LAST WEEK’S QUESTION: IS STATEWIDE COYOTE KILL A GOOD IDEA?

The Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is sponsoring the Georgia Coyote Challenge: For every coyote carcass you turn in, up to five a month through August, you’re entered into a drawing for a lifetime hunting license. Some applaud the incentive; others are howling mad.

The idea that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources would turn hunters loose to slaughter coyotes is appalling and horrific and the fact that they create a “contest” to further coax more loaded guns out into our local woodlands is just irresponsible.

Is it right to kill coyotes in metro Atlanta? Having our 15-year-old cat killed by coyotes was a terrible blow. The coyotes live in our backyard on Nancy Creek here in Chamblee, inside I-285. We see them during the day, walking around the neighborhood. Do we just stand by and allow coyotes to kill our domestic pets, right in our own fenced backyards?

I emphatically oppose DNR’s Coyote Challenge. Scientific studies have shown that culling coyotes has no long-term effect on the population. Coyotes have naturally expanded their range in the United States as a result of the humanaltered landscape and in spite of our efforts to eradicate them, and they’ve filled a vital niche as top predators in the absence of wolves and big cats. They deserve protection and respect, not mindless persecution.

There is no use for coyotes to be allowed to live! They are of no benefit to the human race, just like mosquitoes. They only live off the back of other animals.

There is absolutely no justification for Georgia DNR’s ghoulish game.