Colorado Coyote Pup Pays Ultimate Price Because, Humans
A woman awaits rabies testing, and a young coyote pup is dead because the community seemingly thought that they should take it in.
The fact that the young pup was found with a dog collar on, along with a leash, when Colorado Parks & Wildlife showed up is enough to turn your stomach. I'm not saying that I'm a huge fan of coyotes, but this is not the way that one should find its end.
According to the Colorado Department of Parks & Wildlife (CPW,) in Yuma, about 150 east of Fort Collins, this coyote pup bit a woman. She had minor injuries, but since it's a wild animal, she and those around her must have said, 'better get checked for rabies.'
And how do you check for rabies? You kill the animal that did the biting, so you can examine its brain. No way around that, right now. So, if you play with, and antagonize, and 'habituate' a wild animal until that animal bites you, you have just written that animal's death sentence.
Now, there's no way of really knowing what was going on with the pup and the community members before CPW arrived, but reports say that many were trying to 'pet' and 'play' with the animal. Did they put the dog collar on it before it bit the woman, or after? 'Better get a leash on that thing...'
It's not like these folks didn't know about rabies and how it will kill you if you don't get immediate attention, by getting those shots started right away. Maybe they thought that life is like some 70s TV show, where though it's a wild animal, it can be a part of the family, like 'Gentle Ben.'
Things like this should not be happening. Stay away from wild animals. If an animal is in your area and you don't think it belongs, contact the local CPW office, which you can find HERE.
Source: [CPW]