[Seahawk]

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has a lot of information on Coyotes and I have spoken with them at length.

We are allowed to shoot them and I do. There are many reasons why but this section on the impact of Coyotes, from the MDNR website, captures it best:

Ecological Implications

Maryland and Delaware have the distinction of being the last two states in the contiguous United States to be colonized by coyotes. Maryland is quite fortunate to have the unique perspective of witnessing the ecological and social impacts of established coyote populations in other states. It is a biological certainty that Maryland will share many of the same experiences. Regardless of geographic location, eastern coyotes all possess the same basic genetic material and exhibit essentially the same behavioral traits and population characteristics.

Impacts on natural communities are also fairly predictable and can negatively impact various sympatric native species. Establishment in unoccupied regions of the eastern US, coyotes have assumed the role of top-order predator. Consequently, they tend to fundamentally alter existing ecosystem structure and function. Various species experience population declines as a result of their status as coyote prey, or from direct competition for existing resources.

Culturally and ecologically significant species including red fox decline dramatically in response to increasing coyote populations. Eastern coyote and red fox share many common habitat requirements and occupy overlapping niches. Through time, the larger and more resilient coyote is able to out-compete and displace resident red fox populations. As a result, red fox are typically delegated to existence in small areas devoid of individual coyote home ranges. Diminishing red fox populations have currently been noted in portions of central and western Maryland.

Lesser, yet still significant changes are expected in gray fox, bobcat and other associated predator and prey populations. Long-term impacts on white-tailed deer are not completely known in the East. Coyote food habit studies regularly show consistent use of deer as food. However, it does not appear that coyote limit deer populations on a regional scale at this time.

I only shoot coyotes and ground hogs.