Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

The California Department of Food & Agriculture, under an experimental permit, tested sodium cyanide spring-loaded ejector mechanisms for coyote control in Tehama County. These devices were compared to other traditional methods of coyote control to protect sheep from predation. The effectiveness of the devices, as well as their economy of use, could not be determined, as moisture leakage into defective sodium cyanide capsules limited their utility. IT was projected that cost per coyote taken using the devices would have been $68 per coyote, which was a substantial savings as compared to other coyote control methods. The study indicated that coyote control operations can be conducted using the devices without unreasonable adverse effects on the environment. No accidents with the devices occurred during their use by trained staff during the 8-month study. While aerial hunting and ground shooting achieve the most selective means of taking coyotes, the sodium cyanide ejector devices were more selective in taking coyotes than were steel traps. However, the use of steel traps on nontarget wildlife populations was negligible.