On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 10:36:46 -0500, "Catty One"
wrote:

First off, let me say, I'm a gardener ... I totally and completely
understand about 'nuisance animals' and understand the fact that critters
sometimes need to be dispatched for various reasons. On the other hand, I
totally feel that we, as humans, bring a lot (if not all) of crap upon
ourselves. I've had issues w/woodchucks in the past and I've relocated
several (I can't bring myself to kill them, I know you're not supposed to
move them either, but oh well).

I've left my woodchuck alone. Last summer Mrs Woodchuck moved in.
Now I'm anticipating a population explosion to match my rabbit
population. Its like the Wild Kingdom around here sometimes. Wait
till I put in my pond.

Within the past five years or so (maybe longer, I've lost all sense of time)
Massachusetts voted to "Ban Cruel Leghold Traps" and guess what, now
everybody is complaining that they can't let their kids or pets out because
they might get eaten by a coyote, just this last week in my home town (20
miles north of Boston) got a permit to trap and kill 9 beavers and tear down
their damn because it's causing the water in the local pond to rise way
above 'normal' -- I just would love to ask each and every one of the
buttheads who had to go out there in their hip-waders how many of them voted
to ban the cruel traps?? I can almost guarantee they all did, seeing how
it's so cruel for the animals and all, yet letting them live, then trapping
them, killing them and ripping down their home is such great fun.

Has there been any problems with coyotes actually bothering kids or
others in the East? I know that cougars have killed people in the
west. I've never seen a coyote around here, while out west they're
walking down main street it seems.

I'm just disgusted w/all the McMansions and developments, etc., and then
everybody complaining the deer are eating their plants, etc. I'm just
completely sick of it all.

People love their animals but don't want to think about what proper
management means. Pennsylvania has a higher deer population then in
early colonial times despite all the hunting, and that's due to lack
of predators. Some animals are co-existing just fine with humans,
maybe a bit more the we'd like.

Trapping seems wrong to me -- I hate to think of animals suffering
needlessly. Cages seem better but since the whole point is to kill
the critter, may as well put little land mines around.

The only alternatives that come to mind would be more hunting, which
would be difficult in densely populated areas, or some type of birth
population control. I've heard contradictory stories about birth
control. It seems to harm the animals the least, making it very
friendly to animal lovers, but if it doesn't work then its not a
solution. It also seems to be difficult to implement.

What other options are out there?

On the flip side of the coyote thing ... I don't have any more woodchucks
:-)
Send some of those doggies over. I guess if I'd get a dog my problems
would take care of themselves too.

Catty One
-formerly known as LeeAnne-
20 miles north of Boston MA
and damn it's cold up here!!!!

I though you New Englanders reveled in that stuff?

Swyck