Charges expected for Pa. snowmobile riders who ran over fox

The ethos of “fair chase” is a foundation in the world of hunting and it calls for respecting the animal, not taking an unfair advantage, and giving it a reasonable chance to escape.

When it comes to coyotes, wolves, foxes, and other predators, however, fair chase often gets tossed to the side in favor of pure chaos. That happened on Jan. 20, when two men were caught on video chasing and repeatedly running over a red fox in a field in Heidelberg Township, Lebanon County.

After a massive public outcry and thousands of dollars raised for a potential reward, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced that two individuals, ages 17 and 20, turned themselves in and would face charges and restitution. In an initial Facebook post the game commission made on Jan. 22, the riders were accused of “illegal harassment of wildlife and attempted unlawful taking of a red fox.”

It’s unclear if the fox was killed, but elsewhere in the United States, “predator whacking” is perfectly legal. Some riders have made their own videos, with a country music soundtrack. Last year, in Wyoming, a man struck and injured a wolf with his snowmobile, muzzled it, and took it to a country music bar, showing it off to patrons before he killed it. He was fined $250 for possessing a live wolf.

Global outrage ensued, but legislators in Wyoming are still wrangling over laws that could explicitly ban the practice.

“I think we need to send a message loud and clear,” Rep. Andrew Byron (R., Wyo.) told the Wyoming Business Report in a story published Tuesday. “This was a big eyesore for the state. It was a big eyesore for sportsmen. It was an embarrassment.”

Predators, coyotes in particular, can be hunted with little to no regulation in many states, including Pennsylvania. Coyotes can be killed 24/7, 365 days a year in Pennsylvania, with no bag limits, and February marks the annual “roundup” season, when hunters ramp things up with competitions that result in piles of dead coyotes. In 2021, when The Inquirer visited a competition in Sullivan County, 27 were killed. Many states, including New York, have banned the competitions, and scientists have found that when coyotes are killed in a certain area, survivors actually respond by having larger litters.

“Coyotes, we say, are the most persecuted wild carnivore in the nation,” said Renee Seacor, carnivore conservation director with the nonprofit Project Coyote. “We typically don’t see the same hate for red fox.”

Project Coyote chronicled “coyote whacking” incidents and efforts to ban them. Seacor commended the game commission for taking swift action.

“It is time to end these unethical practices and prioritize ethical, science-based policies to ensure the proper protection of our nation’s wildlife,” she said.

The average red fox can weigh up to about 15 pounds and, at its fastest, can run about 30 mph. A snowmobile can weigh about 600 pounds, not including its rider, and can reach speeds up to 100 mph.