deer numbers have decreased over the past few years, but continue to issue hunt permits based on previous year's population figures, not current ones. Wildlife numbers normally fluctuate as birth rates rise and fall and disease, weather and feed availability takes its toll. Meanwhile, 'Big buck' contests remove the biggest, most virile males from the breeding systems with detrimental effects on white tail genetics.
Possibly the huge increase in vehicle/deer collisions is more to blame. There were over 60,000 reported deer/vehicle collisions across Canada in 2008, 14,000 in Ontario alone and over 16,000 reported here in 2009. How many went unreported? I had two of my closest calls ever with our car this fall.
In our area, herds of five to nine are regularly seen grazing crops during the day. This fall 11 deer burst out of our bush at one time. No shortage here!
It must be pointed out that coyotes and hunters do not compete for the same deer. While the hunters choose the biggest, fattest and healthiest animals, the coyotes clean up, and put out of their misery, the sick, the old, the weak and the injured. These are the ones the hunters ignore, aiming at the best, not the worst. This is the coyotes job and a necessary one too and should not be interfered with. Which hunter does the bigger favour to the deer population?
Man has never been successful at 'managing' wildlife as proven over and over again and this paid hunt would appear to be yet another example of human 'over-kill'. Read Farley
Mowat's classic, Never Cry Wolf to see how declining caribou numbers were erroneously blamed on wolves. The same crooked thinking is being applied to the deer/coyote relationship.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not 'anti-hunting' especially if the prey is used, but I am against hunting purely for the fun or 'hoot' of killing or with prize money offered to randomly kill animals and especially when doing so wipes out nature's delicate balance. Surely to God, we, as a supposedly intelligent species, are above this?
