Get paid to shoot ‘Powerball’ coyotes under new NC law

A new program approved in the N.C. House Thursday would put a bounty on coyotes in an effort to control the population in Richmond County.

Senate Bill 249 creates a coyote bounty program in the rural county along the South Carolina border. Thursday’s House vote means the bill becomes law because local bills don’t go to the governor.

Under the program, the county government can capture, neuter and mark coyotes, and then release them into the wild. Hunters would then be encouraged to shoot coyotes through a $500 prize – offered by the county or a local nonprofit – for bringing in a dead coyote with the marking.

“They will make them like the Powerball coyotes for the county,” explained Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican. “It’s going to incentivize people to shoot coyotes, and they may get a Powerball coyote that will be worth $500.”

Why only offer the prize for marked coyotes? “Apparently they were afraid that people would buy (dead) coyotes and try to collect the bounty,” Lewis said.

Jokes ensued on the House floor.

“Could those parameters be extended to the General Assembly, especially the sterilization part?” asked Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat.

“My wife’s already got me, Rep. Michaux,” Lewis replied.

Other legislators brought up the Looney Tunes cartoon character Wile E. Coyote.

“Are they going to use the Road Runner, allow him to catch the coyotes?” asked Rep. Marvin Lucas, a Spring Lake Democrat.

“It would be entirely within Richmond County’s options to use an anvil as a way of taking the coyotes,” Lewis said.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Get paid to shoot ‘Powerball’ coyotes under new NC law."