Saskatchewan Group Against Province-Wide Coyote Bounty
Nature Saskatchewan calls for focused, local solutions
A non-profit group is speaking out about the recent decision for a Saskatchewan-wide bounty on coyotes.
Nature Saskatchewan is a conservation organization for harmony between nature and human culture. The organization believes in killing coyotes that are causing problems in specific areas only, through either trapping or sharp-shooting.
President Lorne Scott told News Talk Radio that this cannot happen without proper government funding. "The program has not been funded to the extent that it needs to be, if we could use this bounty money which could end up costing the province over half a million dollars or so, to go in where they're requested and eliminate the problem in these targeted areas."
Scott insists that research proves the ineffectivness of coyote bounties for many reasons. Coyotes help control pesky rodent populations, including gophers and ground squirrels, and are too important in the prairie ecosystem to eliminate. Scott adds that bounties tend to kill off the weaker animals, leaving the healthy ones to flourish and procreate to fill the gap.
Comments
agree with Scott
Lorne Scott's comments make sense to me. I was questioning this free for all bounty on coyotes right from the start. Target areas where there is a problem or over population of coyotes. But to just let me go out and shoot a coyote at emerald park or deer valley or lumsden, cut all 4 paws off somehow and get $20 in return, doesn't seem thought out.
Coyotes
One or two coyotes on our acerage is not a problem, but now they travel in packs of 10-12 with no fear of humans. When you look out on the deck and see a pack in your back yard then this might be away to control the problem.
Look... there's too many of
Look... there's too many of them. Nobody talked about killing them all off. This "group" is obviously made up of people who have never lived on a farm where these animals are not afraid of people anymore. The coyotes came and picked off my Dad's dog out in the field, WHILE DAD WAS WALKING WITHIN 10 YARDS OF THE DOG!
These earth muffins all need
These earth muffins all need a reality check. A young lady was just killed by coyotes in Eastern Canada...there are numerous stories of attacks on children and animals across North America. A massive cull is a good thing. end of story.
I kinda agree
with Bryan, until I saw Lorne Scott is involved with the group - sorry, Bryan, it's not obvious to me that people like Lorne Scott have never lived on a farm - the Lorne Scott I know of is a former Minister of the Environment, and has been with the Wildlife Federation, well, a long time, so I'd trust his judgment.
That said, I'm also willing to give the government some slack, since there have been lots of coyotes around, and they are more bold - when I was away from my farm for a few days, they were hanging out in front of my house.
There is way to many coyotes
There is way to many coyotes around, they willl not be completely eliminated, but they need to be thinned out, becoming major problems in rural sask. They have no natural predator in many areas......the sad part is the $20 an animal is not gonna do much to encourage people to go out and hunt them.
they are becoming too much a
they are becoming too much a part of the ecosystem, causing the populations of deer, rabbits, etc. to suffer
1/2 million bucks?????????????
maybe I'll quit my day job and grab that contract. at our farm we can't let the kids out alone, because the risk from coyotes is too great.
Coyotes are harmless
Mass hysteria from prairie coyotes. My six year old daughter has easily scared them out of the yard in the past by yelling and waving her arms.
You just need to educate your kids and tell them they don't need to be afraid. As mentioned before, these bounties don't work. Coyotes are useful. Open bounties are foolish and outdated practices.
But one time...
just wait... they are getting braver as they over populate..
where I am.. they don't run away... the just sit and watch.
I"m loading my gun
We've dealt with Coyotes on
We've dealt with Coyotes on our farm since I've been alive, but never have they been as bold or have they been so prolific as the last couple of years. We cull them aggressively, bounty or not. We try to mitigate the risk of having these animals around the calves or my niece or nephew, or our pet dogs. I only visit the farm on the weekends now and I'm still woken up at night to find a pack calling the dog halfway down the driveway, or a lone animal or two in the back yard. You can't be around all the time...
The people who don't want a bounty shouldn't be too worried, 20 an animal isn't going to make much of a dent... we basically have to take care of things ourselves.
In Favor of Bounty
I feel that we DO have a huge Coyote problem here! We have sheep and we are not about to lose our shirts because of these coyote's. We have worked too hard and spent too much of our time and hard earned money to get and keep our farm going. Obviously we don't want to kill them all off, but we do need to get these under control. It is a really bad problem when your children cannot even play in the yard, or even walk out to do you chores, as these coyote's no longer have any fear in them. Is it safer to depopulate the problem or have more anilmals killed? I as a producer get absolutely nothing if a coyote gets to my herd and kills them, so I feel that depopulating is the answer, and am 100% in favor of this bounty!