Cyanide bombs: Federal agents in Colorado set coyote traps despite accidents.
Critics call them cyanide bombs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls them M-44s.
No matter the name, they are controversial, indiscriminate killing-devices, aimed at wiping out predator coyotes.
The M-44 is a spring-loaded mechanism that, once set vertically into the ground, looks like a thumb-sized, metal sprinkler head.
Federally authorized agents bait the devices with rotten meat or other canine attractants.
When any animal nudges it, sodium cyanide powder is shot up to 5 feet into the air.
The poison kills virtually anything in its proximity: coyotes, foxes, pet dogs, feral dogs, bears, and wolves to list a few.
Unlike scenarios where wildlife agents visually spot, then shoot, identifiable predators with firearms, the M-44 works independently without human oversight.
They are placed on open ground and left unmonitored for days, weeks or months at a time, according to documents.
When planted in hiking areas or within walking distances of residential homes, the cyanide-ejecting traps have proven deadly for domestic pets and injurious to humans.
Read the entire story at:
http://kdvr.com/2017/10/26/cyanide-bombs-federal-agents-in-colorado-set-coyote-traps-despite-accidents/
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