Posted on 01/29/2006 5:43:40 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Today: January 29, 2006 at 17:40:25 PST
Federal Hunt in Arizona Kills 200 Coyotes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ELGIN, Ariz. (AP) - Federal authorities have killed 200 coyotes in southeast Arizona in the past three weeks after ranchers complained that they were eating calves.
The hunt, which ended Friday, was conducted from aircraft as part of a program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The shootings took place on private and public land used by 10 to 15 ranchers, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday.
No documentation was available last week on how many calves had been killed, but the government said it has confirmed losses.
Rancher Rex Dalton said every lost calf costs him $500 to $650 - the amount it could have fetched if it lived to maturity.
"I have seen coyotes attack my calves three times," Dalton said. "I've also seen others with their tails or noses chewed off."
Environmentalists were upset that the government gave no advance public notice. They call the program inhumane and ineffective.
The 200 animals represent 1 percent or less of the area's coyote population, and new ones will arrive within months, Arizona Game and Fish officials said.
Teresa Howes, a USDA spokeswoman, said the agency doesn't issue news releases on the activity "because we do work for private owners."
Ranchers pay $200 an hour for the aircraft rental and staff time, she said.
Aerial gunning is the cheapest and most efficient way to kill and remove coyotes, allowing agents to ensure they don't hit other wildlife, Howes said.
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That picture and all the other pictures I have ever seen of coyotes make them seem puny. All the coyotes I have ever personally seen in both Kansas and here in s.e. Michigan have been about the size of a large German Shepherd........
I live in a suburb that has never seen coyotes before, but they're starting to show up now. Couple weeks ago I saw one at 3:00 a.m. from close up; I'd say it was easily the size of a medium German Shepherd.
I've seen wolves close up in a wolf sanctuary place, where the owner gets into the fenced in area with the wolves and interacts with them. The coyote I saw was actually a little bigger than some of those wolves.
More than likely it was a crossbred coyote.
One shot, one kill. How is that inhumane?
A lot of hunter - types would actually love to come out to some wide open ranch and call in a few coyotes.
Like me for example. I wouldn't change'em a dime.
***Environmentalists were upset that the government gave no advance public notice. They call the program inhumane and ineffective. ***
200 less meat eaters to worry about! Sounds effective to me!
Mexico is in the process of training 70,000 more coyotes...
wrong type of coyotes....okay never mind.
SSS. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.
Works for me on both.
LOL
Do they not have a coyote hunting season. We do in Arkansas. Plus anyone can get a deprivation permit and shoot them year round.
I live about 25 miles west of the ocean in south east Florida. It is country here and at night especially on a full moon you can hear coyotes here. Have seen a few run over by trucks on the roads too.
Can be scary when you see a few of them roaming together.
Should be shot along with the other kind of coyotes.
Hunters here have started a coyote hunt in February to help cull their numbers. Coyotes are difficult to hunt successfully, though success can be had.
At the end of the program, Dave said he'd been in the area before and that he preached at that time to a smaller audience. He said he had asked those there to howl like wolves at the end and he extended the invitation to those gathered to 'howl like wolves' and he led a them in a juvenile howl at the end of his sermon.
It was a chilling experience, especially for an area that prides itself on its hunting and fishing traditions, and is unaware of the efforts of eco-terrorists like Foreman to undermine all that we hold dear.
A lot of places there aren't seasons. They are varmits, and are legal year round.
In Arizona, there is a year-round season on coyotes and no bad limit in most of the state. The AZ Fish and Game website say hunters take about 13,000 coyotes every year.
If their numbers get too high, they do become a problem.
'eco-terrorist'
They would be on the shoot list as well.
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