WHY ARE FRANKLIN POLICE HUNTING DOWN COYOTES?

NOLENSVILLE HAS COYOTES--THE FOUR LEGGED
KIND--ROAMING OUR NEARBY HILLS--SERENADING
OUR CATTLE AND GOAT HERDS. FRANKLIN POLICE
ARE NOW TRYING TO TRAP THEM AND THEN WHAT?

What happens after police trap the coyotes?

To the Editor:
To forestall more "hate" mail telling me to stay out of Franklin's
business, let me state that as a resident of Tennessee, I have a
right to be concerned about the fate of Franklin's coyotes. Also,
there are coyotes living in my area of mixed farmland and hous-
ing developments. We seem to be able to coexist with them with
a minimum of trouble. We hear them at night but only very
occasionally see them. We have lost poultry now and then to pre-
dators — coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons — but when this
happens we rightly blame ourselves and make the necessary
adjustments and improvements in our husbandry.With that said,
I have questions about the plan to use Franklin city police to trap
the coyotes that are perceived to be a problem in the proposed
park area.I applaud the use of humane traps to capture the
animals but I have to ask, "What then?" Will the trapped coyotes
be euthanized? Shot? Relocated? Which authority is assuming
responsibility for the animals' fate? TWRA? U.S. Fish and Wildlife?
USDA Wildlife Services? Who is footing the bill for this undertaking?
Why are the city police being tasked with this problem? Did they
volunteer? Are they qualified to handle a rabies-vector species?
Do the city officials know that besides the government wildlife
agencies there are several wildlife entrapment and relocation
businesses in the area?I know and understand that the city
officials only want to protect their citizens from stress and injury.
But is harassment and extermination of an entire species that
God saw fit to create the best solution? And what will parents tell
their children when they ask what happened to the coyotes that
lived in the park? And what do the city officials plan to do when
the prey species that the coyotes control suddenly experience
population booms and start invading the park?
Carmen KlapperichSpring Hill 37174

THANKS TO FRANKLIN KOOLAID.BLOGSPOT.COM FOR THIS
REVEALING POST ABOUT LOCAL GOVERNMENT MISHAPS.