Dear HCN,
As a Colorado urban
dweller for 21 years and a Colorado resident again in my future, I
feel more than qualified to respond to Ellen Miller’s essay,
“Should city slickers dictate to trappers?” (HCN, 10/28/96). I was
born and raised in the hellhole of the Midwest, Muscatine, Iowa,
population 23,000, but apparently I have more of an affinity for
rural Colorado than Ms. Miller.
When a rancher
sets a trap for a predator, he is telling the world that this land
is his. But, it isn’t. The wolf, the bear, the mountain lion, the
coyote were all there before him and don’t know “the rules.” They
only know their nature and the laws they live by, which were not
set forth for them by man. The rancher says he is out there to earn
a living; the predator is only doing the same – what he was born to
do. He doesn’t know Forest Service, BLM or wilderness boundaries.
Should we punish the animal for that?
If this is
what it takes to be a part of the coffee crowd at the Meeker cafe,
count me out.
Joyce A.
Thede
Boulder City,
Nevada
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Predators also have rights.
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