Don’t Blame the Coyotes

Southern California has an attitude problem. Daily one reads of the problems in life: fires, pollution, gang violence, etc. One problem in particular is most disturbing to me. People have appeared to lose their respect for nature.

The article “Trap Draws Protest After Coyote Gnaws Off Its Leg” (Oct. 16) displays apathy on behalf of many. Doug Thomas stated that a coyote entered his house and killed his pet. Clearly this is not a good sign. Yet I have lost many pets to coyotes and have not raved and hunted them down.

When people destroy the habitat known to the coyote, it must make due with our environment. No longer are there extensive grasslands or large woodlands in the Santa Monica Mountains to support healthy populations of rodents, the coyote’s main diet. No longer are there clear seasonal creeks and marshes to quench the animals’ thirst. Instead, the coyote is left with immense spans of concrete and asphalt, or, if it is lucky, an “open space.”

This is not to mention animals other than the coyote that suffer from extermination therapy. People, wake up! A study estimated that in 1987, more than 1,500 pelts were taken in the Santa Monica Mountains. The number of animals actually killed can only be greater. I’m amazed that the animals have survived such a monstrosity. Where are the once-abundant deer and bobcat that roamed these hills? Long gone are the days of the cougar and bear. I have yet to see a golden eagle grace the sky.

The once diverse and rich woodlands and forests that covered the hills and mountains are either urbanized or dying. Pollution from autos and factories is killing large expanses of ponderosa pine in the San Bernardino Mountains. The chaparral of our foothills suffers from fungal disease linked with the absence of fires. Salinization of agricultural soil is widespread in the Imperial and San Joaquin valleys. The suppression of fire has weakened many ecosystems or changed them completely.

Oh, people, when will you realize that the Earth is not for you, but for it? Nature will soon grow exhausted and give up on us. It was once said, “When all the fish are dead, man will realize that he can no longer eat his money.”

BRETT McDOUGALL

Thousand Oaks