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July 29, 2006
Perhaps the coyotes operate out of check-cashing firms
Marti Rutherford is nothing if not industrious. She doesn't rest after a single episode.
I haven't even had a chance to point toward the Pulse story on the cash service industry debate at the City Council. Councilwoman Rutherford is depicted as acting somewhere in the range of Fargo's Jerry Lundegaard, fretting that she had "some very specific" private reasons for needing a vote on the matter that day. Ma'am, the City Council is the legislative body for all the citizens of Chattanooga, not for the aims and whims of Marti Rutherford's real estate enterprise. But you've forgotten that before, like when you handed your business card to a prospective client right from your council chair.
So there's all of that, and now comes the real story behind the coyote scare. According to today's Chattanooga Times Free Press, Rutherford "heard" that coyotes were coming down from their, you know, ancestral haunt among the mansions on Missionary Ridge to have brunch with small pets. (Did I personally find it interesting that the alleged wellspring of marauding coyotes was Missionary Ridge? Of course.) Animal Services field supervisor Teresa Grainger points to the fact that these animals have migrated through the region for much longer than we humans have been here. That's just too rational, though. Instead of having a professional trapper come in, or equipping Animal Services to deal with coyotes, Councilwoman Rutherford has the solution:
"The real way to handle this is to capture them and kill them."
So let me get this straight. You want to have them captured, which takes certain specialized resources, and then, once you have the animals safely secured, you want them butchered in cold blood, instead of, say, sent to a wildlife sanctuary or some other less juxtaposed locale.
Public Works director Lee Norris is right to avoid jumping the gun. After all, if we start going after coyotes, what's next? I am extremely fortunate to often see a Red-Tailed Hawk and a Great Horned Owl (or probably a pair of each, just one at a time) right in my back yard. These are extremely dangerous birds, though. I would think it possible for either one to make off with a housecat or a Lhasa Apso. How about we get a big net, round them up, and then wring their necks?
Stay tuned for the next installment in the Rutherford Files. I'm sure new material won't be long at all in coming.
Government , Nature | By joe lance | 10:10 AM