To the editor;

Regarding the question from a Riverdale resident about coyotes in the area near his neighborhood, it might be helpful if local officials provided information to residents about how to coexist with the most intelligent (and some believe the most beautiful) animal in the woods, the coyote. In the meantime, I’d suggest everyone check www.projectcoyote. org, a group of renowned wildlife biologists who have studied coyotes for years. They provide great information.

Song dogs are now in every state and they rarely bite or attack humans. If one comes too close, make noise to scare it away. We need to keep our coyotes wild. Make sure no one in your neighborhood is leaving scraps out for them. If so, those coyotes will lose their fear of humans, come too close, and someone will kill them.

Also, don’t let small pets wander. They are the same size as coyotes’ natural prey. If you feel your cats must be outside, consider a small shed or pen where they can seek refuge from big dogs or coyotes, but keep your pet food inside your home. Trash should be tightly covered and left outside for only brief periods. Clean your barbeque grills and under your bird feeders.

In return, coyotes will help control the rodents and rabbits and cull the weak and sick from the deer population to create a stronger herd for hunters. Coyotes will also clean up the carrion.

Song dogs are America’s most persecuted wild animal. The USDA’s Division of Wildlife Services spends more than $100 million of our tax dollars annually on an ineffective campaign to kill as many coyotes as possible to please livestock producers. Hundreds of thousands of coyotes are painfully poisoned, trapped or shot annually. This, when there are far more effective non-lethal means of preventing predation of livestock, such as better fencing, guard dogs, donkeys and llamas.

We should respect our farmers’ problems, our pet owners’ fears, as well as neighborhood concerns. But we should also understand and respect wildlife and work to protect it.

BECKY POMPONIO CITIZEN LEADER FOR VIRGINIA AND FLORIDA PROJECT COYOTE