Who is "entitled" to primacy over the earth? Man or beast? I love nature and all of the Lord's creations, more than most people, I expect. However, protecting and re-establishing the gators, the wolves, bears and the allowing the self re-introduction/invasion of the coyote among us, where we live, does not seem sane to me.
Our fore-fathers did away with the large predators for a good reason; they kept eating the children and the livestock. When I was a child in the South, big gators were not common, and those that existed were afraid of people. Now, they're all over and after 40 years of protection, they have little natural fear of humans. The news has been full of gator attacks on humans the last few years. We have plenty of three legged dogs around because of the gators as well as plenty of dogs that just never did show back up. They (the gators) need to be thinned back a bit IMHO. I expect the cattlemen of the Rocky Mountain States feel the same way about Griz and wolves.
My point, such as it is, is just that there is a place for "them" and a place for us. Their place isn't in our back yards though. I said I don't shoot coyotes, they look too much like dogs to me. But I don't object to those who choose to shoot them because they should not be in our back yards or in our turkey set-ups...Geo
