During the warm days of early spring a coyote settled into an irrigation culvert near the barn.  Whelping soon afterwards, she did a good job of keeping quiet and us unaware.  Until, that is, we began running irrigation water.  All of a sudden, the ditch culvert left a lot to be desired as a place to raise pups.  Frantically, she moved the pups nearly a quarter-mile across the pasture to an area we leave wild.

The pups have grown and now have begun to hunt.  Last winter was exceptional for voles—they are constantly underfoot these days—so, I’m good with having a few more vole hunters around the farm.  At least for the moment

We have neighbors who would disagree.  Some disagree because they are of the opinion there shouldn’t be any coyotes near the farm—mine or theirs.  While coyotes might remove voles at the moment, sooner or later they are going to begin harvesting livestock.  They have a point.

After all, there are other neighbors who depend on chickens, for instance, to provide their family with eggs—a good source of low-cost quality protein.  For them, the chicken itself, is only eaten when they get old and quit laying.  Killing a layer would be an indulgence.  To risk having a coyote around who could eat a quality Sunday dinner is simply foolish.

Which leads to questions: Should I not be accountable to my neighbor if the pups, one day, begin eating their’ chickens?  At that time, do I not have a responsibility to kill the very pups I allowed to become adult predators?  Can there ever be balance or harmony between the wild and the domestic?  Is it okay for domestic animals to die so the wild animals can live?  Is it right to take food from the mouths of others just because I have a vole problem?  (And little want to kill a coyote pup.)  Just who has a right to live?

Moreso, when is it right to take a life?  Should the female coyote be taken before she whelps?  Should the pups be killed before they become adults?  Should they live until they begin to kill the neighbor’s chickens.  Is there a hierarchy of life between wild and domestic—voles are okay to be eaten but not chickens?  Are we responsible for the wellbeing of our neighbor?

Then again, who is my neighbor?  So far, I’ve only thought about this in terms of humanity.  Yet, is not the coyote a neighbor?  And what about the quail, the rabbit, the vole, and the pheasant?  If they are neighbors, then what do I do about my other predatory neighbors who are nesting on the farm: the hawk? the owl?  And if I were to question them, shouldn’t I be questioning my own predatory existence?