Protect Vermont coyotes

Dear Editor,

On May 11, 2022, Governor Scott signed into law Bill H.411, which prohibits killing wildlife without intention to use or dispose of it properly—known as wanton waste. A 2017 survey by the University of Vermont’s Center for Rural Studies showed that 70.5% of Vermonters oppose wanton waste. The passing of H.411 ignited a glimmer of hope in many Vermonters, hope that the needless and wasteful killing and dumping of wildlife would diminish. For many species, this was true. Except for one.

H.411 protects a large portion of Vermont’s mammals, but the coyote—Vermont’s most unfairly detested predator—was denied the same protections. While coyotes trapped during the legal trapping season are covered, those killed during the 365-day open season are exempt. The only requirement is that their bodies must be retrieved by the hunter, with no use required.

Year-round hunting of coyotes with no limit on numbers invites wanton waste. On Feb. 22, 2024, a good Samaritan discovered a hunter’s carcass dumping ground at Tinmouth Channel Wildlife Management Area. The pile of dead wildlife included multiple species, and most notably over 20 coyotes. Killed for no reason other than the crime of existing, and left to rot like trash in a mass grave in the woods—on the grounds of a state wildlife management area, no less.

The senseless killing and illegal dumping of coyotes since the passage of H.411 is not an isolated incident. In November 2023, a shot coyote was discarded at a carcass dumpsite in Shaftsbury. In April 2024, a game warden reported five shot coyote carcasses dumped on the side of the road in Elmore. In May 2024, a coyote hunting for mice was shot and left in a field at Dead Creek Wildlife Area in Addison. Vermonters rarely ever hear about these crimes against wildlife. This information was uncovered via a public records request submitted to Vermont Fish & Wildlife.

Governor Scott may have passed H.411, but its positive effects on wildlife only go so far. For wildlife plagued by open killing seasons, such as coyotes, the law is little more than words on paper. Hunters are allowed to kill coyotes with no legal limit or regulated season, making the law a drop in the ocean of the endless slaughter and dumping of a keystone species. The extirpation of wolves from Vermont in the mid-1800s left the state barren of large pursuit predators except for coyotes. With the continued unregulated killing of coyotes, proper management of prey populations will be threatened. This will increase the risk of deadly vehicle collisions, the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease into Vermont, and the overconsumption of vegetation crucial to the habitats of countless native species. According to a 2023 University of Michigan study, healthy predator populations contribute to healthy prey populations—predators remove diseased and injured animals, allowing robust, ecologically fit animals to thrive (Healthy Herds Hypothesis), thus permitting Vermont’s rich history of responsible and respectful outdoor sportsmanship to live on.

The conservation of coyotes is ultimately the conservation of our land. We must call for Vermont Fish and Wildlife to remove their blindfolds and see the growing consequences of enabling severe interference with the food web. We must enact a regulated and limited hunting season for coyotes to ensure the health of our wild places.

Coyotes need us now more than ever, and they will forever play an irreplaceable role in Vermont’s ecosystems.

Cas Simmons,

Winooski