Coyote Snaring

Maine’s coyotes are subjected to the most liberal hunting, trapping, and snaring seasons of any state or province in eastern North America. They are hunted all year and trapped and snared throughout most of the fall and winter. They are even hunted at night from January through April.

For the past 20 years, Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has paid trappers up to $20,000 a year to snare coyotes, ostensibly to protect deer numbers in the northern part of the state. According to an IF&W biologist, this program has been expanded over time, without public input, to include coyotes all over the state in a variety of habitats, not just near deer yards, to satisfy hunters and trappers.

Snares are loops of wire set on wildlife paths. When an animal walks into the loop it begins to tighten. As the animal struggles to free himself, the loop slowly strangles him. IF&W records show that, quite often, the deaths of snared animals are prolonged and agonizing, sometimes taking days.

According to biologists’ reports, many animals besides coyotes are caught in snares including the endangered lynx and bald eagle, deer, fox, rabbit, fisher, and moose.

Many citizens of Maine have serious questions about IF&W’s coyote snaring program. Why do snaring programs continue when it is a fact that coyotes respond to such pressure with increased birth and survival rates? Why, when IF&W biologists have called the program wasteful, futile, cruel, and “mean spirited,” does the program continue? Why, when deer and road kill numbers are at an all-time high, and hunter numbers have declined dramatically, is IF&W paying snarers to kill coyotes?

Why, when coyote snaring is known to be extremely cruel and inconsistent with state humane laws does the program continue? Why does IF&W only allow the input of the hunting and trapping lobby and refuse to listen to the majority of Maine citizens about this issue? And finally, why should Maine citizens allow a small number of “sportsmen” to turn Maine’s shrinking wildlife habitat into a hell on Earth for the animals?

If you have questions about our efforts to stop the coyote snaring program or you would like to help, please call Daryl DeJoy at 326-0779 or Susan Cockrell 843-9023.

* This was reprinted from a longer article on coyote snaring on the Maine Animal Coalition website: www.maineanimalcoalition.org

Board of Directors

Caryl McIntire, Norway
Paula DeSaulnier, Legal Counsel, Portsmouth
Jeanne Foss, Wells
Joyce Gracie, Richmond
Andie Locke, Poland
Betsy Shivers, Fryeburg
Hilda Taylor, Portland
Anastasia Agrafiotis, Lovell
Amy Winston, Damariscotta

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