When I was growing up I lived in a town that had some older people that only lived in Arizona during the winter months. They fed the coyotes. The coyotes lost their fear of people and became a real problem. People had their dogs eaten in front them. People who feed these things need to understand that they are creating a ton of problems for their neighbors.
Just to inject reality into this, looking at things entirely objectively and dispassionately. Coyotes are in flux, evolution in progress. They certainly are less destructive to the environment than their average urban dwelling bipedal 'victims'. As the saying goes, Aus Relatif. Everything is relative. PETA is less damaging to the environment than those who bash them but otherwise do nothing to protect and sustain things. Humans are certainly more damaging than all the other animals in the world combined.
Snark, I do not follow your logic as it applies to feral pigs.
I am a native American who strongly endorses the traditional Lakota attitudes towards hunting
My response was based on your previous posts in this thread. I make no apology for it.
Then ask instead of making wild assumptions.
It pains me to call most urban and suburban environments "ecosystems," at least in their present state. In terms of biodiversity these landscapes are pale imitations of what preceded their development by humans, in large part due to our propensity for gardening with non-native plant species. As you pointed out, these biologically diminished "ecosystems" are filled with numerous species that thrive off of our largesse--sparrows, coyotes, pigeons, rats, squirrels, and the like. Many of these animals are beautiful and interesting in their own right, but their abundance is symptomatic of a tremendous loss in local biodiversity. This is one reason that I'm a huge proponent of gardening with native species. I believe it's one of the single most important things we must do in order to preserve our biological heritage in the face of continued population growth and development.
That is extremely well put. That is also the attitude that has become the norm in restoration and erosion control in the southern California area. Use the native plants, don't import, whenever possible. On the down side, speaking from personal experience, I would much rather plant Descanso Rockrose than poison oak. One must take the bitter with the sweet sometimes.
