More focus needed on deer’s real predator

I read with interest Tom Hennessey’s column entitled “Hunting controversial coyote isn’t easy” Feb. 5-6 (BDN). Mr. Hennessey comes across as the ultimate authority on coyote hunting and in the process, proceeds to belittle letter writers who voiced disapproval of the recent two-day coyote derby sponsored by a Washington County fish and game club that drew 68 entrants who bagged a grand total of two coyotes.

What I find much more interesting than the typical outdoor writer advocacy of coyotes being the deer’s worst nemesis is their deafening silence on the predator that the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife claims that “studies indicate may kill almost as many animals and fish as legitimate hunters and fishermen take during legal seasons,” according to the DIF&W’s Web site on Operation Game Thief.

That predator, of course, is the poacher. The DIF&W Web site further elaborates on poachers not confining their killing to game animals and fish, but also including threatened, endangered, and nongame wildlife in their repertoire as well.

Most of us who take an interest in the outdoors recall reading news items starting in December of last year (BDN, Dec. 27) about 39 (I’m reluctant to use the word hunters) people being arrested on a range of charges that included killing multiple deer, night hunting, hunting on posted land, and driving deer in central and western Maine. One group had boasted about killing more than 50 deer in the Belgrade area.

DIF&W will tell you that these arrests are but the mere tip of the iceberg when it comes to poaching in Maine. Warden Col. Tom Santaguida estimates that he would need 20 more investigators to adequately uphold Maine’s poaching laws.

I’m still waiting for the outdoor writers fraternity – Hennessey, George Smith, V. Paul Reynolds, Harry Vanderweide and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine – to express outrage and declare war on Maine’s number one threat to deer and other wildlife, and folks, that ain’t the coyote.

Clint Cushman

Wilton

Nixon earned ring

I could care less if Alex Rodriguez wears pinstripes or an Armani dress suit and pants. Seeing Trot Nixon in pinstripes, that just isn’t going to happen. He would not lower himself like No. 13 for New York. I don’t care if Rodriguez gets up at 6 a.m. to jog or lift weights and any other thing he has to do for his workout.

We all have an opinion about something in this country of ours. Money has ruined the game of baseball. I like Trot Nixon. He is a gutsy ballplayer who lays it all on the line out on the field. Nixon has one thing that Rodriguez doesn’t have yet and that is a World Series ring.

Brian Sanborn

Sangerville

Note to readers: The NEWS reserves the right to edit submissions for libel, taste, clarity, and to fit available space. Letters should include a signature, full name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters may be mailed to: P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402, or e-mailed: bdnsports@bangordailynews.net