Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

This paper summarizes Animal Damage Control (ADC) program records relating to M-44 use during Fiscal Years 1976-86. During these years, M-44s were used in 14 western states to take 103,255 animals, including 92,843 coyotes, 5,544 other target canids, and 4,868 nontarget animals. More animals were taken in Texas than in all other states combined. Program-wide during FY 1977-81, M-44 effort averaged approximately 5,600 unit years annually and 1.2 target animals were recovered per M-44 year. M-44s accounted for 12.3 percent of all coyotes taken by the ADC program during FY 1976-86. The coyote take by M-44s doubled from FY 1981 through 1986. In FY 1986, more coyotes were taken by M-44s than by any other method in Texas, New Mexico, and Nebraska. Program-wide in that year, aerial hunting ranked first, the leghold trap second, and the M-44 third in numbers of coyotes taken. The M-44 has increased in importance since its reregistration in 1971, but the coyote lake by M-44 has not approached the peak reached in 1971.