There was just enough nervous anxiety and bloody imagery in Zeke MacCormack’s call to arms (“Predator attacks on livestock and game are rising,” Published in the San Antonio Express-News, Feb. 10 issue) to make for highly entertaining if disturbingly misinformative reading. Unfortunately, most Express-News readers had no way of knowing that the terrifying vision of superpredators slinking their way into the Hill Country and laying waste to farmed animals, native wildlife, and entire hunting enterprises was a gross exercise in hyperbole and error.

Yes, there are a few ranches in Bandera County that experienced low numbers of deer births this season, but county-wide the numbers are on par with the surrounding area, according to state wildlife officials. And the deer populations in surrounding counties – like Texas on the whole – are booming.

According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, Texas hasn’t seen its deer population crash since it started keeping records. The biggest impact on deer population is anthrax, of which we had the most destructive outbreak as recently as 2001. However, deer herds are so healthy in Texas that it was only three years later that the state was encouraging people to shoot the does to help put the brakes on the population.

MacCormack’s article went on to suggest that a ban on lethal toxicants in 1972 was responsible for a surge in predator populations and a “decline in once-common sheep and goat operations – as well as fewer deer, turkeys and other game.”

In fact, it was the loss of subsidies that reduced our “once-common” sheep and goat operations in Texas. This shift did thankfully reduce the number of traps and bullets tearing coyotes apart, but wildlife biologists insist that the principal reason for any decline in wild bird populations is the loss of habitat due to human population growth and development decisions, read: Sprawl.

While predation can play a role on a seasonal basis in localized areas, it is land fragmentation, reduction of wildfire and the introduction of exotic grasses that play, by far, the largest role in any declines here.

And so coyotes have once more been targeted and blamed not only for a few lost lives – but for past human failures and the future jeopardy of entire industries.

The larger, factual (and more fascinating) story is how these animals have not only adapted but thrived as they have been systematically targeted with the intention of wiping them off the face of the earth. That would be a story that could inspire readers about a remarkable and too-often-blamed creature some Native American cultures know as “God’s Dog.”

Responsible and protective ranchers have employed various tactics to protect their lambs and kids for a long time. Vigilant guard animals like dogs and donkeys have proven themselves indispensable the world over. Ranchers have learned how to adjust their breeding cycles and to pen their animals at particular times of the year to reduce the likelihood of predator attacks on young. These days, more resources then ever before are available to reduce predation: plastic collars, for instance, prevent coyotes from being able to easily grasp and kill sheep, and electronic alarms have been proven to reduce sheep losses by up to 60 percent.

When it comes to nature and wildlife, interdependence is more than a buzzword. It is a lesson for each of us. As we witness, for the first time in our shared history, the human altering of our global climate and watch with trepidation for the signs to come, we still have much to learn about this Earth and its wondrous creatures.

By prizing the resourcefulness of those around us, by learning from the creatures of the Earth, we can enter this uncertain future better equipped for what is to come. Hopefully, we can leave the bullets and steel traps behind.

Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation (WRR) was founded in San Antonio in 1977 by Lynn Cuny. Its mission is to provide rescue, rehabilitation and release of orphaned, injured, and displaced wildlife, and provide sanctuary with dignity for non-releasable and non-native wild animals. Today the non-profit volunteers and staff annually receive 5,000-6,000 animals at an 187-acre sanctuary outside Kendalia, Texas. Over 600 wild and farmed animals make their permanent home at WRR.