Man, the tinkering species
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a few (place the animal of your choice) in the local park. You know, so that the kids would be able to see real wildlife without the bars of a zoo? I am keeping my tongue planted firmly in my cheek on this one, because we’ve had far too many episodes of tinkering in the natural resource world.
PEI picked up a few doozies along the way; squirrels and skunks come to mind. Probably seemed harmless enough when the first few breeding pairs were dropped into the local woodlot. Given time, they blend in, adding to the ecosystem. Note that I do not confuse “add” with “benefit”. Now, a recent arrival is in the news, for all the wrong reasons.
Wile E. Coyote: not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but not a quitter. In real life, attempts to control the population simply spark an upswing in the size and frequency of litters. More pups, to offset pesky human intervention. And how about the ability to hook up with cousins (the wolf family from over across the field). Coywolf, for those who need a handy label. Bigger, faster, even more wily; an addition to your local park that will catch whatever happens to be available for supper. Dogs, cats, sheep, chickens; all fair game.
The coyote is a recent arrival in eastern Canada. First reports out of Quebec date back to the 1940s. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the 1970s. PEI, the 00s. Newfoundland, now (that’s a long trek across open water; don’t blame the bridge). Today’s Cape Breton Post editorial (or rather, the comment section) discussed the introduction of wolves to their National Park back in the 70s, ostensibly to control rabbit populations. Note that this wasn’t a reintroduction of an extinct native species, like in western Canada. This was down and out stupid ecotinkering by biologists who should have known better. Now, we have healthy populations of uncontrolled predators. Bonus!
