After reading V. Paul Reynolds’ column of June 20 about deer found dead along an ice shelf in the St. Croix River, I think it is important for Sun Journal readers to understand that although these things do happen and are very sad, this is nature. That said, there is little to no proof that this was done by coyotes.

The Princeton area, where this happened, has many hounders, people who chase coyotes with packs of dogs and shoot them, often as they cross the road. Have you ever seen or heard a pack of dogs running a coyote? If this wouldn’t scare a deer herd I don’t know what would, and this happened at a time of year when hounding is going on regularly.

There is also a big problem on Passamaquoddy land with dogs running loose and chasing deer. It is also entirely possible that the deer were simply crossing the ice to get to the deer yard and fell through. Rarely do panicked deer stay together when they are spooked, as intimated in the column.

Snarers who blame the deer deaths on coyotes have an obvious agenda in reintroducing snaring to the Maine woods: these folks are determined to bring back their sport.

Snaring endangers not only threatened and endangered species, like eagles and lynx, but any other animal who walks into them.

As I studied third-party inspection reports of snarers in 2003, I was struck by how many snares were reported as temporarily lost by the inspector. Where were they and what was killed by them?

What was lacking in these reports was any information telling whether the snares were ever found or left in place to kill. In these inspection reports, of 10 coyotes caught in snares with 50-pound springs, three were still alive or had lived extended periods of time. One reported a 7-foot round bloody circle around the coyote.

The coyote snaring program is ill-advised with no science behind it at all and much money has been spent so far by the Department of Inland Fisheries &Wildlife to try and bring back the program. Do we want the state spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on a program that is driven by a couple of organizations representing a fringe minority of people in Maine?

The state is currently spending thousands of dollars on trying to bring back snaring when this money could be spent on much-needed enforcement to catch poachers who truly are a danger to the state’s deer population. This money could also be spent to save or encourage the growth of deer yards, providing adequate protection for deer during the winter. This lack of suitable habitat is universally recognized as the primary reason for the lower deer population up north.

Commissioner Martin’s suspension of the coyote snaring program was based on the very real knowledge that snares do catch threatened and endangered species and that such incidents open the state up to liabilities we should be unwilling to risk. Snares are indiscriminate killers.

Although the third-party inspection reports showed no incidental take, it’s important to note that the state inspectors made appointments to visit the snares. It would have been very telling, I think, to have pop inspections, without warning.

Past non-target reporting showed fox, raccoon, bobcat, fisher, moose and, yes, deer killed in snares yearly and this is with the improved coyote snaring program. The NoSnare Task Force is continuing to monitor the state’s efforts to bring back the coyote snaring program and continuing to find nothing but damning evidence against the use of snares.

The last year of snaring, according to a IF&W biologist assigned to this area’s snaring program, three domestic dogs were caught in snares and only the fact that their owners were close by saved them. That report is on file with IF&W. Has anyone’s dog gone missing up North in snaring country?

If coyote control is even necessary, there are much more selective ways to do it to ensure the safety of our wildlife and our woods than by using snares.

The state’s position has always been that it is mandated to undertake a coyote snaring program by the Legislature. However, a very recent opinion from the Attorney General in response to a query by Rep. Linda McKee made it clear that it is not a mandated program and gives the commissioner responsibility to decide whether to enact this program.

Commissioner Martin should be spending the state’s money on programs that have some good, solid science behind them and the coyote snaring program has none. We have asked the state many times for such science and have never found nor been offered any.

There are many factors that decide animal populations, but these are the facts.

Daryl DeJoy of Penobscot is a registered Maine Guide and head of the NoSnare Task Force.

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