If you're offended by a southeastern Oregon coyote derby that offers a prize for bringing in the most sets of ears, you've got good reasons to be.
Coyotes are pack-oriented wild dogs who are part of the balance of nature. They control rodents, which are a nuisance. My wife and I wish there were more coyotes in our neighborhood.
Killing coyotes doesn't reduce their numbers; it increases them. When coyotes are killed, more coyotes breed and have larger litters. Coyotes also fill vacated habitat from surrounding areas.
Yet Jamie and Angel Roscoe are promoting their coyote derby in Klamath, Lake, Harney, and Malheur counties.
The final head count and prize ceremony will be conducted at 4:00 PM PST in Silver Lake, Oregon. Most dead coyotes (just bring in sets of ears) wins. Prizes will be 1 Varmit rifle per team member of 1st place team (TBD caliber and make and model), 1 spoting scope or rifle scope or pair of bino's per member of 2nd and 3rd place teams. Entry fee is $50.00 per man, or $100.00 per team.
Yesterday my wife heard about this disgusting event from Brooks Fahy of Eugene's Predator Defense, an organization that we've supported and been involved with for quite a few years.
She emailed the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
To Whom It May Concern,
Please stop the planned coyote killing contest. It is scientifically ill advised, not to mention ethically. If there is already a coyote problem, it will only make it worse. There are far better ways to raise money for good concerns, and such heartless, wildlife destroying contests set a very bad example for children. This planned contest is barbaric and crass.
Well documented scientific studies have proven that killing coyotes disrupts their social structure leading to large sudden increases in their populations as any left in an area quickly fill the gap by having much larger litters. Additional females come into heat and produce young when an alpha female is killed (rather than just the alpha female in a pack producing young which normally is the case), so rather than one female in a group producing young, numerous females in each group can produce large litters, which survive due to the plentiful food sources left available due to a sudden reduction in coyotes sharing the area.
Coyotes have a helpful role in the environment in that they control voles, rats, mice, etc. While they do contribute to killing of livestock, this mainly happens when ranchers do not take adequate measures to protect their livestock themselves.
I live in a rural area near the Ankeny Wildlife refuge. Residents in our area live with a steady population of coyotes in the area, and found that whenever someone in the area has shot some coyotes, populations of voles, skunks, and mice seem to explode. The coyotes soon return, and are never gone for long. Our neighbors have learned how to protect their livestock with llamas or donkeys.
Ethically, such contests teach children and young adults a reduced valuing of the lives of living creatures. Hunting prey animals, such as deer for food, is one thing, but killing intelligent canines which survive with complex social structures is another. Encouraging such killing in a contest form may lead to a disregard for other canine species such as the pet dogs so many of us see as part of our families, and spend a lot of money and care for.
Please do not allow this barbaric contest!
Laurel got a terse response from Carol Turner of ODFW's Wildlife Division.
Thank you for your email. ODFW is not involved in the coyote derby event in SE Oregon. What the organizers are planning is legal. Coyotes are classified as predators, not game animals, and there are no regulations that prohibit coyote hunting.
Which didn't appease my animal-loving, cruelty-hating wife. She responded with...
Dear Carol, thank you for your reply. I still believe that ODFW should intervene in this manner and notify the parties putting on the event that it is unsportsmanlike and ill advised, in that will be one more thing to turn those already not advocates of hunting even more against the absurdity of killing intelligent animals just for fun. Coyotes are not prey animals but intelligent predators who help the balance of nature, and killing a few in a pack upsets their whole social structure.
Killing coyotes to protect livestock is barely accepted by the general non-ranching public, but killing coyotes just for sport and especially for barbaric contests is especially deplorable. Not discouraging these contests will eventually lead to a public backlash to ban coyote killing for any reason.
We pay state taxes also, and I am an Oregonian. I expect ODFW to better manage wildlife in Oregon for all, not just for hunters who want to kill our wildlife just for barbaric fun.
New research is already available and being disseminated by reputable biologists about the helpful and necessary role of natural predators in maintaining a balance of nature down to the level of micro organisms. It is time that ODFW begin to respond to this new scientific knowledge with better policies.
Perhaps ODFW cannot presently legally stop such contests, but they could intervene and discourage them. Perhaps the State needs to seek to establish regulations to disallow such hunts.
Please let me know the name of the administrator of ODFW (and the most accurate mailing address) so that I can send a more official letter to him/her about this issue, as it likely may arise again in the future.
A coyote derby in Nevada aroused similar opposition. Hopefully the time is coming when these sorts of cruel, needless killings of top ecosystem predators will be viewed as the senseless wrong acts that they are.
The organizer of this bloodsport believes that killing a bunch of coyotes is going to honor a friend of his who died of cancer. I don't agree. But each to his own.
Jamie Roscoe can do his thing. My wife and I will do ours: try to have coyote derbys outlawed in Oregon -- and ideally the entire United States.
I have always enjoyed killing things. Ever since I was a little boy I couldn't wait to go outside and crush bugs, lizards and even wayward pets. After all, once they cross property lines they're invaders and fair game, right?
I still have the tail of my first cat framed alongside cherished photos of some of my other kills and right under the trunk of an elephant I shot. Man, that one was a kick! I would have shot her baby too but the little bastard disappeared into a thicket. Oh well, I'll get that one another day. Hey little one, I've got a bullet saved up just for you.
When I got my first .22 I was so excited. With a pocketfull of birdshot I could spend countless happy hours blasting birds from TV antennas, trees and fenceposts. The kids at the park playing baseball didn't know what they were missing, but that was OK with me as it left more animals for me to kill myself.
It was especially satisfying to get one from behind. Ha, ha. The little fucker didn't even know what hit him as the feathers flew which I used to stuff my favorite bed pillow as a kind of trophy. The faint scent of blood wafting through the cotton slip reminded me of my accomplishments and sent me into sweet dreams of future killings to come.
Now that I am an adult I can devise all kinds of killing rampages under the guise of pest control and environmental protection. I am pleased to say that under legislation I have sponsored countless animals have been slaughtered.
You sissies and fagots that try to stop my killing events because of environmental concerns or because you think it is unneccesary and cruel are just dumb assholes. Cry me a river.
After all the coyotes I've killed and all the ears I have wallpapering my living room there's still lots of them running around. What the hell and what's your problem? You people need to get a life...like killing.
Posted by: tucson | January 13, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Dear Tucson,
I hope Tucson isn't just your anonymous name. Please tell me that you live there.
You are clearly a classy, emotionally developed, and intelligent person. I can tell by your elegant arguments that you must have graduated from high school. Your family must be so proud.
Please stay in Tucson.
Posted by: Lori | January 15, 2010 at 09:37 PM
Well, thanks Lori, but I never finished high school.
Tucson is my real name, but I live in Delaware near the Alabama border in a little town called Delabama. I hear the next "Survivor" location will be near here.
and remember:
"The only thing better than a dead coyote is one you can kill yourself."
Posted by: tucson | January 16, 2010 at 09:23 AM
Jim Anderson, a naturalist who has done quite a bit of research on coyotes, wrote an interesting piece for the Bend "The Source Weekly." Check it out:
http://www.tsweekly.com/outside/natural-world/the-coyote-and-the-eagle-coyote-hunt-could-have-unintended-consequences.html
He points out that lead bullets used in coyote kills also kill off eagles . Further, Anderson says that analyses of coyote stomach contents reveal that few desirable (meaning, huntable) animals were eaten, but lots of rodents were -- which compete with antelope and other game animals for food.
More evidence that it's senseless and wrong to kill coyotes for no good reason.
Posted by: Blogger Brian | January 23, 2010 at 02:26 PM
You think a coyote would think twice about killing you? Not if it was hungry.
Stay out of everyone elses business. Make your own world and stay out of ours.
Posted by: killerisme | January 14, 2011 at 01:32 PM
So you feel that the coyote killing is cruel? The farmers trying to raise animals don't feel that way. When the livestock is being killed because there is an over abundance of coyotes, I am more than willing to go out and blast a coyote or two. Its called population control. It's people like you and your "wonderful, loving" tree hugging wife, that cause us to have an over population of all of the predators that we dont need. Take a walk in a rancher's shoes once before you start preaching on your pedestal. How things look from an Oregonian's eyes? I would rather that YOU didnt speak for me. And I am sure that more than half of the state feels the same way. Eat meat and don't be afraid to hunt...
Posted by: AS | January 24, 2011 at 08:15 PM
AS, did you read this post? Killing coyotes only increases their number, as they have larger litters. So thank you for increasing the coyote population.
More coyotes means less rodents, which cause a lot of damage to fir trees, orchards, and such. Including our yard. So we also thank you for helping to reduce the rodent population by killing a few coyotes, as this will lead to more of them in the long run.
Posted by: Blogger Brian | January 24, 2011 at 09:55 PM
So,if I understand correctly,the more coyotes I shoot the more there will be to shoot in the future? Cool! You should be happy that us barbarians are boosting the population!
Posted by: Shooter | March 24, 2011 at 01:21 AM
True man don't kill coyotes :)
Posted by: fat burners | March 25, 2011 at 01:45 PM
In July of 1998, Oregon Health Division published a summary of animal related deaths in Oregon between the years1980 and 1996. According to their statistics, during those 16 years a total of 76 Oregonians died as a result of direct or indirect interaction with animals. Horses were the most common cause of animal related mortality accounting for a total of 41. Bees, wasps and spiders accounted for 13. Cows and bulls accounted for 9 and domestic dogs accounted for 5. One person died as a result of being kicked by a sheep and another died after being kicked by a mule. One man was gored to death by his pet buffalo, another was consumed by his pet lion, and an infant was killed by a pet ferret. The only deaths that can be described as “wildlife related” during this time period were caused by a car collision with a black-tailed deer and a fatal bite from a rattlesnake. Significantly, there has never been a single death over the entire history of Oregon attributed to either of the two species that get the most press coverage, cougar and coyotes.
Real hunters don't kill predators!
Posted by: Eric | May 18, 2011 at 11:48 AM
The thing that you seem to overlook in your article is that we are extremely overpopulated with coyotes at the moment. There populations increasing (cause by human-made changes to many areas of the country making it easier for them to expand their their territory to previously unreachable areas) is the main reason that the populations of wolves, cougars, lynx (only 700 left in US now) and many other rodent eating-animals are/have been rabidly decreasing, as the packs of coyotes are eating all the rodents and starving them (most of them solitary creatures) of prey. Coyotes are making such animals reach close to extinction. Organized and sponsored hunts for specific and harmful animals (similar to wild boar hunts, more common in the south) and a very effective way of fixing some of the stupid mistakes humans make when the brashly "pioneer new lands" and then completely ruin the balance of nature. And on the subject of a balance with nature it seemed a might-bit hypocritical of you to say "They control rodents, which are a nuisance. My wife and I wish there were more coyotes in our neighborhood." when you had in the same paragraph complained about upsetting the balance of nature, where in there have to be far more rodents then rodent-predators. Also ever since they had organized and sponsored hunts of coyotes in Yellowstone, the long attempted reintroduction of wolves was actually successful, and they started to somewhat restore to natural balance of wolves and coyotes (but they still have a long way to go). You argument that killing coyotes leads to more coyotes is true in small-scale hunting of coyotes, if you kill one or two in a pack they naturally react by breeding in larger numbers, but when you have large, organized, sponsored hunts and you take out entire packs (or at least the majority of them) the population does decrease in the long run. I not only encourage but BEG you to do some research into the mass overpopulation of coyotes because as a conservationist i feel somewhat appalled when i hear of strong opposition to these sorts of hunts that are designed to return animal populations back to what they once were... "An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." Orlando A. Battista
Posted by: Lonnie Milton | February 15, 2012 at 10:26 PM
Lonnie, you should look into the research about coyote control, as my wife and I have. Have a read:
http://www.predatordefense.org/docs/coyotes_letter_Dr_Crabtree_11-04-97.pdf
Here's an excerpt from this expert's letter:
---------------------------------------
"Before I cover the three basic biological responses by coyote populations to reduction (described below), it is important to understand the type of "predator reduction" or "coyote control" in question.
Most reduction programs, often referred to as control practices, are indiscriminate in nature, meaning the individuals removed (this usually always means "killed") are probably not the offending individuals.
Even if some offending individuals are removed, there is great likelihood that the responses described below will take place anyway. Although removal of offending individuals can temporarily alleviate predation rates on the protected species, the alleviation is usually short-term and likely has long-term side-effects that make control activities ineffective.
It can not be over-emphasized how powerfully coyote populations compensate for population reductions. Both evolutionary biology and the results of my research the last three years (on the effects of wolves on coyotes) indicate that the basis of this resiliency is embedded in the evolutionary past of the coyote. Coyotes evolved, and learned to coexist, in the presence of gray wolves--a dominant competitor and natural predator."
Posted by: Brian Hines | February 16, 2012 at 11:37 AM
If you truly wanted more coyotes then by your logic you should help in the derby. After all that woulb make for an explosion of new pups.
I am doing my part to help coyotes too. I just shot one about 20 minutes ago.
Posted by: bob | March 12, 2012 at 10:52 AM
The true facts are that there are a lot of variables that impact coyote population. Many of the factors can not be replicated in a controled study. It is at best a guess that killing coyotes increases the total population. Migration, natural mortality, food supply, season, and weather all play a role in the populations. Just because there might be more pups does not mean the adult population will increase. With increased litter size there is increased pup mortality. Even if a few more pups survive to adult age an area will only support so many preditors because food and den space is limited. If the population was close to being balanced then killing a few select coyotes can reduce coyote damage for up to a year. If there is extensive damage from coyotes then something like the derby can have a significant impact in terms of reducing that damage. If the derby is utlized as a management technique on a yearly basis then as much as 75% of the coyote population can be removed each year and you still would have a surviving breeding population but much less damage to crops and livestock.
Coyotes are notorious for killing much more than they eat. I have personally wittnessed the results of a coyote killing spree on a flock of turkeys. Dozens of birds dead and strewn about but not eaten. This at a huge cost to the farmer. Killing a few coyotes especially in late winter or early spring can make a profound difference in the amount of damage done by coyotes in a local area without putting coyotes in danger as a species.
Posted by: bob | March 12, 2012 at 12:52 PM
whenever a writer says things like this..."It can not be over-emphasized how powerfully coyote populations compensate for population reductions" it makes me laugh.
If you shoot a coyote 300 more will spring up from the ground right before you eyes. In this way coyotes will take over the world in three weeks.
Of course it can be over-emphasized. I just did it and so did the author.
As wolves are now in Yellowstone again we can see what presistant predation does to coyotes. The total population goes down and the coyotes prefer to live in areas of the park without wolves. Some are in the wolves territory, but between 70% and 90% fewer than before they become a target by wolves. Outside of the wolves areas the coyotes behave much as they did before. The killing of coyotes did lead to bigger litters, but not to more coyotes.
Posted by: bob | March 12, 2012 at 02:18 PM
I don't want to comment on this event, which is at least arguably of questionable taste. I want to comment on your (and Predator Defense's) advocacy of violence against individuals. If you think this sort of event is wrong, the ethical course to take is to try to persuade the people holding and participating in the event that it is. It's not ethical to try to employ government thuggery to stop it. This will only encourage retaliation for preventing things YOU think should be legal.
"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
-- Thomas Paine
Posted by: Paul Bonneau | August 21, 2012 at 02:22 PM