Sun-News readers opened their Tuesday newspaper to find a gruesome sight on the front page - a photo of five dead coyotes hanging from a chain-link fence on the West Mesa.

A number of readers have since called to complain that they found the photo to be offensive and in poor taste. We certainly expected such feedback when, after serious consideration, we decided to run the photo and story on the front page. For those whose morning breakfast or first cup of coffee was spoiled, we apologize.

Some have misunderstood our intent, believing we were glorifying the event and the person responsible. Our hope, rather, was to expose what we considered to be a barbaric act, as well as explain the legal ramifications - or lack thereof - behind it.

The dead coyotes were not hidden from view, but were in plain sight for anybody traveling along Do a Ana County Road B-006, west of the Mesilla Dam.

Sun-News photographer Norm Dettlaff was looking for a better perspective for a photo of burning pecan branches when he happened upon the dead coyotes and took the shot seen on Tuesday's front page. We weren't quite sure what to make of it, so we asked reporter Diana Alba to see what she could find.

What we learned is that coyotes have about the same level of protection in New Mexico as mosquitoes. It's legal to shoot them anytime and just about anywhere. You don't need a license and there is no bag limit. Tom Phillips, with the BLM's Las Cruces office, didn't even seem to be upset that

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the carcasses were hung from a fence on BLM land.

"If we saw someone hanging the coyotes, we'd probably ask them to take them down," he said.

Perhaps that's not surprising, given the importance of ranching to New Mexico's economy and cultural heritage.

Dan Williams, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, tells us there are typically three reasons to shoot coyotes - to protect livestock, for their pelts, or just for sport. Obviously, there was no livestock where the animals were hung, and no attempt to remove the pelt.

"It's more likely that someone went out and killed some coyotes and was showing off," Williams said.

Doesn't seem like much of an achievement to me.

The response since Tuesday has run the gamut. Some say a dead coyote hanging from a fence post is a common sight in rural parts of the state, and wonder what all the fuss is about. But the overwhelming majority was horrified by the ghastly sight.

And a lot of them are lashing out at us for showing it. That comes with the territory. But my hope is that people can get beyond the messenger and focus on the message.

We didn't kill the animals. We didn't hang their dead bodies from a public fence. We did expose that behavior, in hopes the community would be as aghast as we were and will do something to prevent such morbid displays in the future.

Walter Rubel has been a newsman for more than 25 years and is managing editor of the Sun-News. He can be reached at wrubel@lcsun-news.com.