March 28, 2007
Have coyote, will travel (for bounty)
Franklin County's board of supervisors just narrowly approved a coyote bounty. Hunters who nail one of the critters will get $25 for taking it in to be registered.
Most experts say that coyote bounties don't work. People kill a bunch of coyotes, localities run out of money, and the coyotes are still out there. Not as many at first, but they come back.
I guess the bounty-setters just want to feel like they're getting something accomplished. Maybe it's better than nothing, but biologically speaking, nothing seems to be just about as effective.
With this $25 bounty, it seems possible that someone could burn that much gas just driving in to get the bounty. I'm sure people will do it, just so they can say they got the bounty.
A few years ago a guy called me with a question. He'd just killed coyote. I think it was in Franklin County, which didn't have a bounty at the time. This guy wondered where the nearest county that had a bounty was, which isn't really the purpose of bounties, is it? I couldn't find a master list anywhere (is there one?) but I did eventually figure out that a county way out near Kentucky had a bounty at the time.
I kid you not, the guy said he was going to drive out there, and we're talking hundreds of miles, to collect his reward -- a whopping $75.
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