The State’s War on Coyotes
Washington’s Department of Agriculture launches a statewide 'Poison Month' to combat rabies by eliminating predatory animals.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The state of Washington is facing a serious menace in the disease known as rabies among dogs and coyotes, especially the latter. The state department of agriculture has issued a quarantine order requiring the muzzling of dogs in eastern Washington, but the question of eradicating the coyote and thereby eliminating the disease is a far more difficult problem. The legislature has restored the bounty on predatory animals and appropriated $15,000 for co-operative work with the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. The state department of agriculture has designated March as 'Poison Month' and asks farmers, sheepmen, and woodsmen to put out poison baits and make war on these animals through hunts and traps. Directions for preparing baits—which involve lard, sugar, and strychnine—are provided, with the warning that baits should be labeled 'Coyote Poison' and handled with care to avoid accidents to pets or humans.
“The bounty and the trapper system will be two very effective weapons in combating the coyote evil, and will undoubtedly greatly lessen the number of coyotes.”
This 1917 campaign highlights the historical tensions between agricultural interests and the ecosystem of Eastern Washington. Today, the management of apex predators like wolves and coyotes remains a contentious subject in the state, reflecting a shift from mass poisoning to complex wildlife conservation debates.
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