Coyote America
Bookstore find in Santa Fe. Myth, and biology.
“Southwestern Hispanos have a rich folk tradition about coyotes and have long said that the only thing smarter than a coyote is God.” Page 16.
Faded memory of coyotes east of San Diego, be about 1994?
Then again, down in the arroyo, in Santa Fe, a decade or two later.
Coyote Book Cover
Halfway through the book, there was a recurrent idea, the coyotes of myth, legend, and familiar imagery? The Darwinian, biological imperative was simple: when living in a stable environment, a litter would be two pups, but when faced with possible extermination, the litter would grow in size to a dozen, maybe. Coyotes live in that zone, highly adaptable, but live in between predators and prey, existing as omnivores.
The myth of the coyotes is more what interested me, being aligned with tricksters, but interesting how the myth is borne out of the reality. It’s a sound hypothesis, supported by the book’s reach.
From the epilogue:
‘In Chicago, coyotes take to hanging out around the ticket office at Wrigley Field, “scalping game tickets,” one sportswriter speculates.’ Page 202.
Fitting.
Coyote America
The epilogue also included a loving tribute to the more modern version of Coyote, Wile E. Looking through my own materials, I was searching for a book, a piece of Western American Fiction, had part of the coyote biology mentioned. While I couldn’t find the title in my work, I did stumble across several references to that cartoon coyote, Wile E. Coyote, and his antics. Then, too, I’ve referenced the rules, originally there were a set of guidelines adopted by the cartoon’s originators, but that was lost in my internet.
While I’m late to this material, and still stuck looking for a certain academic novel? The book is near timeless and covers the context, biology, taxonomy, history, and possibly, place in the canon of origin stories.
Good reading, and made more fun curled up in the den in Santa Fe.
Coyote America
Mentions J. Frank Dobie’s The Voice of the Coyote.
