Longer coyote hunt part of county effort to restore deer herd

The Washington County Conservation Association (WCCA) is sponsoring a three-and-a-half month winter coyote hunt this year to help reduce the depressed deer herd's chief predator.

"It will run from the first of January to the second Wednesday in April," reports Ed Renaud, WCCA president. "Our first year, we sponsored a weekend coyote hunting derby -- which put us on the map -- but we were more successful last year when we lengthened the time. It gives more people a chance to join it and hopefully get more coyotes."

"We're trying to encourage everybody to hunt coyotes," says Renaud. "The snaring program was discontinued because of threat of a lawsuit, so there's no real protection from coyotes for deer. Winter causes restrictive conditions for deer, and they can't get away. Coyotes will kill all the deer in a deer yard by the time winter is over."

Renaud says the hunts have definitely helped the deer population in Washington County. "It's showing up. We're seeing more does and lambs. It's really encouraging."

The WCCA is hoping that over 100 hunters will participate in the 2007 winter coyote hunt, about the same number that Renaud guesses took part in last winter's event. "We had over 50 hunters register last year, but there probably were at least double that. What we think happened is that they'd call the tagging station and not register if their coyote wasn't heavier than any of the other coyotes already caught. They knew they weren't going to win a prize." That's why this hunt includes not only rewards for the largest male and female coyotes but a prize for the smallest coyote.

"That should generate some controversy," quips Renaud. "But now we expect all of the hunters to register." The hunt also includes a drawing for "Big Howler," which is worth over $1,000.

In addition to sponsoring the annual coyote hunt, the WCCA has obtained a maintenance agreement with Bangor Hydro affecting the Washington County portion of the Baileyville to Orrington power line project, so that the WCCA will plant trees along the right of way. The club has also planted 30,000 hardwood and softwood seeds raised in a nursery on land donated by Washington Academy in East Machias, creating "a mass crop for wildlife," as well as planting 5,000 softwood trees on Down East Lakes Land Trust land to help rebuild the deer population. The WCCA points out that the deer need areas of dense evergreen trees in order to survive, especially in the late winter when much of the deer's stored up energy has been used up. The evergreens help to reduce the deer's heat loss by preventing heat radiation into the cold night skies. Couple restrictive traveling conditions caused by late winter storms with the premature loss of stored up energy and the result is starving deer in the spring. WCCA members desire to work with landowners/managers to ensure that there are areas for deer to winter.

The WCCA, along with the Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIF&W), have sponsored several seminars on improving wildlife habitat. And continuing its efforts to improve the predator control program in Washington County, the WCCA "has strongly encouraged" DIF&W to reinstate the snaring program around deer yards. In the spring and early summer coyotes kill around 65% of the lamb deer, WCCA members believe. They feel that this situation must be changed if Washington County is to recover the deer herd.

WCCA members are starting to see positive improvements from their efforts, but they say they need more help in order to do more. For information on how to help WCCA bring back deer, call Ed Renaud at 796-2777 or Vice President Jeff Geel at 255-0928.