In writing this letter I am working through the pain of the recent killing of the five coyotes.

First, I thank the City Council for terminating its agreement with USDA Wildlife Services, and realizing that there needs to be process for wildlife issues and complaints.

Now my history. My family was the first family to move into Wildhorse in October 1998. Several weeks later my son was born. Coyotes helped me get through the first several months of nightly nursing. The coyotes gave me hope in my sleep-deprived postpartum mind. They also reminded me of the uniqueness of all creatures that God put on this Earth.

The coyotes also brought back childhood memories of northern New Mexico, where the coyotes would run up the canyons at night, yipping and barking as they hunted. As they ran by our house I would bury my head under the covers, but it was still a magical event to me.

As an educated adult, I realize they are elusive creatures who rarely attack humans. And dogs? Well, if a very small dog is off-leash and a female coyote has pups, perhaps. But that may be part of this problem. Many dog owners love to walk their dogs in this buffer zone because they can let them illegally off-leash without repercussion, allowing the dogs to run ahead and alone. I have many times asked people to put their dogs back on leash.

As the greenbelt locals might recall, rabbits were being killed last year by “something” and just left rotting under several bushes. Wild creatures would not cause this.

So now the balance of life has changed once again. The once numerous squirrel population will come back, and invade the burrowing owl holes, again (as I notice). I wonder if the squirrels now will again overpopulate?

Andrea Glasgow
Davis

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