John Harrigan: Mistreatment of coyotes is not the New Hampshire way
By JOHN HARRIGAN
For the Monitor
Monday, January 28, 2019
We get a lot of mileage out of that great saying, “It’s the New Hampshire way!” It has become something of a tradition. Somehow, it seems to put us a cut above the rest.
In New Hampshire, we honor another historical tradition, which is to do everything possible to protect wild creatures during their most vulnerable time, when they’re giving birth and raising their young.
We do this for moose, deer, foxes, fishers, trout and partridges drumming away on hollow logs. Spring is a time of refreshment and renewal, a time to give the land and its creatures a rest. We like to think that we do everything possible to give Mom a break, and let her give birth and raise her young until they can fend for themselves. And so from April to August, most wild species are out of sight and sights.
Except coyotes. Because they are not considered a regulated game species, there are few laws on the books mentioning coyotes at all. Ånd those that do exist are aimed at just one target: Killing as many coyotes as possible, whether trapped, shot or starved. That’s right: “Starved.”
New Hampshire, by excluding coyotes from the birthing-time protection it gives virtually every other furbearer, prey species and predator, leaves the coyote harmless, easy to find and totally exposed.
In the world of coyotes, if Mom gets shot, whether by “accidental encounter” during deer season or by someone competing in a “killing contest,” there is nobody to bring home the groceries. To put it more bluntly, the coyote pups die from dehydration and starvation – the kind of slow, remorseless, agonizing death we’d never wish for our worst enemies.
House Bill 442 would prohibit the killing of coyotes from April 1 though Aug. 31. It may survive the process in its present form or it may be melded into a plethora of other coyote-related bills destined to be considered by both House and Senate this session. We’re almost certain, for instance, to see a bill banning coyote killing contests.
Wildlife is a hot-button topic for today’s voters, and we’ll probably see more than the usual number of wildlife-related bills during this biennium. Yes, the Legislature is a poor way to make wildlife management decisions. But all too often, the Fish and Game Commission either thumbs its nose at widespread public opinion or ignores the recommendations of its own professional staff. Thwarted on the preferred route, the people thus turn to the second-best show in town.
While we’re thinking about coyotes and how we (mis)treat them, perhaps one more thing bears mention.
On the one hand we have the wolf, much bigger than even our already bigger-than-the-Western coyote, a predator that was here in antiquity, ultimately will be back, and is a virtual poster-child for the environmental movement.
And on the other hand we have the coyote, close cousin of the wolf (they carry some of each other’s genes), which society treats pretty much like rats, for shooting at the dump.
Is persecution of the coyote based on misinformation and hypocrisy really the New Hampshire way?
(John Harrigan is a longtime journalist who writes a syndicated column from his home in Colebrook.)
