Coyote Control: the Public Response

Abstract

A nationwide survey of public attitudes toward coyote control was conducted in 1976. Results from a set of questions addressing related wildlife issues revealed opposition to the killing of animals for food or for population control of predatory species. Forty-five percent also disapproved of legal game hunting. Only incident specific predator control was endorsed by most respondents. Two-thirds of the respondents were aware of the coyote control issue or interested in it and were asked questions about coyote control in particular. Control killing of coyotes, even at risk to nontarget animals, received increasingly more approval as lamb losses were said to increase. However, given a choice of control methods, most respondents preferred the experimental, nonlethal methods. Of currently used lethal methods, fast acting poisons and shooting from the ground were judged more acceptable.