I unrolled the local paper this morning to find the headline "Dead coyotes bad image for Jal" and a picture of over thirty dead coyotes in two piles beside a paved road just outside the city limits of Jal, NM. One of the piles was actually touching the pavement.
These carcasses were the results of a coyote calling contest held before Christmas. The Chief of police located the responsible parties the day the coyotes were found. Although this is a misdemeanor no citations were issued. The chief said they (responsible parties) got to clean them up after they were a huge stinking mess. I guess he thought it was punishment enough for being lazy and stupid.
This part of the world has a huge coyote population. I see them run over beside the highways all the time and can listen to coyote music every day if I am outside at the right time. I don't know of anyone that gets concerned about hunting coyotes but I'm sure some do. Heck, we even had a few people display Obama bumper stickers before the election.
The Chief said it was a image the town didn't need and it could be an environmental hazard. The fact they smelled so bad and were upwind of the town wasn't mentioned.