Cull of the coyote attacked on many fronts

Well, that certainly seems to have stirred up a hornet's nest.

I'm referring, of course, to the Great Coyote Debate. As my colleague Jim Slusher so eloquently pointed out in Thursday's editions, nothing seems to grab the public's attention like a good animal story. His was the story and photo he took of the cat nursing three baby rabbits along with its own litter of kittens. The story ended up on former Chicago DJ Larry Lujack's legendary "Animal Stories" segment.

Personally, I had an incidental brush with Uncle Lar's work when, many, many years ago, I interviewed the police chief of Wayne. We didn't cover DuPage County then, but an editor sent me there because not a single reportable crime had occurred in the bucolic village the prior year, according to just-released crime stats. The chief (can't recall his name) wasn't keen on the interview, figuring that our story on crime-free Wayne might encourage criminals to change that in a hurry. When I sat down in his office, the chief got out a tape recorder and played for me an "Animal Stories" segment in which he was featured for gunning down some critter, perhaps a coyote, on the prowl. Lujack and Little Tommy had a good time characterizing the chief as some sort of Buford Pusser-style lawman snuffing out the life of an animal. While I listened, I was musing what lesson was intended for me, and whether I should make a break for it.

But I digress.

As Robert Sanchez first reported exclusively in the Daily Herald, the number of coyote sightings/attacks in Wheaton escalated to the point of serious concern among some of its citizenry. A cat killed by a coyote lived in the same neighborhood as U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, which might have ratcheted up the attention given to the matter.

And unlike some other communities, which quietly hired trappers to catch and presumably kill "problem coyotes," Wheaton took the debate public, voting earlier this month to look into hiring a trapper while continuing a coyote public awareness campaign.

And, man are they getting hammered. One councilman said the majority of letters, e-mails and phone calls he's gotten are against the program. Another demanded a revote. Earlier this week, we wrote an editorial in support of Wheaton's position, and, man, have we joined the city in getting hammered. Hundreds of comments have been posted on the editorial and another Sanchez story and follow up, most ripping the idea of taking out the coyote.

The arguments go something like: the coyote was here first, we're the ones pushing it out with our rampant development; now it's coyotes, next it's some other creature we've declared a nuisance; it's inhumane to trap and then shoot a coyote; these people whining abut their pets/children's safety don't have the backbone to take responsibility for themselves and their pets; do you really feel safer letting someone loose with leg traps and a shotgun, what if our kids see that; all the elected officials who support this are incompetent, ought to be voted out of office. And the trapper was characterized by many as a bloodlusty hunter, much the same as the Wayne police chief was mocked on the radio eons ago.

Interestingly, though, about 100 people took the time to attend Wheaton's meeting, and seemed to be evenly divided on whether coyote trapping is a good idea.

And may I suggest that rather than excoriating the city of Wheaton, it should be commended for airing this out in public, despite the backlash. At least there's been a thorough vetting of this issue.

And, isn't that better than what our state lawmakers decided to do Wednesday - close the doors to all to see if they could privately hash out some solutions to the state's financial morass? Who believes that was a prudent move?

jdavis@dailyherald.com