Coyote concerns

Bob Grandchamp’s op-ed, “Deer herds the victim of a foreign predator” (BDN, April 9) on the coyote’s decimation of the deer herd is right on target.

Last fall while driving down Intestate 95 between Medway and Lincoln a beautiful fully antlered buck ran across the road in front of us; hard on his heels was a coyote, nipping and lunging at his feet and legs. The buck stopped and snorted and lunged at the coyote, then after we had passed he ran back across the road, the coyote still in hot pursuit. We figured there were several more coyotes waiting in the woods for this poor guy to tire out. This was a healthy buck in his prime and happening right in broad daylight, too. It was very disturbing as we have seen a tremendous increase in coyotes over the last few years.

Our family has property in Brooklin and it has been overrun by coyotes. They are out in the fields during the day and howling and yipping. This is also very disturbing. We used to have a small deer herd on the land but I believe they are gone now.

The biologists need to take this into consideration and make it worth our while to get rid of coyotes. Wildlife management doesn’t always work the way you hope. We have also noticed a decrease in moose sightings around our neck of the woods since the moose hunt was implemented. One of the reasons people like to live in and visit Maine are the opportunities to see wildlife in the wild. What a shame if all we have left would be coyotes.

Hope MacDonald

Millinocket