Wolves and ranchers

There is a rancher I know, a good person, I even call him my friend, yet... He kills coyotes to protect his cattle, notwithstanding the fact that he says that feral dogs are worse than coyotes and wolves. Predators are beautiful and contribute to a viable ecological system. I don't understand the demonizing of wolves and coyotes. My friend once even shot a coyote from his truck while I was riding 'shotgun' with him. I must admit it made me more distant towards this person. I endorse the wolf protection actions of the Center for Biological Diversity. I also endorse US Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and US Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, with US Rep. Raul Grijalva of New Mexico as a lead sponsor. Right now they are circulating a letter to their colleagues in the US Congress, expressing support for America's wolves still under federal protections, and that those federal protections remain in place. I quote from the Center for Biological Diversity:

As if the persecution and killing of over 1,000 wolves, over the past six months alone, in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota and Wisconsin, is not enough, the US Fish & Wildlife Service now wants to remove federal protections for wolves in the remaining states where they are still under federal  protection. This unethical, anti-ecology political maneuver includes states that have just a few dozen wolves or none at all! How ridiculous is such a proposal? Why even have an Endangered Species Act if corrupt federal officials or any corrupt state government can declare a persecuted and endangered animal unworthy of protection due to lies, mythology and dirty politics? 

When I first came to Arizona, I used to hear the coyotes every night. Their night song was a reassurance, a connection to all what lives, made the stars shine brighter and the full moon more purposeful. Last year was the first time I didn't even see nor hear a coyote and I miss them bitterly. It just doesn't feel right. Also, I once encountered a red timber wolf near the Colorado river, about four in the afternoon. We looked at each other. I saw his magical brown eyes, he must not have sensed any danger coming from me, so he slowed, glanced back at me and went his way disappearing in the desert. That was however in the early '90's... Yet I can still feel the enchantment thinking about my coyotes and wolf encounters.