Parsing Coyote's negative press

Today's Petfinder story about a hapless Osgoode snowmobiler attacked by an allegedly insane coyote makes for interesting reading. But not necessarily because it justifies the recurring hate-on for my kin, by city councillor Doug Thompson and the local Fish and Game Association.

See, when you tune out the story's chest-thumping quotes, the bald facts of the matter are these: a guy driving a snowmobile used it to mow down a coyote, breaking its legs. Then he finished the job by climbing off and kicking it to death.

Sadly, the coyote, like many of us, may just have been enraged by a hellaciously noisy machine racketing through his turf. Or what was left of it. Possibly the last, literal, straw after getting squeezed out by suburban developers.

Even disregarding for a moment that -

• The snowmobile in the accompanying photo looks like it ought to be able to outrun pretty much any coyote, even one that's rabid - or mainlining meth - and;
• The driver seems awfully chuffed about entering his novelty kill in the current "Kack a Koyote for Konservation Kontest™"

- ya might ruminate upon who the real predators are. We coyotes do. Often.