Cash for Coyotes

Despite objections from the governor, a coyote derby is expected to start as planned this afternoon in Washington County. After months of contact between the Washington County Fish and Wildlife Conservation Club and state wildlife officials it was inappropriate for the governor to ask the club to cancel the event at the last minute because of mounting criticism. Rather than object to the derby, the governor and others should realize the contest is an extension of Maine’s wildlife management practices.

Those who criticize the contest, which will award cash prizes to those who kill the most coyotes by a variety of means by sundown Saturday, are making fine distinctions between what is acceptable and what is not. It is legal to hunt coyotes throughout the year and there is no limit on how many of the animals an individual can kill. The derby, put on by the conservation club, simply adds prize money to an ongoing activity. The $20 entry fee will raise money for youth conservation education and deer habitat improvements.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has long encouraged coyote hunting, especially after the 2003 suspension of the state’s snaring program, to boost the state’s deer population. The department is currently working with federal officials to seek a way to re-start snaring while protecting endangered species. In the meantime, coyote numbers have increased, especially in Washington County, imperiling the deer herd there.

In the absence of a coyote control program from IF&W, it is only natural that hunters have taken matters into their own hands, resulting in this weekend’s derby.

“I do not condone this contest, but it appears nothing in Maine law prohibits it,” the governor responded to those who complained. On Thursday morning, he asked the club to cancel the derby. Club officials decided to proceed with the hunt because they felt it was a good way to raise awareness of coyote hunting and because it was too late to cancel it.

The only differences between the coyote derby and the annual togue fishing contest on Sebago Lake are the species being killed and the amount of prize money available. The togue are targeted to preserve land-locked salmon and thousands of dollars may be awarded to the winners.

The only difference between the coyote derby and the state’s annual moose and deer hunts is the way the numbers are managed. If biologists decide more deer or moose should be killed, more hunters are allowed to go after them. In this case, the derby encouraged hunters to go after more coyote. The result is the same.