Grundy County offers money for slain coyotes

[Graubo3]

Found this interesting in light of the stray dog thread. Have a nice weekend.

chicagowildlifenews.com/2011/01/grundy-county-offers-money-for-slain.html

Peace, Graubo

 

[Dale_M]

I don’t think this program will last very long since the funding looks to be very limited. At $15 per coyote, the funds will dry up pretty quickly.

Passage of the ordinance, which is to be funded solely through contributions from outdoors organizations like Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, National Whitetails and the National Turkey Federation, came only after the original motion was amended and a separate motion to table action on the measure failed because it ended in a 7-7 tie vote.

The concern was about the fact there was no termination date included in the ordinance — aside from a statement the bounty would be “available for the duration of the available funding” — and only $350, from Ducks Unlimited, has thus far been received to fund the bounty.

“If no other money comes in, once that money’s used up, we’ll quit paying the bounty,” County Administrator Dan Duffy explained in light of the questions.

morrisdailyherald.com/articles/2011/01/12/32415854/index.xml

And I have to wonder if the bounty won’t bring in too many persons who will try to hunt on another person’s land without getting permission. This is already a problem in the rural Midwest, even without a bounty, and the lure of money might prompt more bad behavior. If so, then the program will likely earn even more opposition than it faces currently.

 

[Sean_Boyle]

Coyotes already have a bounty. The peak hunting season is just now starting to take off in the midwest.

A fur trader will buy whole coyotes from hunters for about 10 dollars apiece and then pay someone to skin them to sell in the fur trade for about 15 to 20 dollars.

I don’t think the incidents of illegal hunting will increase at all, the hide has already been valued at that price. Hunting and skinning coyotes is not a easy way to make a buck.

 

[Catholic1954]

This is not a good idea. A California county had the same bright idea some years back and wiped out all the coyotes from the area, the rodent infestation the next year was far, far worse than putting up with the coyotes in the first place. They do eat their weight in rats and mice every day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I sure wish they would reinstate bounties on them here. Coyotes used to be pretty rare, but now they’re everywhere.

I don’t think most people realize that coyotes (at least ours) are about the size of a skinny German Shepherd dog, and can kill a child in a heartbeat. An adult in good condition would have trouble fighting one off. So would a good-sized dog in your yard. A cat or small dog out in the open at night is a goner.

They might eat mice and rats, but so do a lot of far less dangerous creatures, and coyotes kill and eat a lot more things than mice and rats. That’s part of the reason Great Pyrenees have become so popular in rural areas around here. You couldn’t even dream of raising sheep or goats here (or range chickens, turkeys or ducks) without a Kommondor or a Great Pyrenees (or in some places more than one) to guard them from the coyotes. Cattle are more than an equal match to coyotes and aren’t generally bothered by them. But they will sure kill a small calf if they catch one unattended somewhere. I have watched them lurk around herds that are calving. They’re really brazen, and the mothers have to be vigilant all the time.