Venison for Dinner

The human lust for deer meat takes bizarre forms. The latest example of typically primate behavior comes from Utah. The state Division of Wildlife is offering a $50 bounty for killing coyotes in order to help mule deer. Considering that human hunters kill more than 85,000 mule deer every year in Utah, one would think the way to help mule deer populations is to reduce the hunting pressure, not to kill natural predators. The bounty is not large, but more than enough to cause bored nimrods to take the field to kill coyotes. Not only is the Department offering a bounty, but also provides ruthless advice on its website to disrupt breeding coyote pairs by killing a mate during May and June when they are raising pups and may be feeding them with fawns. The scientific evidence shows that declining deer population are not due to natural predators but man-made causes such as habitat loss and overexploitation. The studies cited in support of the bounty by the state are inconsistent with each other. Truth be told, coyotes feed mostly on rabbits and other rodents, not mule deer which are too large for the coyote to handle.