PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 24, 2025
We have trapped coyotes, snared them, increased the hunting seasons on them, used hounds, allowed night hunting, baiting, bounties, calling devices and, worst of all, we have used killing contests. The result? We have more coyotes today than ever. Despite every piece of legislation imaginable and countless studies, programs and methods, 50-plus years later we continue to hear the same hollow arguments. It is time to rethink this endless, ineffective, inhumane cycle and focus instead on living with this important component of nature’s ecosystem. Coyote killing derbies only serve to perpetuate a culture of violence and send a message that wild animals have little intrinsic value and are disposable. Contact your state legislators and ask them to support “An Act to Prohibit Coyote Killing Contests,” which have no place in modern civilized society. ~ Robert Fisk Jr., Maine Friends of Animals