There is a bill pending in the Maine State Legislature, LD 814, that, if passed, will drastically curtail Maine’s well-established coyote control program.

This coyote management initiative was a response to Maine’s declining deer numbers in the North Woods. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife undertook this program at the behest of the State Legislature a number of years ago.

There are 45 states in the country that permit coyote hunting and trapping year round, as does Maine. LD 814 would reduce the coyote season by 60% and ban the legal pursuit of coyotes altogether in the spring and summer months. Proponents argue that hunting coyotes during the pup-rearing period is “cruel and inhumane” to the juvenile coyotes.

The nine legislative sponsors of this bill, all Democrats, were contacted by me in an effort to confirm their rationale for putting their names on this bill. Those lawmakers are: Rep. Lynne Williams, Bar Harbor; Rep. Benjamin Collings, Portland; Rep. Lynn Copeland, Saco; Rep. Holly Rae Eaton, Deer Isle; Rep. Valli Geiger, Rockland; Rep. Kristi Mathieson, Kittery; Rep. Rebecca Millett, Cape Elizabeth; Rep. Sophia Warren, Scarborough; and Senator Nicole Grohoski, Hancock.

Three returned my calls: Rep. Williams, who is the House lead sponsor of the bill; Rep. Geiger, the bill’s Senate sponsor; and Sen. Grohoski.

Williams and Geiger both indicated in our chat that, indeed, they simply opposed the hunting of coyotes during the pup-rearing season. Both lawmakers freely conceded that they knew little about the deer-predator relationship or wildlife management in general. Interestingly, Williams said that her island constituents “loved coyotes” because they reduced pesky deer, which over-browsed their gardens and shrubbery. (Because hunting is not permitted on Mt. Desert Island, this bill presumably would not impact the deer-coyote equation one way or the other).

Sen. Grohoski seemed somewhat tentative or tepid about her support for this bill. While she doubts that it will pass without the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s support, she said that she liked the idea of putting the topic on the table for a discussion.

Gerry Lavigne, who is a wildlife consultant for the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, and a former deer research leader for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, points out that:

“Coyote harvests during spring and summer can impact coyote demographics to a greater degree than harvests during fall and winter. Coyotes whelp during April, and pups remain dependent on adults until August. Removal of one or both adults would reduce survival of their litter as well. Coyote removals during April, May and June would also reduce the number of coyotes targeting deer fawns.

“If LD 814 passes, survival of adult and pup coyotes will increase, leading to higher coyote populations throughout Maine. This in turn, would lead to increased losses of small livestock and pets. Higher density of coyotes during early summer would result in lower survival of deer fawns, increased losses of adult deer during winter, and ultimately lower deer harvests.”

In other words, effective coyote population control by definition must include spring coyote hunting.

So the choice, implicit in this piece of legislation, is not simply whether or not to impose a shortened coyote hunting season, but rather to manage or not to manage excessive coyote numbers in Maine.

Wittingly or unwittingly, the aforementioned state legislators are joining forces with those state activists who have long pledged to eliminate coyote hunting and trapping altogether. As Lavigne asserts, “Passage of LD 814 reverses Legislative intent during the past 50 years in that it prevents DIFW from protecting deer, minimizing conflicts with people, and achieving sustainable deer harvests.”

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, an author, a Maine guide and host of a weekly radio program, “Maine Outdoors,” heard at 7 p.m. Sundays on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. Contact him at vpaulr@tds.net.

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