Wile E. Coyote beware: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s coyote control program has received renewed funding for 2008.

The USDA Virginia Cooperative Coyote Damage Control Program was granted $150,000 to continue its predator prevention and control program. The federal funding came from Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th; Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., I-5th; and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th. Other support money comes from the state, various counties and some private funds.

"We’re glad that this funding has been renewed for 2008," said Chad J. Fox, district supervisor for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, and a coyote specialist in Montgomery County. "We would certainly like it to be increased so we could provide a better service," but Fox said his agency is just happy to continue the program.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials, who have declared the coyote a nuisance animal that can be hunted or trapped year-round, estimate that there are as many as 75,000 of the animals in Virginia. Coyotes can be found throughout the state, but Fox said they are generally more abundant west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Coyotes have been a real problem for some of our livestock producers, especially in the western parts of the state," said Spencer Neale, a commodity and marketing specialist for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. "Any program that helps reduce livestock kills by coyotes is a welcome one."

Fox said that the program has been "very effective." During fiscal year 2007, the total number of sheep, calves and goats killed by coyotes in Virginia was 249, which represents a significant decrease from 369 killed in the previous fiscal year. Since the program began in 1990, "the number of sheep killed per farm has gone from 17 killed per farm in 1993 down to two killed per farm in 2007," Fox said.

He attributes that reduction to the efforts of his agency but lamented that coyote populations statewide continue to expand, and more farms east of the Blue Ridge are requesting assistance.

Currently, the wildlife services program has three full-time and three part-time coyote specialists, located in Washington, Franklin, Montgomery, Highland, Augusta and Rockingham counties. They work with farmers using an integrated approach that includes predator-resistant fencing, predator-frightening devices, guardian animals and predator removal.

Va Farm Bureau press release