Instead of lurking on the edge of the unseen, coyotes are taking the stage as Maine’s Legislature ponders whether to dial back the year-round gunfire that takes a steady toll on the rarely-appreciated predator.

The Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife this week heard from fans and foes who debated a bill that would end a policy that sets no daytime limits on shooting coyotes and replace it with a new coyote hunting season from Oct. 1 to March 31.

Susan McHugh of Auburn, a researcher who studies human-animal relations, called the bill “a long-overdue move toward supporting common-sense practices that have proven to work well in other states and countries.”

But hunters statewide told the committee Monday to kill the proposal.

Kaitlin Guy of Lisbon said year-round coyote hunting is needed “to protect our agriculture and safeguard the safety of our communities.”

Guy said that allowing coyotes to multiply more swiftly will increase the risk they pose to livestock as well as pets and people as the predators “become more accustomed to urban and suburban areas.”

Darren Brown of Wales told lawmakers he has had neighbors who have lost pets as well as “chickens they use for eggs on their table.”

In addition, he said, some coyotes are “way too comfortable and close to home with small children.”

Year-round hunting, Guy said, “provides a necessary tool for conservation and wildlife management, benefiting everyone who calls Maine home.”

Sponsored by Democratic state Reps. Nina Milliken of Blue Hill, Cheryl Golek of Harpswell, Kristi Mathieson of Kittery and Dylan Pugh of Portland, the bill would impose a $500 fine on violators and suspend their hunting licenses for a year.

A coyote sat at the base of Mount David at the Bates College campus in Lewiston this winter. Experts say coyotes are known to migrate into urban areas to find food and look for mates during winter months. Lawmakers are considering changes to coyote hunting in Maine. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Betsey Cooper of Bryant Pond village in Woodstock said when the risks and benefits of coyote hunting are weighed, the results are clear: restricting hunters is needed.

As it is, Cooper said, “something other than a coyote might get shot,” including dogs and people, while there is no benefit to hunting them.

“Coyotes aren’t used as food,” she said, “and their coats aren’t used to keep people warm.”

Shooting coyotes doesn’t meaningfully reduce the number of coyotes, Cooper said, because “coyote groups reorganize immediately and go on to reproduce effectively.”

Any effort to control their population is futile, she said, because coyotes are “one of the most well-adapted mammals on the planet” to live alongside people.

Scott Gosselin of Leeds, a 50-year-old hunter, said he’s been hunting since he was 12. He said he operates trail cameras to keep an eye on wildlife.

He said that eight years ago, he rarely saw a coyote on his cameras. Instead of seeing them about once a year, Gosselin said, he captures pictures of them weekly.

Gosselin said he began hunting them five years ago “mostly due to having them in our backyard.”

He said that because Maine has no natural predator for coyotes, cutting back on hunting them “will only greatly increase” their numbers in the Pine Tree State.

“It’s pretty much impossible to wipe out the coyote population,” Gosselin said.

Josh Haines, a registered Maine Master Guide from Mars Hill, said he’s been hunting coyotes for more than two decades.

“During that time, I have only seen their numbers and impact rise,” Haines said.

He said coyotes have been especially hard on deer.

“I find countless deer and moose carcasses every spring killed by coyotes. Many are young animals who are unlikely sick or injured,” Haines said.

He said adding restrictions on coyote hunting won’t help and “would be another step in the wrong direction.”

Katie Hansberry, Maine’s state director for Humane World for Animals, said restricting coyote hunting is needed.

“Indiscriminate coyote hunting and trapping is not supported by the best available science, is ineffective at mitigating conflicts, does not increase game species numbers, and can lead to an increase in coyote numbers,” Hansberry told lawmakers.

Hansberry said coyotes “are an integral part of healthy ecosystems and provide a number of free, natural ecological services,” helping to control disease transmission, keep rodents in check, clean up carrion and remove sick animals.

She said other states have seen that efforts to control the coyote population through hunting don’t work.

The indiscriminate killing of coyotes reaps only short-term population reductions and stimulates pup recruitment and immigration,” Hansberry said. “Persecution of coyotes disrupts their social structure, which, ironically, encourages more breeding and migration, and ultimately results in more coyotes.”

Jesse Burke of Fryeburg raised chickens and guinea fowl “only to have them slowly picked off, mostly by coyotes.”

“I’ve also seen coyotes in my yard in the middle of the afternoon during the summertime,” Burke told legislators. “They show little to no fear. Their lack of wariness around humans is concerning and highlights the need for effective population management.”

“A year-round hunting season is a necessary tool for keeping Maine’s coyote population in check. It helps maintain balance in our ecosystems, protects our deer herd, and reduces conflicts with humans and livestock,” Burke said.

Courtney Ellis of Rangeley, a registered Maine Guide, said “shortening the coyote hunting season would only have negative consequences for everyone — prey species, domestic farm animals, pets, and even coyotes themselves.”

“Maintaining consistent hunting pressure on coyotes is one of the most ethical ways to help control disease, reduce coyote attacks on pets, and keep prey animal populations in balance,” Ellis said.

McHugh said there is “abundant scientific proof” that the state’s existing policy is dangerous.

“Wanton killing of wildlife is not only wasteful, but, in the case of coyotes and other canines, such practices destabilize networks of these highly social creatures,” McHugh said.

“For over a hundred years, coyotes have filled the niche created by the ill-advised wolf eradication programs of our ancestors,” she said.

“Adapted to prioritize eating rodents like mice, red squirrels, and rats, coyotes play a vital role in balancing ecosystems,” McHugh said, “and as a bonus for us minimizing property nuisance.”