Animal Comeback

Shiloh: So you guys don't have larger animals but you still have smaller ones like possums and raccoons. Do they cause problems? I know they're a nuisance for the garbage and things like that.

Adria: Yeah, actually, even though I live in kind of a suburban kind of area, raccoons and possums are quite a problem, and they actually can kill cats, like your pet cat. And my cat actually had to get rabies shot, because she was attacked by a raccoon. And sometimes, you know, they do get through your trash, which is, first of all, gross, and it's kind of scary when you go to take out the trash and then there's big eyes looking back at you.

Shiloh: Yeah, I can see that.

Adria: Yeah. So what about wolves and coyotes? You mentioned mountain lions, but what about these other animals?

Shiloh: Oh, we have a ton of coyotes, and it's kind of cool. I love laying in bed at night, listening to the coyotes howl. It's kind of eerie. My dogs don't like it; my dogs go crazy at night.

We don't have wolves where I'm from, but the government has initiated a program to put them back in Ontario, because they were originally there, and they were killed out by the farmers and the ranchers in the area 150 years ago. But now, they're meeting a lot of opposition from the same farmers and ranchers, because wolves are aggressive and they do cause a lot of damage to cattle herds.

But the coyotes don't cause a problem. You might hit one in a car on the road occasionally and people get hurt in car accidents because they'll hit coyotes, and they might steal cats and dogs, small cats and dogs, but other than that, people enjoy coyotes because it's kind of a little sense of the wild in the city. It's kind of nice.

Adria: So, what about like getting rid of the wolves? You said that some farmers had opposition to it. Do you agree that they should be allowed to shoot them?

Shiloh: I think that farmers should have the ability to kill a wolf if they see the wolf killing their animals or molesting their animals. I think that if a wolf pack kills an animal and the farmer is not there at the time, or the rancher is not there, the farmer shouldn't have the right to go out and hunt the wolf and kill him. I think if he sees the action taking place, he can kill the wolf because it's causing damage to him. But otherwise, I think they're wolves, they need to eat. Leave them alone, as long as they're not causing too much damage. It's better to have a natural species there than one cow that's going to be eaten.