SURVIVAL OF A TRICKSTER
The coyote
has never gotten much respect. For the past two centuries,
ranchers, farmers and federal agents have ruthlessly gunned and
poisoned the tawny predator. Yet unlike its larger cousin, the
wolf, the coyote has thrived, and expanded its range into virtually
every ecosystem in North America. How the legendary trickster of
Native American lore pulled off this feat is explored in Todd
Wilkinson’s Track of the Coyote. With on-the-ground reporting and
interviews with biologists, ranchers, government trappers and
wildlife advocates, Wilkinson paints a portrait of a highly
intelligent animal that has adopted numerous strategies from eating
roadkill to hunting in packs. He also explores the
counter-intuitive theory developed by Yellowstone researcher Bob
Crabtree, which holds that killing coyotes increases their numbers.
Crabtree says the death of a pack leader disrupts the pack’s social
order, pushing young coyotes to reproduce more rapidly and disperse
into new territory. Another impact: Coyotes with hungry pups are
also more likely to go after easy-to-kill animals such as cows. The
discussions of evolving coyote science are fascinating and
Wilkinson balances them with anecdotes, Indian lore and color
photographs by Michael Francis.
NorthWord Press
Inc., P.O. Box 1360, Minocqua, WI 54548: $14.95, 1995, 144 pages,
paper.
*Paul
Larmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Survival of a trickster.
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