The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-08-10
THE ARTFUL COYOTE.
Musical Performances by an Animated
Collection of Bad Qualities.

Musical Performances by IN Animated
Collection of Bad Qualities.
CHICAGO. Aug. C.-What Is coyote2
J coyote is little animal OF the wolf
! species that inhabits the foothills Of the
| Rocky Mountains. lie is about eighteen
| inches high and long I'm proportion. and
J Us the embodiment OF dupHcity. His color
| is indescribabie. he is neither white nor
black nor yellow, nor any other we'll
| defined color. but O. sort OF bonding Of
| al. producing "a hue that can best be
| described as coyote. lie is not beautiful
| either ln appearance or character. There
| Is nothing attractive about him. He IS
! not troubled with conscientious scrupies:
! neither is he brave. and he won't tight
! unless be is compelled 90. He Is a scrub
! wolf IN every sense Of The word.
His physical beauty is about on a
! par win his moral aspect. lie has 1T
! tie, peakcd-shaped head. in the front Of
! which. very close together is a pair OF
! the brightest. blacklist. wickedest little
! eyes that ever shono in the moonlight.
| 10 does not appear 90 be possessed Of
any great amount Of brains, but there IS
more unadulterated cunning wrapped up
| in bis hide than can be found i'm the same
| amount of space anywhere else IN crea-
! ton The man who imaglnes that a coy
/ Ote does not understand his business Just
| because he has not a high forehead will
soon learn that the principles Of phre-
| nOlOgy do not apply 90 this epitome Of
everything that IS smart ,rascaily. tricky
and imDudcnt
ln regard 10 his ability 20 get over
ground. in other WORDS. tO change his
spots. too much cannot be said. IL is a
] good deal IKE the wind. You cannot tell
| whence Doe cometh nor whittier he gooth
| when he makes up his mind 20 place a
| certain amount OF space between himself
and "a given locality be does not stand on
| the order OF his going. Tie does not run
| in the common acceptance of the term
| but he suddenly transforms himself into
streak of gray light that shimmcrs
across The landscape for an instant and
| then sinks into oblivion SO far as mortal
| view is concerned
Hc is seldom seen I'm the daytime The
glare OF tho sun does not seems 10 be
suited 10 his makeup, he prefers 20
! waltz around the sagclrush in the soft
light Of the moon During the day no
| is of "a retiring disposition and rccupe-
rates his exhausted vitality from the
/ previous nights debauch under the friend
| ly shade of a projecting rock. or IN the
| deep seciusion OF a. clump of quaking
asp away from the busy haunts OF men
and remote from any trail or road
that is. he can accommodate himself 10
circumstances. His favorite dish IS live
jack rabbit. and a moonlight race be-
tween 70 coyote and n jack rabbit is an
interesting affair. TO is conducted on the
strictest business principles and no time
IS lost in arranging preliminaries. There
IS no hippOdroming or selling out IN that
! race. IL is a square deal and fair play
If the Jack rabbit comes out ahead IL is
new lease Of life for him: ~ the coyote
scores in that inning. it II cans a thanks
giving dinner for him. But fond as he
Is OF jack rabbit he viii not disdain
luncheon OF dead mule when he IS playing
iu hard luck He sometimes eats prairie
dog. but not often; for prairie dog is not
good eating even for coyote. once In
while a hungry coyote Will prol0ng his
nightly revels tIil q comparatively late
hour in the morning. In that case he
may steal up to- the hole OF q prairie dog
before the latter is mp and conceal him
self within easy sprnging distance and
the first time the prairie dog energies
from his house 10 take a look at the ris-
ing sun the coyote VIII pounce upon him
and carry him Oft tO quiet spot some
where in the rccasses I'm the foothills and
make "a breakfast of him.
FrOntloresmon often wonder what be-
comes of coyotes. for nobody ever saw
dead one a mountain lion may get one
occasionally, but 10 i5 not "a common Oc-
currencc. Sometimes coyote is acci-
dentally started from his rest by "a hunt
er but if he can once get tree between
himself and the hunter no matter II
there is not another tree within five miles.
the hunter will never see that coyote
again. To call him an artful dOdger
would but fccbly represent his character
in that direction. lle is never TO be de-
pended on TO follow any given line Of
conduct. The only way TO arrive 40 even
an approximate conclusion as 20 what
action a coyote Viii take under certain
conditions is TO decide what he IS most
likely TO dDIaId then wait patiently
for him to do just the opposite thing.
To "a lover of natures music a coyote
concert is a rare treat. 10 may not be
altogether the music itself. the environ
ments help a good deal. You should lie
on IL grassy knoll away up somewhere
near the hcadwaters of the Arkansas
river. in the still moonlight ON a warm
summer night. when there Is not sound
To- break The silence, ana wait for de-
NelOpments. Suddenly there arises from
"A foothiu over across tho guich a low.
Grooming sound. ike the moan OF tho
wind when the leaves fare falling. Ut
ceases. when an answering wall. only
little louder floats over the still night
air from the opposite direction. q third
voice breaks I'm from still another direc-
ton. another and another from other
points of the compass, until the shadow
OF every sage bush seems 10 conceal
singer and a hundred tuneful threats
are Joining I'm that wild, weird melody
that gradually grows in volume till the
great plateau is vocal with the music
of this improvised band OF nature musi-
clans. This may continue for an hour,
when a voice will drop out here another
there. ard so on. until the crescendo has
turned into a dimnuendO and finally the
one lone voice from the sage bush where
The first notes Of the concert arose Is the
only one that can be- heard. Ii sinks
inn. a faint moan and dies away SO grad
uallv that il is difficult to draw the line
silence and the sound
When the coyote was turned loose from
the workshop of nature. he was perfect
I'm his peculiar way. There was no room
for IMPROVEMENT on the patent and he
hov-ls to-day. or rather tonight, with the
same unimpaired originality that he ala
when he sat on his primeval foothills.
when the morning stars first sang to-
gether.