This commentary is by Jane Fitzwilliam, a resident of Putney and the coalition lead for vermontcoyote.org.
People hunt for many reasons: sport, trophy, tradition — some even hunt for food. Ironically, many of these hunters seem offended when coyotes hunt for food — for mere survival.
Unlike humans, coyotes don’t have other food options. They can’t go to the grocery store to buy meat and eggs. Or if they’re really hungry and don’t have time to cook, they can’t drive through the local Burger King and grab a Whopper with cheese.
These wild canids expend tremendous energy and skill to hunt for each and every meal. They waste nothing and value every morsel. Can all hunters claim that? Yet most hunters have very strong feelings about coyotes and none of them are good.
We often hear hunters complain about coyotes being cruel. Cruel? I think that when hunters take poor shots at deer, moose, bear and other animals, and leave them to suffer from non-lethal injuries, that’s cruel.
Coyotes and other wild animals don’t seek to be cruel. They kill to survive and they do so the only way they can, often using only their teeth and their skill. Not all hunts are successful and coyotes frequently walk away exhausted with a rumbling belly with no fridge to open.
Their hunting pursuits may leave them injured, whether it’s due to a kick in the face by a deer or left with a broken back. Coyotes generally prey on the weak and injured and keep the herd healthy. Humans can’t say that.
Many hunters kill for “sport” and recreation, seeking the healthiest animal for trophies to hang on a wall, yet condemn nonhuman animals for killing for survival.
There is a dangerous and insidious culture of hatred toward coyotes in Vermont. Wildlife advocates have asked Vermont Fish & Wildlife for years to do something to address the old wives’ tales and fearmongering that often lead to relentless killing. Vermont hunters have been photographed holding up coyote pups they’ve killed or strung up from telephone poles, and Fish & Wildlife looks away.
Well, I am not turning away nor are many others. We want coyotes to be respected and treated with humanity. If Vermont continues on this path of gratuitous cruelty, we are paving the way for a new generation of youth hunters who will grow up to believe that “the only good coyote is a dead coyote.”
That intolerance, ignorance and hatred might have been acceptable in the Vermont past, but not the Vermont I want to live in.
When you know better, do better. Do better, Vermont.
