I am a biologist who has studied the eastern coyote in the Northeast for over 20 years. I also visit Maine multiple times a year, specifically visiting areas like Baxter State Park and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to view all wildlife, especially predators like eastern coyotes. I find it absolutely abysmal how the state of Maine treats these animals.

It is time wildlife agencies in the Northeast recognize the ecological and aesthetic importance of these magnificent hybrid creatures. They are social, family-oriented animals who often mate for life and live in family-oriented societies. Predators are shown to reduce disease in prey animals and literally save human lives by preying on animals like deer, which, in deer-vehicle accidents, kill far more humans than any other animal. These predators should be seen as an ally, not a bane to hunters and the general public.

It is time that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife stop catering to a vocal, special interest (if diminishing by the year) hook-and-bullet crowd, and consider the interests of all users of wildlife. To start this transformation, the state should establish a season and eliminate night hunting.

Year-round hunting of a social, family-oriented animal sends the wrong message as to the value of this important animal. It defies many of the tenets of the supposedly vaunted North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. A shorter (say, four-month) regulated hunting season is in order.

Jonathan Way, Ph.D.
founder, Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
Osterville, Mass.

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