Jul 20, 2023·edited Jul 20, 2023Liked by Librarian of Celaeno
In a decaying society more and more humans exist in liminal space like the Eastern Coyote: the communities of our forebears are gone and we either huddle together in ill-fitting, restless and insecure groups, or find our own liminal spaces within which to dwell.
The latter skirt the encampments of the insecure herd, prowling for opportunity yet never straying too close. These have always existed in small numbers but in times of spiritual breakdown, reduced provision and loss of cohesion they can become a vital force in themselves.
Great writing, but I think you may be missing the mark re: the inability of domesticated dogs to revert to wildness. It’s a well-worn observation in farming communities that if three dogs are allowed free rein to roam and form a pack, in 14 days they will be uncontrollable. In 30 days they will be killing your calves and lambs. That’s one of the reasons that roaming dogs are not tolerated in rural communities, and if one is observed harassing your livestock you have the legal right to put it down.
They can go feral, yes, but never wild. Dogs are dogs because they have been shaped by humans. Should some group of dogs escape human society and live in the woods for so many generations that the influence of men was lost they would indeed be fully wild but they would also cease to be dogs. Humans, I would argue, undergo much the same transition when divorced from society.
Farmers around here call them coydogs. They have been interbreeding forever and the resulting animal is much less fearful than a coyote should be and they run in packs. That's why I have my own pack of livestock guardian dogs. They live with my herd and protect my goats and ducks and peafowl from the coydogs. They will fight them to the death. My livestock guardians are not at all helpless. They are very independent, not at all like house dogs. Look up information on Akbash, Anatolians, Great Pyrenees, and other livestock guardian breeds.
Again, I did not say dogs were helpless. I said they were shaped by humans for human use, and cannot exist as dogs apart from human society. Dogs are creatures of human purpose and needs. The dogs defending your farm do so because they have been bred by humans for that end and serve a human goal in keeping the farm safe. Because they are a part of the human as opposed to the natural world, it makes sense for them to defend a human habitation against a wild and destructive force.
I used to see coyotes in Minnesota all the time, right in and around Minneapolis.
The first time I saw a coyote was in the long grass on Boom Island, which is smack dab in the middle of downtown Minneapolis, in the Mississippi. I remember the strangeness of it vividly, thinking:
Great information. I live about 20 miles from Lake Michign in the middle of a giant National Forest and hear coyotes off in the distance sometimes at night. It is cool to think they may be wolf/coyote/dog hybrids. I can relate to being a half domesticated half wild creature, lol!
I live in modern St. Louis and the coyotes are thriving. They also are showing no fear of humans but so far no aggression (in my personal experience). You might change your comment from "are dangerous" to "can be dangerous," since any toothy critters fulfill that description.
The eastern coyotes at the link tore apart a Canadian country singer. While I agree anything with teeth (and some things that lack teeth) can potentially be dangerous, I am more concerned with coyotes than my dad’s Maltese. Some things just have more killer in them.
With the added term "potentially," I'm in full agreement. I used to live with lions, leopards, and crocs on my property. Anything with the physical equipment to poke a hole thru skin can be dangerous. On the West Coast the Forest Service has problems with sheep, goats, and deer attacking and injuring hikers.
As a kid, I hunted coyotes for the bounty. Never collected a cent. Since then I've learned they're one of the most remarkable mammals on our continent, but we should never forget they're opportunistic feeders.
A fine write-up on the animal of our times. Personally, I prefer to call them coywolves, since that better emphasizes their hybrid nature, which is usually something like 65% coyote, 25% wolf, and 10% dog (varying geographically of course). They're definitely heavier and have other distinctive qualities compared to pure coyotes. Since wolves are relegated to the wild (Alaska, Yukon, national parks, etc), coywolves/eastern coyotes have risen to become the new apex predator, as you said.
I notice other commenters emphasizing that dogs can go feral, but I think that misses the point. Whatever its breed or attitude, dogs are still fundamentally domesticated, a human creation. Likewise, wolves are wedded to the wilderness, and ill-equipped for the human world. Coyotes are in-betweeners, able to skirt the edges of both worlds, and the new hybrid is even better equipped for this than its pure-blooded ancestors -- the wolf genes give it the strength to take down larger prey (eg deer), while the dog genes make it more clever and adaptable.
It's fitting that such an animal would arise in our deteriorating society.
I recommend Coyote America by Dan Flores for an excellent, thorough natural history of the Eastern Coyote. Fascinating animal. I have a pack behind my house; they approach close enough to touch, but I don't. They don't molest my dogs and we don't molest them.
I strongly recommend "Coyote America" by Dan Flores. It convinced me that Wile E. is one of the most remarkable animals in the North American ecosystem. He's been living in the downtowns of our largest cities since the 1800s, and isn't going anywhere soon.
The coyote is indeed a 'liminal' animal. Our special bond is with the desert variant.
We live in the west and spend time in the desert of Southern California. Home base in northern CA. Also I have spent much time in the arid (and coastal) parts of the Pacific Northwest; in most of my life there's been coyotes around. They represent something very unique and intelligent to me, also, they're the closest thing I can think of to a 'supernatural' animal - if not in biology, certainly in spirit.
It comforts me to know that they are around, I guess being so used to having them out there just beyond man's fences and sometimes within our fences.
I don't know much about these eastern variants - I'm guessing if they hitched with both dogs and wolves they are somewhat larger than our western variants.
But even still, not knowing the eastern variants, I'm still not surprised whatsoever with how you describe them. These are the most adaptable canines. They seem to know the wild, and also know how to take advantage of man's resources. All the intellect of both wolf and dog and then some.
They are described commonly with negative connotations. A somewhat threatening version of "small wolf." A nuisance and a pest.
I'll be honest - I'm kinda glad the general zeitgeist is this way. I get to keep them to myself, everyone else can write them off as pests. I can appreciate them for what they truly are.
Our closest experiences with these animals is when we sit outside our cabin in the Mojave desert. The desert variant of the coyote is about 25-30% smaller than the typical mountain or coastal variant in the west - due to adaptation for less food/water easily available.
We sit under a million stars, and they move around the landscape hunting and yipping and howling to announce their kill. this is frequent in our evenings there. They're not far from where we sit, but just out of sight. They are much more open to announcing their presence to us this way, than the mountain cousins. Their patterns and the vibe they give off is different. It's comfort and a bit of magic to hear them close to us. they'll take anything from a house pet to a desert rabbit or even small livestock that gets free.
in town, there's always a constant stream of reports of little animals going missing. The coyotes move through town as well. They can grab an animal in a micro-second, it's almost unbelievable how quick they work in that environment.
You see them almost always as individuals when they are on the move; but they operate in a pack. the distances they travel are sometimes very significant.
As to where they drink - well, once again, they are adaptable. there's no regular running water in desert, so they are finding sources on man's properties.
They'll lure your animal. send out a beta coyote to attract a clueless dog to chase it. once the domesticated dog takes this bait - they're in trouble.
The pack is almost invisible in daylight - same colors as the desert, but even still. They seem to exist very close by, and will come out almost from a dimensional portal if they need to, but otherwise you'll never see them.
Wolves make sense, and so do dogs. they are predictable. Coyotes are something else. Uber-intelligent and an animal of the spirit world as much as the biological world.
What a fascinating read. I had no idea that "eastern coyotes" are double-hybrids with both dogs and wolves. And I love the connections to mythology and Machiavelli here, too.
In case you are interested, I also wrote about dog evolution, here:
In a decaying society more and more humans exist in liminal space like the Eastern Coyote: the communities of our forebears are gone and we either huddle together in ill-fitting, restless and insecure groups, or find our own liminal spaces within which to dwell.
The latter skirt the encampments of the insecure herd, prowling for opportunity yet never straying too close. These have always existed in small numbers but in times of spiritual breakdown, reduced provision and loss of cohesion they can become a vital force in themselves.
Fantastic post here.
Agree 100 percent, nice writing by both you and the author.
Kind of you to say!
Great writing, but I think you may be missing the mark re: the inability of domesticated dogs to revert to wildness. It’s a well-worn observation in farming communities that if three dogs are allowed free rein to roam and form a pack, in 14 days they will be uncontrollable. In 30 days they will be killing your calves and lambs. That’s one of the reasons that roaming dogs are not tolerated in rural communities, and if one is observed harassing your livestock you have the legal right to put it down.
They can go feral, yes, but never wild. Dogs are dogs because they have been shaped by humans. Should some group of dogs escape human society and live in the woods for so many generations that the influence of men was lost they would indeed be fully wild but they would also cease to be dogs. Humans, I would argue, undergo much the same transition when divorced from society.
Australian dingo might serve as an Exhibit A—though admittedly not without a healthy(?) helping of controversy 😉
I also wrote an essay featuring dingos.
Yep, an enticing one where they serve as a foil to smoothie-brained compatriots 😉
But he still can't catch a roadrunner.
Thanks for the fun read and thought-provoking metaphor!
Farmers around here call them coydogs. They have been interbreeding forever and the resulting animal is much less fearful than a coyote should be and they run in packs. That's why I have my own pack of livestock guardian dogs. They live with my herd and protect my goats and ducks and peafowl from the coydogs. They will fight them to the death. My livestock guardians are not at all helpless. They are very independent, not at all like house dogs. Look up information on Akbash, Anatolians, Great Pyrenees, and other livestock guardian breeds.
Again, I did not say dogs were helpless. I said they were shaped by humans for human use, and cannot exist as dogs apart from human society. Dogs are creatures of human purpose and needs. The dogs defending your farm do so because they have been bred by humans for that end and serve a human goal in keeping the farm safe. Because they are a part of the human as opposed to the natural world, it makes sense for them to defend a human habitation against a wild and destructive force.
I used to see coyotes in Minnesota all the time, right in and around Minneapolis.
The first time I saw a coyote was in the long grass on Boom Island, which is smack dab in the middle of downtown Minneapolis, in the Mississippi. I remember the strangeness of it vividly, thinking:
“That looks like a dog... but it’s not a dog.”
It was a true visit to the Uncanny Valley.
Great information. I live about 20 miles from Lake Michign in the middle of a giant National Forest and hear coyotes off in the distance sometimes at night. It is cool to think they may be wolf/coyote/dog hybrids. I can relate to being a half domesticated half wild creature, lol!
Mark Twain would have something to say about this. According to him, coyotes are "a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton"!
They would last longer in modern St. Louis than he would.
I live in modern St. Louis and the coyotes are thriving. They also are showing no fear of humans but so far no aggression (in my personal experience). You might change your comment from "are dangerous" to "can be dangerous," since any toothy critters fulfill that description.
The eastern coyotes at the link tore apart a Canadian country singer. While I agree anything with teeth (and some things that lack teeth) can potentially be dangerous, I am more concerned with coyotes than my dad’s Maltese. Some things just have more killer in them.
With the added term "potentially," I'm in full agreement. I used to live with lions, leopards, and crocs on my property. Anything with the physical equipment to poke a hole thru skin can be dangerous. On the West Coast the Forest Service has problems with sheep, goats, and deer attacking and injuring hikers.
As a kid, I hunted coyotes for the bounty. Never collected a cent. Since then I've learned they're one of the most remarkable mammals on our continent, but we should never forget they're opportunistic feeders.
A fine write-up on the animal of our times. Personally, I prefer to call them coywolves, since that better emphasizes their hybrid nature, which is usually something like 65% coyote, 25% wolf, and 10% dog (varying geographically of course). They're definitely heavier and have other distinctive qualities compared to pure coyotes. Since wolves are relegated to the wild (Alaska, Yukon, national parks, etc), coywolves/eastern coyotes have risen to become the new apex predator, as you said.
I notice other commenters emphasizing that dogs can go feral, but I think that misses the point. Whatever its breed or attitude, dogs are still fundamentally domesticated, a human creation. Likewise, wolves are wedded to the wilderness, and ill-equipped for the human world. Coyotes are in-betweeners, able to skirt the edges of both worlds, and the new hybrid is even better equipped for this than its pure-blooded ancestors -- the wolf genes give it the strength to take down larger prey (eg deer), while the dog genes make it more clever and adaptable.
It's fitting that such an animal would arise in our deteriorating society.
I recommend Coyote America by Dan Flores for an excellent, thorough natural history of the Eastern Coyote. Fascinating animal. I have a pack behind my house; they approach close enough to touch, but I don't. They don't molest my dogs and we don't molest them.
I’ll look into that.
I strongly recommend "Coyote America" by Dan Flores. It convinced me that Wile E. is one of the most remarkable animals in the North American ecosystem. He's been living in the downtowns of our largest cities since the 1800s, and isn't going anywhere soon.
Great read! But remember, it's not just the coyotes...
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/1f1c3639-b6a3-4fc0-b523-fb32dd99958a
I also love Twin Peaks, and yes, my title is a allusion.
It's a damn fine title ; )
Great read!
Fascinating journal. One of my favorite animals.
The coyote is indeed a 'liminal' animal. Our special bond is with the desert variant.
We live in the west and spend time in the desert of Southern California. Home base in northern CA. Also I have spent much time in the arid (and coastal) parts of the Pacific Northwest; in most of my life there's been coyotes around. They represent something very unique and intelligent to me, also, they're the closest thing I can think of to a 'supernatural' animal - if not in biology, certainly in spirit.
It comforts me to know that they are around, I guess being so used to having them out there just beyond man's fences and sometimes within our fences.
I don't know much about these eastern variants - I'm guessing if they hitched with both dogs and wolves they are somewhat larger than our western variants.
But even still, not knowing the eastern variants, I'm still not surprised whatsoever with how you describe them. These are the most adaptable canines. They seem to know the wild, and also know how to take advantage of man's resources. All the intellect of both wolf and dog and then some.
They are described commonly with negative connotations. A somewhat threatening version of "small wolf." A nuisance and a pest.
I'll be honest - I'm kinda glad the general zeitgeist is this way. I get to keep them to myself, everyone else can write them off as pests. I can appreciate them for what they truly are.
Our closest experiences with these animals is when we sit outside our cabin in the Mojave desert. The desert variant of the coyote is about 25-30% smaller than the typical mountain or coastal variant in the west - due to adaptation for less food/water easily available.
We sit under a million stars, and they move around the landscape hunting and yipping and howling to announce their kill. this is frequent in our evenings there. They're not far from where we sit, but just out of sight. They are much more open to announcing their presence to us this way, than the mountain cousins. Their patterns and the vibe they give off is different. It's comfort and a bit of magic to hear them close to us. they'll take anything from a house pet to a desert rabbit or even small livestock that gets free.
in town, there's always a constant stream of reports of little animals going missing. The coyotes move through town as well. They can grab an animal in a micro-second, it's almost unbelievable how quick they work in that environment.
You see them almost always as individuals when they are on the move; but they operate in a pack. the distances they travel are sometimes very significant.
As to where they drink - well, once again, they are adaptable. there's no regular running water in desert, so they are finding sources on man's properties.
They'll lure your animal. send out a beta coyote to attract a clueless dog to chase it. once the domesticated dog takes this bait - they're in trouble.
The pack is almost invisible in daylight - same colors as the desert, but even still. They seem to exist very close by, and will come out almost from a dimensional portal if they need to, but otherwise you'll never see them.
Wolves make sense, and so do dogs. they are predictable. Coyotes are something else. Uber-intelligent and an animal of the spirit world as much as the biological world.
What a fascinating read. I had no idea that "eastern coyotes" are double-hybrids with both dogs and wolves. And I love the connections to mythology and Machiavelli here, too.
In case you are interested, I also wrote about dog evolution, here:
https://doctrixperiwinkle.substack.com/p/the-paragon-of-animals
(I know I'm late to this party, but I just discovered this post.)
I’m glad for the thoughtful reading.
FYI: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=coyote.main