Based on the description in the article, they do sound horrible - little land mines waiting for one small step to send a cloud of death into the air.

Doing a bit of research, the Wikipedia article gives better information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M44_(cyanide_device)

As I see it, they're basically an alternative to traps that don't kill quickly leading to animal suffering. They're designed to be really hard to trigger - the design was to have the animal put their mouth on it and pull hard.

This is apparently the safer version of the "Coyote Getter", which dispersed the cyanide with a .38 Special pistol cartridge case & primer.

Absolutely! Even assuming that they work, and that they only kill the intended target (already proven false), you're throwing cyanide around - on the ground, and potentially in the groundwater and surface water. If somebody did that on my land I'd be like "Have you lost your mind?"

Well, the good news is, it degrades and has a half-life. The bad news is, it has an other-half-life.

If they worked always exactly as designed all of 0.88g of sodium cyanide should end up in coyote's mouth. And if something ends up outside it should combine with moisture and turn into cyanide gas and float away.

I had the same reaction when I realized I could just buy a fucking flamethrower.

Like, on the one hand, awesome! I can own a flamethrower. But on the other hand, society just trusts me to have a flamethrower?

It's called a high-trust society. It is the gift granted to you by your forebearers.

Use it wisely, and preserve it for those after you please.

This type of society worked back in the pre-Regan days because we had institutions and unreasonably violent/crazy people would get carted off before they could get around to hurting others.

I don't think that's true. People who are mentally ill commit violent crimes at about the same rates as their neighbors. Also, crime rates are lower now than when Reagan took office.

My theory is that what really changed our levels of trust was the invention of 24-hour news. People didn't used to have someone in their ear all day reminding them to be afraid. But tons of other things have changed too, so I may be off base.

Involuntary committal without due process was banned by the Supreme Court; that's why many were turned loose.

Funding for CA mental health services was higher as Reagan left office than when he took office.

It continues to work with respect to flamethrowers. Where is all the flamethrower crime? I've not heard of any.

It's a good thing to live in a high-trust environment. You don't need to spend as much time making fences.

Same here. Why is cyanide randomly planted in the wild to kill wild animals? What are they eating that's causing problems? Seems to serve minimal purpose and carry a large risk. If anyone else shoots a wild animal that's eating their trash they could go to jail.

It really depends on the animal. Some, particularly feral hogs, are invasive and incredibly destructive. Humans set them loose, so it's our responsibility to run some damage control.

Maybe my area isn't rural enough, but isn't that what animal control officers are for?

Federal and state employees use a wide variety of techniques to control feral hog populations, but feral hogs are very prolific. A mature female feral hog can have two litters a year and as much as a dozen piglets per litter. Because the problem is so severe, the general public are often encouraged to help.

Cattle mostly. These are rural farmers who are looking after livestock / crops