An important wildlife bill is having its public hearing soon. Maine DIFW regulations currently allow the indiscriminate killing of coyotes, year round, with no “bag” limits. It’s essentially a free-for-all. 

LD 716 - “An Act to Restrict the Hunting of Coyotes” would limit coyote killing to fall and winter months, October 1 to March 31. It would allow coyote parents to give birth and nurture their pups during the spring and summer months.

State hunting laws are largely based on political, rather than scientific considerations. Wildlife biologists understand that coyotes are beneficial to ecosystems, helping to keep herbivores, such as deer and rodents, from becoming over-abundant. The presence of coyotes also directly benefits the human population. Here are two examples:

Crop losses to farmers are prevented. Every year our farmers suffer significant losses due to deer, rodents and small mammals. Allowing and even encouraging coyotes to take up residence nearby helps keep rodent numbers down and deer away. 

Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are reduced.  In 2024, Maine broke its Lyme Disease record, with mid-coast areas showing the greatest increase. Deer and rodents are the major hosts for deer ticks, whose bites make people seriously ill. Reducing host numbers reduces tick numbers.

FMI, go to coyotelivesinmaine.org . To express support for LD 716, contact your state legislators, and send a message (before March 3 if possible) to members of the Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. For easy directions on how to contact them, go to legislature.maine.gov

Judy Kaiser lives in Waldo