A myth that I’ve been stamping out lately is regarding Coyotes:
(read in a voice of righteous indignation) “Ooooh, we used to have pheasants and foxes and quail, but then, coyotes started to increase and drove the others out. Oh why don’t we kill off those awful Coyotes?”
Because yes, our destroying all available habitat had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of all those fun species. It’s fun to see the dawning comprehension on people’s faces when they realize that coyotes are just a little more adaptable than the others and had little if anything to do with their disappearance.
A related one was from a while ago, but a coworker and I were doing maintenance on the 14 mile bike trail we have and a woman stopped us to ask if it was safe to be out here. I thought that question was a bit odd considering that she was already out here and had apparently already determined the safety. But then I thought she was wondering if drug deals and the like take place in such isolated places, and started to assure her of the safety. She responded with: “because you read all those stories about people being killed by coyotes.” I had to let my coworker deal with that.