Dear editor:

I was appalled by the article on coyote hunter Randy Norris, (“Hunter says hobby is legal, needed,” March 4). 

It is rather difficult to agree with or have any sympathy for anyone who actually looks at killing as a “hobby.”

Perhaps culling the coyotes is necessary. However, there should be some control in place by the Ministry of Natural Resources. I feel that open season all year and no tags required is a travesty.

Of course, the hunters do not eat the meat! Then … how many pelts can they have hanging in their hunting rooms? 

Perhaps now we have some idea how the coyote carcasses appeared along the Niagara River last winter. Leaving them anywhere in the woods for other creatures to devour is neither an intelligent nor a responsible way to dispose of the remains.

Do the hunters have permission to do this on private property? Or do they just dispose of them on public lands?  

With the ongoing development  in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the cultivation of former naturalized areas, the habitat for our wildlife is being diminished significantly. Leaving control of the coyote population to a group of hunters, without informed guidelines, is a mistake. 

It's a conundrum for sure. Obviously we will just have to agree to disagree! 
       
Jane Calver
NOTL