Coyote Power

Coyotes are a part of our daily life here in De Luz, a fact that thrills me because I never tire of observing their beauty and their behavior. And, it thrills Cayenne because she never tires of hunting them down and chasing them. That is, until she realizes she is not actually chasing them and, oops, they are after her! How the heck did that happen?! Her war wounds are no less than 20 coyote bites in the past five years, and always in the rear end! I have doctored up her injuries at home, except for the time her tail was practically bitten in half. Our country coyotes are not interested in doing battle with Cayenne, who tends to relentlessly provoke them. They simply want her to understand there are boundaries and rules to be followed, for heaven's sake. The rules are simple: Stay out of my face and away from pups and dens, and we'll consider you a cool canine. Cayenne is very smart, really she is, but she doesn't get this. But, we have made great headway. Although she ran breathlessly out of the hills during our walk a couple of months ago with two nasty bites, that hadn't happened in at least a year and a half. She used to take off and be gone for an hour in hot pursuit of her territorial competitor. Now, she often runs back and forth barking and whining, and then continues trekking. I witnessed an amazing interaction between a coyote and Cayenne last year. I was headed down the trail back home, looked up ahead of me, and thought, "Hmm, whose dog is that with Cayenne?" I stopped and quietly watched for only seconds until they saw me. A coyote, standing about two feet from Cayenne, took off. They were standing side by side, not in any kind of face off. I was over the moon when I saw this because I thought they had finally put their muzzles together and come up with a truce. But, no, that wasn't it. It was just a unique coming together of two species of canines in a special moment when curiosity overpowered rivalry. On another occasion, the little guy featured in the photo was one that broke from his pack and followed us down the road a bit. I kept stopping and taking photos, and he finally tired of the game.
BOOK ALERT: I recently read Daily Coyote, by Shreve Stockton and it is now among the cherished jewels on my bookshelf. It is about her personal journey from living as an urbanite to creating a nest for herself in a very, very small town called Ten Sleep, Wyoming, where she lives a bare bones, no frills lifestyle. She is a fiercely independent woman and found herself suddenly faced with a huge commitment and a structured lifestyle when she was handed a ten day old coyote pup, Charlie. The story, which continues on her website, is quite incredible and her photography is stunning.