Coyotes get a bad rap, but trapping is extreme

In the two-dimensional universe of Looney Tunes, there’s no killing Wile E. Coyote. Outsmarted by the Road Runner and bested by preposterous mail-order devices that leave him smashed, splattered, shredded and scorched, he rises up, shakes himself off, and

Likewise, in the Native American legends that inspired him, Coyote is impossible to kill. A trickster and troublemaker, liar and thief, he saunters the perimeter between mischief and morality, sowing chaos and disrupting the natural order of things, transforming them less for better than worse.

He, too, is never defeated. He comes back to life, unrepentant and unchanged, to carry on the business of pushing limits, triggering floods, and stealing stars.

In the real world, of course, coyotes are no less mortal than the rabbits and deer, foxes and woodchucks that share our suburbs in ever-increasing numbers. Unlike most species, though, coyotes are widely feared and despised, their survival threatened not by Outboard Steamrollers, Jet-Propelled Pogo Sticks, and other merchandise from the ACME Corp., but by indigenous folklore that colors our perception of them to this day.

This is important, because coyotes in Fairfield County are in the proverbial doghouse for crimes against property and pets. Battle lines have been drawn between those who wish to protect coyotes and those who are adamant about protecting their pets.

This week, the Westport Representative Town Meeting gave a first reading to a measure that would allow residents to hire a nuisance wildlife control operator to trap and kill coyotes on private and town property.

The amendment to the town’s ban on trapping would require a special state permit, written notification to the town, certified mail to the neighbors, and the posting of various notices and signs. Trapping is opposed by local veterinarians, the Humane Society, and three committees of the RTM.

Non-lethal alternatives include leashing pets and “hazing” coyotes — scaring them off with noise and commotion. Wildlife experts say feeding pets indoors, keeping garbage cans secured, and not leaving pets outside unattended would be more effective and humane than trapping. We agree.

While those in favor of trapping profess to fear for their children, coyotes rarely attack people. In U.S. history, there has been one known fatality, in Glendale, California, in 1981. Thousands of coyotes were killed in revenge.

In Chappaqua, New York, home to the Clintons and more coyotes than deemed acceptable, a debate similar to Westport’s resulted in limited trapping after coyotes killed a pair of small dogs. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation noted that 650 New Yorkers are hospitalized annually for dog bites, and that while coyotes kill cats, “so do foxes, bobcats, vehicles and even great horned owls.”

Unlike the wolf, his revered wild cousin, the coyote has been vilified for centuries. Wile E. Coyote made TV Guide’s list of “The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.” But it would be neither a symbol nor a cartoon they would be trapping in this state, just a wild dog with a great deal of baggage and not so much as an anvil with which to fight back.

While those in favor of trapping profess to fear for their children, coyotes rarely attack people.

PHOTO / HEARST CONNECTICUT MEDIA