{"id":16196,"date":"2014-10-19T07:06:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-19T13:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16196"},"modified":"2026-02-21T15:41:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:41:28","slug":"natures-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/19\/natures-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature’s Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CoyoteCoyote on a sunny winter day<\/span><\/p>\n

Human beings, as a whole, deny to animals any credit for the power of thought, preferring not to hear about it and ascribing everything they do to instinct. Yet most species of animals can reason, and all men have instinct. Man is the highest of living creatures, but it does not follow a corollary that Nature belongs to him, as he so fondly imagines. He belongs to it. That he should take his share of the gifts she has so bountifully provided for her children, is only right and proper; but he cannot reasonably deny the other creatures a certain portion. They have to live too.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Grey Owl<\/p>\n

75,326 coyotes in 2013 were “denied” their portion of Nature’s gifts when they were senselessly exterminated by USDA\u2019s Wildlife Services and they were among the 4 million other animals in that were also killed in 2013 by Wildlife Services.<\/p>\n

Here is a link to that repor<\/a>t<\/span> but be warned, it seems that USDA Wildlife Services purposely make the report difficult to read.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that the actual number of Coyotes killed each year is much much higher than the USDA Wildlife Services figures due to bounties being put on them by individual states and other laws that allow the killing of them just because they are predators that “need to be controlled”.<\/p>\n

The Wildlife Services agency is out of control, the agency is not transparent and the methods used to kill animals by their agents are not humane.<\/p>\n

Just do a Google search on Jamie Olson Wildlife Services<\/a> <\/span>to read about how inhumane his actions were and then understand even though what he did was disturbing, cruel, and disgusting that he is still employed by Wildlife Services.<\/p>\n

866 bobcats, 528 river otters, 24,390 beavers, 3,700 foxes, 12,186 prairie dogs, 973 red-tailed hawks, 419 black bears, and at least three eagles golden eagles and 18 bald eagles were also killed by Wildlife Services. Millions of birds were also exterminated including endangered and threatened species.<\/p>\n

On the report I linked to above Wildlife Services indicates which species are invasive by making the species name in red. If you look for House Finches the idiots have listed them as invasive even though they are native. Maybe they got them confused with invasive House Sparrows. Wonder how many other things they are confused about.<\/p>\n

The USDA’s War on Wildlife has to be stopped. This page from Predator Defense<\/a><\/span> is an excellent resources for articles from the Sacramento Bee and other news agencies, the history of Wildlife Services, the arsenal of weapons used by Wildlife Services and more.<\/p>\n

And they aren’t just killing “wild” animals, they also kill pets and domesticated animals. They kill “feral” dogs but how do they ACTUALLY know which are feral and which might be a lost pet?<\/p>\n

They don’t.<\/p>\n

Those poisons and traps catch, maim and kill animals that are not targeted and I strongly suspect the number in the annual report from USDA’s Wildlife Services does not actually reflect the numbers of pets and domesticated animals that are killed each year.<\/p>\n

Wolves, cougars, and bears are exterminated by Wildlife Services. Sometimes entire packs of wolves are killed because a rancher complains about wolves near his ranch at enormous cost to taxpayers.<\/p>\n

There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t read disturbing news on Wildlife Services.<\/p>\n

Their war on nature needs to be stopped. The agency should be more transparent.<\/p>\n

Better yet, I think they should end the Wildlife Services Program.<\/p>\n

I guess the title for this post is a bit misleading but it doesn’t really say much about Nature’s Gifts but is more about how other creatures are slaughtered and denied those gifts.<\/p>\n

They have to live too.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

In 2011 Wildlife Services killed 227 coyotes a day even though scientific studies indicate when there are fewer coyotes they have more pups and the population just grows. See my post about that here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

75,326 coyotes in 2013 were “denied” their portion of Nature’s gifts when they were senselessly exterminated by USDA\u2019s Wildlife Services <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":169920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,100,1022,26],"tags":[733,988,4002,2704,4035,4050,5242,4032,2505,373],"class_list":["post-16196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-coyotes","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-canis-latrans","tag-conservation","tag-coyote","tag-grey-owl","tag-nature-photography","tag-snow","tag-usdas-war-on-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-wildlife-services","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-grey-owl-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4de","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14457,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/27\/coyotes-on-the-antelope-island-state-park-causeway\/","url_meta":{"origin":16196,"position":0},"title":"Coyotes on the Antelope Island State Park Causeway","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting the day photographing Coyotes always makes me want to howl with delight. They are amazing adaptable creatures who help to keep nature in balance.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote running in a fog along the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7162,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/18\/i-dare-the-news-to-report-on-the-senseless-slaughter-of-coyotes\/","url_meta":{"origin":16196,"position":1},"title":"I Dare The News To Report On The Senseless Slaughter Of Coyotes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I dare news agencies to write factual articles about the inhumane practice of slaughtering Coyotes which has been proven by science to be largely ineffective in controlling their population, to observe the Coyotes being blown up in their dens and to witness the suffering of these animals when they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote pup in a grassy prairie, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-pup-mia-mcpherson-7872.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-pup-mia-mcpherson-7872.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-pup-mia-mcpherson-7872.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-pup-mia-mcpherson-7872.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16083,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/10\/the-coyote-and-the-deer-fly\/","url_meta":{"origin":16196,"position":2},"title":"Coyote And The Deer Fly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago during the worst of the summer heat I photographed this Coyote and watched while it was pestered and probably bitten by a persistent Deer Fly.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Coyote and the Deer Fly, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-deer-fly-utah-mia-mcpherson-3895.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-deer-fly-utah-mia-mcpherson-3895.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-deer-fly-utah-mia-mcpherson-3895.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-deer-fly-utah-mia-mcpherson-3895.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14731,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/10\/did-you-know-that-u-s-wildlife-services-kills-227-coyotes-a-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":16196,"position":3},"title":"Did you know that U.S. Wildlife Services kills 227 Coyotes a day?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Do I think that Wildlife Services needs to be investigated? Yes, and the sooner the better.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote sticking out its tongue, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-tongue-mia-mcpherson-8513.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-tongue-mia-mcpherson-8513.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-tongue-mia-mcpherson-8513.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-tongue-mia-mcpherson-8513.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"September 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Coyotes and wolves help to cull out the sick and weak animals in herds of deer, antelope and elk which in turn can help to keep those herds in better health","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote's piercing stare as it hunts in the grasses of Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/coyote-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-4092.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/coyote-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-4092.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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