Coyote America

Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History, by Dan Flores, is a thoughtful, lyrical and at times tragic look at coyotes and our relationship with them. I was raised on a ranch in Montana and, as youngster, was taught coyotes were the enemy and even shot a few before realizing the error of my ways. This book digs into that lie, examining the myths, perceptions and misperceptions fueling the misplaced and almost genocidal fury of farmers and ranchers. Along the way, Flores examines the biology and evolutionary history of coyotes, as well as the spiritual nature of this trickster god and social significance that continues today. Long before Wile E. Coyote joined the Acme Corporation platinum buyer’s club, coyotes were a familiar and powerful presence in Native American myths. “Coyote or sometimes Old Man Coyote — and rarely about Old Woman Coyote, although they are present in the canon — are the oldest preserved human stories from North America. The truth is that Coyote (capitalized to distinguish the deity from the ordinary coyote trotting by while you read) is the most ancient god figure of which we have record on this continent.” Coyote was always a little self-absorbed and too cunning for his own good, blurring the lines between good and evil, seemingly always both in on and the punchline of the joke. The author credits these stories with capturing the human condition well and preserving lessons on how to survive and navigate an ambiguous world. In fact, he claims “the stories themselves look to predator-prey relationships for the birth of cunning.” A huge section of the book is what happens when humans on this continent stopped respecting and learning from Coyote and instead turned to dominating resources and trying to eliminate coyotes. It’s a hard read. Led by government agents, a scorched earth war was waged on coyotes and wolves to ostensibly protect livestock. From guns to poison, millions of dollars were deployed and millions of lives lost. “…each bait station was commonly one of America’s surplus horses, which could be led to the selected spot and shot and whose carcass was then laced with strychnine tablets and surrounded by poisoned fat and meat cubes—went in next.” And “…by the mid-1920s bureau hunters reached the rather phenomenal milestone of having set out 3.567 million poison bait stations across the West. This scorched-earth policy against coyotes yielded some 35,000 dead coyote bodies a year, although the bureau publicly estimated that its hunters never found another 100,000 poisoned annually.” The war against wolves was successful, the war against coyotes was not, for two reasons. First, when wolves were removed from the equation, coyotes lost their only natural predator. And second, coyotes are unique in that when their population is under threat, they produce bigger litters, and faster. Despite the best efforts of coyote killers — and they were VERY persistent — coyote populations basically were never seriously impacted. It’s a testament to their trickster nature and their natural resilience. As the co-author of three alt-history books about Bonnie and Clyde made this section especially stand out for me: “In the mid-1930s, newspapers around the country, among them even the Washington Post, ran an illustrated, canned bureau article that, in the age of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, offered up coyotes and other predators as the “gangsters of the animal kingdom” and characterized bureau hunters as the heroic G-men who would protect society, “man and beast, against the animal underworld.” It was a clever set piece, and it worked. Despite the Murie brothers’ findings, in the public mind coyotes deserved the same fate as Bonnie and Clyde.” Coyote America paints a sometimes grim but always compelling picture of a true American original. This small, smart, beautiful wolf dog has made itself at home from sea to sea and border to border, despite the misplaced fury of federal and private assassins, thriving even in unlikely urban environments — San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and my current hometown, Portland, Oregon. I mentioned that as a youngster in Montana, I killed (more than) my share of coyotes. I regret that now. I quickly came to appreciate, like the author, that coyotes are smart, curious, beautiful creatures who “delight in being alive in a world of wondrous possibilities.” I’m charmed by them now and excited any time I happen to see one (unlike, for example cat owners, I suppose). I want to live in a world with coyotes and learn to co-exist more effectively. And after finishing the book, the first thing I did was make a donation to Project Coyote.

I am a second-generation native of the Southwestern desert and have been around coyotes all my life. My family ranched in Southern Arizona for many years and we maintained a more-or-less non-aggression pact with “our” coyotes (the dismal economics of desert open-range cattle agriculture being by far the larger bar to success). I have served on the board of the University of Arizona Press which gave me access to very large natural history resources. Also exposed to the Tohono O'odham folklore surrounding the coyote (just for the record, I pronounce it Ki-yot sometimes and Ki-yo-tee sometimes), as an adult I have read Ryden, Leydet, Dobie, Zepeda, Nabhan and Bekoff; Flores's predecessors in describing what the Tohono O'odham call “the cousin.” He is the smartest, most flexible and genetically-adapted of North American wildlife. This book is, by far, the most readable and, to my knowledge, complete discussion of our animal companion. That we have spent millions of dollars and a century trying to eradicate an animal who not only mostly can and will live among us without difficulty is truly sad (if for no other reason than the money might have been spent on something more useful). And, amazingly with so little result (proof of his adaptability). A superbly well written book, the one I will recommend to any and all who show an interest in the Coyote.

If you read this book you will read about a wildlife viewing point near the Lamar River in Yellowstone, where you can sometimes see bison, wolves ... and coyotes. I stood there in the summer of 2019 and made a comment about shooting the coyotes. I came by it honestly, as I think one may have killed my daughter's cat. But from the reaction you'd have thought I'd kidnapped Lindbergh's baby. Then a fellow wildlife enthusiast told me about a coyote following him into a store in downtown Chicago. Dang. Figured I might need to learn something about them. Not sure what I can add to the 850+ other reviews but here goes. I despise coyotes. As they move into cities and suburbs they kill cats and occasionally threaten people. In the part of the state where I live it's open season on them. And yet I'm giving this book at least a B plus. I learned a great deal that, not only did I not know, but I never would have imagined. The animal and its history are nothing if not fascinating. I have at least come to understand them as something more significant than furred cockroaches. I dock the book a half-star or so, not because the author admires coyotes, but because perhaps he tries a little too hard, whether to force himself to admire them or to convince the rest of us to do so. It's not a light read, but a relatively quick one. I can see myself buying this book for others.

This is a terrific book. Even better than American Serengeti, which was fabulous in its own right. This book is more coherent, based around a central theme, and less a series of individual essays. It is well written and thoroughly researched. A little on the academic side (no surprise), but still an easy book to read. Coyote America tells an important part of this continent's natural history with reason, science, and folklore. A couple of the negative reviews miss the important points of the book. Coyotes are like us: survivors, opportunists, and problem solvers. Yes, they have been persecuted for over a century and that part is very ugly, but they still not only survived this-they are thriving. We have a lot to learn from them. I spend a lot time outdoors, hunting and fishing. Over the last few years I've seen more and more coyotes, often wondering why. After reading Coyote America, I now understand why this is happening and appreciate how special the song dog really is. I'll never look at them the same way.

Good book. Learned a lot. Appreciate the perspective

This readable and very learned book tells the species history of the coyote from pre-history to the recent wars of extermination waged against predators by federal governments on behalf of hunters and ranchers. Flores follows coyote over the land bridge to Asia and back, then south, north and east from the deserts of the south-western North America, and finally into the big cities, drawing parallels between coyote and human societies as he goes. A brilliant read which is sometimes heart-rending but overall fascinating and inspiring.

Siempre me han atraído los coyotes, mi cuento favorito es Coyote 13 y este libro es lo más completo y justo posible con los coyotes, realmente vale la pena leerlo.

Uses the coyote as a foil to describe America. Clever and very readable

Very well researched and engagingly written. Explores the numerous layers of the story of coyotes in North America and their often turbulent relationship with humans.

Mon fils avait une présentation à l'école sur le Coyote. Nous avons trouvé beaucoup d'information et c'est vraiment bien écrit.