Dead Coyote Hangs From Tree As Christmas Ornament, Police Say It’s Legal, Not Worried About Animal Cruelty


A dead coyote hangs from a tree just off a road where school buses drive by. NBC Montana reports that the animal is hung upside down with a bow at its feet on the branch. It might be someone’s idea of a joke, but it’s stirring a lot of controversy in the Plains area. It’s also caused a lot of mixed reactions.

The coyote hangs off a tree where school buses drive by and kids can see it. It’s also in a spot where Christmas decorations are known to be abundant.

Mary Ellen Seigford posted the picture to a Sanders County public yard sale group’s Facebook page. Her daughter is very upset about the dead coyote hanging off the tree. Seigford says it’s somewhat morbid, even though others tell her that she doesn’t need to worry about the animal eating up pets.

“A lot of people were just like, ‘Well, be glad it’s dead. You don’t have to worry about it eating your pets.’ But I don’t know. To me, it’s morbid, it rings of animal cruelty. It’s just not very pleasant to drive past, and I feel it’s pretty gruesome for the school kids to be passing by on their way to and from school.”

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel says that hanging the dead coyote is legal because it’s on private property and a coyote is a predator. It’s not considered a game animal. He also adds that because it’s already dead, there are no animal cruelty concerns.

According to Briebert, the dead coyote was joined by a dead racoon on Wednesday.

“12 days of christmas… a skunk next? what?” Seigford wrote in her Facebook post.

Evidently, someone wanted to stir things up further by hanging up another dead animal next to the coyote. It’s probably someone who found out the coyote was making news and thought adding fuel to the fire would be fun.

Inquisitr has reported on a large number of animal stories that evoke anger and controversy. There’s one in which a New Jersey man shot squirrels with his BB gun, and hung them on his backyard fence. He told police he got tired of them venturing into his yard. Blocking entrances or sealing off holes wasn’t doing the trick, so he started shooting them. Although it was on his property, the man still faced animal cruelty charges and had to pay a fine.

[Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Seigford /Facebook via NBC Montana]

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