Image by Brittani Burns.
Trump’s bombing of Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, Nigeria, Yemen, Caribbean boats, and Somalia (Council on Foreign Relations info) has torn to shreds his “political brand” opposing foreign military adventures, promising “no wars” in campaign speech after campaign speech after campaign speech.
Now, his administration is taking “bombing” one step further into the wilderness, over hill, over dale, through bush, through briar (Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) right here on U.S. soil. Cyanide bombs are back in style after being banned by the Biden administration.
“The Bureau of Land Management last month quietly lifted its total ban on the use of so-called cyanide bombs on public land and said deployment of the spring-loaded devices used to kill coyotes and other predators will now be considered on a “case-by-case” basis.” (BLM, USDA Agree to Renew Use of ‘Cyanide Bombs’, E&E News by Politico, May 8, 2026)
Cyanide bombs or “M-44s have been and are used on certain state and private lands in Texas, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Nevada, and West Virginia. In Colorado, M-44s are used only on private land. Oregon, Washington, and California have banned M-44s everywhere, including on BLM lands within their borders.” (Trump Administration Resurrects Archaic Poison Bombs No One Wants, Animal Wellness Action, May 22, 2026)
Cyanide bombs are designed to kill coyotes, red foxes, gray foxes, and feral dogs that prey on sheep, poultry and newborn cattle.
“But coyotes, foxes and feral dogs are not all that M-44s kill. According to Wildlife Services’ own records, they also kill at least 150 nontarget species including cattle, sheep, goats, guard dogs, bird dogs, pet dogs, grizzly bears, black bears, endangered Mexican wolves, northwestern gray wolves, bald eagles, golden eagles, falcons, other hawks, vultures, including endangered California condors, owls, ravens, crows, raccoons, opossums, skunks, sundry species of rabbits and kangaroo rats, badgers, threatened wolverines, threatened lynx, fishers and, in at least one case, humans — Dennis Slaugh of Vernal, Utah,” Ibid.
And what of campers, hikers, and dune buggies that fill public lands every day? Are they exposed and what safeguards prevent children from playing with every strange device they come across? According to Predator Defense.org, since 1990 the organization has worked with victims of M-44s, which, when set in the wild, are loaded with scented bait to attract animals.
According to Friends of Animals, M-44s are one of the most vicious devices known to randomly kill anything that breathes, for example, a tragic 2017 incident involved a 14-year-old boy named Canyon Mansfield walking his dog, Kasey, just 350 feet away from his family’s home, near Pocatello, Idaho. Canyon recognized what he thought was a sprinkler’s head sticking out of the ground but as the M-44 triggered, it sent a plume of cyanide powder five feet into the air. He was hospitalized for treatment, fortunately, brisk winds swept the poison away from him or he would have died. Kasey was not so lucky.
According to Friends of Animals countless numbers of dogs have been killed by M-44s. This heartless device defines outrageous inhumane activity to a tee, placing scented bait in the wild to kill anything that breathes that happens to pass by and boom! Dead on the spot! Do people honestly think this is a proper humane decent thing to do?
Meanwhile, the EPA claims at least 50% of all animals killed are non-targeted animals.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to identify individual names of people who initiated or those responsible for handling M-44s in the wild as everything is buried deep within the bureaucratic mumble jumble of governmental agencies, for example, the USDA Wildlife Services within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that reports to the Department of Interior appears to be the primary source often working in concert with private ranchers to “manage predators.” But state agriculture departments are in charge of all operations in some of the states.
Maybe Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum has the answers.
Regardless of who is in charge, the concept of placing baited killing scented devices in the wild to kill anything that breathes, that happens to wander through the area, is so far out of touch with the sanctity of life that it’s difficult to image how it’s possible to find people willing to administer such an idiotic scheme. Who are these people willing to take innocent lives as if life itself is meaningless?
In May 2026, Republicans included language in the Fiscal Year 2027 USDA appropriations bill instructing federal agencies to “fully integrate” the poison devices back into routine use.
There are many alternatives to M-44. According to the Center for Biological Diversity: “Numerous effective, alternative tools to address livestock conflicts exist, eliminating the need for M-44s altogether. For example, guard animals can be deployed, herders and range riders can be employed, and livestock operators can change animal husbandry practices to lessen the risk of predation. Deterrents, such as sound- and light-emitting frightening devices, can also be used to scare away potential predators.”
But of course, when comparing the bombing of countries like Iran, where civilians are randomly killed when in the line of fire, or soft, easy targets like small, totally unidentified boats in the seas, it makes it much easier to accept and boast of cyanide bombing of defenseless animals in the wild. Indeed, these are signals of a weak personal constitution, spinelessness and lack of imagination, as easy pickings bring shame, not praise.
According to Coyote Project.org, “The toll of M-44s on wildlife has been staggering. Between 2014 and 2022, these devices intentionally killed over 88,000 animals—and these are only the known deaths.” There are anecdotal stories claiming millions killed, whether intentional or unintentional, M-44 does not discriminate; if it is breathing, it’s dead.
