Coyote cuddlers convene

By V. Paul Reynolds

During last year’s Legislative session, a coterie of urban lawmakers from southern Maine tried hard to pass a bill that would have drastically curtailed Maine’s well-established coyote control program. This coyote management program was a response to Maine’s declining North Woods deer numbers and the fact that coyotes prey on wintering deer in deer yards.

Two points are noteworthy: 1) This program was an effort, not to eradicate coyotes, but simply to manage their numbers, and 2) The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife was a somewhat begrudging participant in this coyote control program. It should have been an MDIF&W initiative, not a legislative-originated imposition on the fish and wildlife managers.

During the hearing of the bill before the Legislative Committee on Fish and Wildlife, the lawmakers sponsoring the bill came off looking ill informed about wildlife management and predator/prey relationships in general. The standing committee came out in strong opposition to the bill and it failed to be passed by the legislative body.

Flash forward. 

In this Legislative session another coyote protection bill, LD 716, once again is in the hopper. This bill, in effect, drastically curtails the coyote hunting season, which is currently year round. The bill restricts or limits the coyote hunting season to run between Oct. 1 and March 31. That is a 60 percent reduction in the open season on coyotes.

Legislators sponsoring this bill are Rep. Nina Milliken, D-Blue Hill, Rep. Kristi Mathieson, D-Kittery; Rep. Cheryl Golek, D-Harpswell and Rep. Dylan Pugh, D-Portland. Not one of these legislators returned my phone calls in my attempt to learn their motivation for the bill.

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine had this to say about the bill, “These legislators want to protect coyotes for six months of the year so they can thrive. That means more fawns will die, more coyotes will kill deer in wintering areas, more cats and dogs will die and domestic animals will be on the menu.”

Wittingly or unwittingly, the state lawmakers listed above are joining forces with those state activists who have long pledged to eliminate coyote hunting and trapping altogether.

Former state deer research biologist Gerry Lavigne knows as much about predator/prey relationships, particularly deer and coyotes, as anyone you can name. His testimony from last year’s coyote bill hearing is still very applicable, “Passage of this bill reverses legislative intent during the past 50 years in that it prevents MDIF&W from protecting deer, minimizing conflicts with people and achieving sustainable deer harvests.”

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.sportingjournal.com.