Nature Saskatchewan, a non-profit conservation organization and advocate for harmony between nature and human culture, believes that the recently-announced bounty on coyotes in Saskatchewan is not the right way to help livestock producers deal with depredation. Countless studies have proven bounties to be ineffective in stopping problem coyotes from taking livestock. “What our producers need,” Lorne Scott, President of Nature Saskatchewan said, "is an adequately-funded, aggressive control program in areas where depredation is a problem. The focus should be on eliminating problem animals—not a province-wide bounty."
Many farmers and ranchers view the coyote as an ally, helping to control rodent populations, including gophers (ground squirrels). The coyote is a native species and a key predator in prairie ecosystems. It makes little sense to promote poison campaigns to reduce ground squirrel numbers and at the same time, launch a province-wide bounty program to eliminate a main predator of ground squirrels.
Research has proven repeatedly that coyote bounties simply weed out the weak and less wary individuals, leaving the survivors to increase the size of their litters and thereby make up for any short-term or local dip in their numbers. As well, if coyotes are hunted out of a local area, their counterparts from adjacent regions rapidly move in to fill the void.
Scott concluded by saying that “tax dollars would be far better spent by providing resources directly to assist producers where coyote depredation on domestic livestock is a problem."
Nature Saskatchewan
This, like most decisions by the Wall government, is a knee-jerk reaction...using a bazooka to kill a mouse. The fact that all over Saskatchewan, rednecks are running off to the local hotel, buying a case or two of beer, and going out hunting coyotes...then cutting off the paws (sometimes before the animal is dead) and leaving the carcass behind, doesn't seem to faze our Ag Minister, Mr. Bjornerud or his boss, Mr. Wall.
ReplyDeleteDisgusting and ineffective...
l always have and always will hunt and shoot coyotes, the problem is all the ignorant idiots who run out and buy a gun, just to shoot coyotes are going to end up doing all kinds of stupid things(shooting up anything that they want, birds, farmers equipment, no hunting signs, other animals ect.ect...) and ruining it for responsible people like me. This will give all the other ignorant people on the other side of the fence the ammo they need, then they can paint everybody with a gun with the same brush. Most of the people l meet that do not agree with hunting l keep my mouth shut, l know better than to argue with someone who has no idea what they are talking about, getting on my case for shooting a coyote, and they have probably never even seen one before, or someone cutting the paws of a coyote that is still alive!! ''Anonynmous'' can say whatever he/she wants, but l like to think that anyone with any common sense can make up their minds for themselves. Come one,, really some people have small dogs they have to pay to get sedated just to get their nails clipped. l am not for one second defending anybody who does anything that is illegal or unethical, l know that lots of people out there do not think twice about running an animal down on a snowmobile, or shooting an animal out of season, so don't paint me with that brush. Just because you don't like it does'nt mean it's wrong. l do not really know what Brad Wall has to do with this, with some people everything is black or white.lf you don't agree with me l am not going to call you a socialist tree hugging regressive commie hippy, so don't call me a drunk redneck. One more thing if you can come up with better way to reduce the coyote population let me know, all the farmers and land owners l know are more than happy to let me take care of their coyote/gopher problems for them with a gun, sure saves them a pile of time and money. And it is environmentally friendly, nature has a way of cleaning up after itself-nothing goes to waste;)
ReplyDeletesee you in the field.