The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-02-28
THE CUNNING COYOTE.
Some Of the Foxy Traits OF the
American Wild Dog.

now He Evades MS Enemfes ana
Captures HIS Prey-Uses 20 which
1 He Puts His ventrfloauistfe xsips
| A Vicious Fighter when Cernerea.
One Of the interesting and typical AMI
mails of the far west Is the American
wild dog, lowland wolf or coyote tCanis
latrans), IL being known under these and
other titles. While n very common ami
NAL. IL Is rarely well figured in the books
and Is made to look more foxlike than
| wol6sh. A wolf the coyote Is, lowinnd
| form, and every traveller through the
west who has wandered from the beaten
paths or visited small places knows II
| well.
| The coyote IL virtually a Wild dog and
| breeds with the domestic dog. and dogs
will often refuse to injure the female coy
| ote. The writer observed this once on
| the mesa near Pasadena when In fun
| chase after a coyote with pack OF grey
| and stag hounds. One OF the dogs reach
ed the game. but instead of seizing II. rs
usual, ran along by the side OF the coyote,
which was female. Huxley contends
that there Is no material difference be-
tween the skull of coyote and that OF
| a dog. and a cross between collie and
ote, so far as appearances go.
| Don Coyote" Is essentially a night an
imnl, and my observations of the living
| animal were made chiefly In the saddle
| in full chase nfter him In the duu early
| morning. and | can commend his speed.
which IL greater than that OF the fox.
When the sun 'goes down, Don Coyote
comes out OF his hnunts into the foot
hills and wnnders down around or In the
settlements. He lies in the spurs OF the
| hills and mountains In southern Califor-
min. as in the San Gabriel valley, in some
| safe and inaccessible point, and surveys
the country, his vision perhaps directed
10 some benroost or the home of some
| fat turkey,
At such times have occasionally seen
| him. his fur an almost perfect protection
In its resemblance TO the rocks that sur
rounded him. and that he recognizes this
was shown In one instance when l rode
within 80 feet of one, pretending to look
| directly ahead, but watching him out Of
| tho Garner of NV eve. He crouched as
onnroocbed md seemed confident that
did not see him imperceptibly moving.
ever keeping his head pointed toward
me. and few would have recognized In
the proy rock a COYOTE.
| On the outskirts Of Pasadena. A city Of
IN 600 inhabitants. where my obserya-
tions have beep made. 1 often hear his
| weird yentrilouuistic yelp in the deep
| wooded Arrow Seco. whore the wildcat
| md lynx also roam. He comes boldly up
| the bordering streets. eyadinr the dogs
tho hest he can. now giving them q wild
| chase thpD stoppjnc In some vacant lot
and defvinr tho town and. with head
| aloft. yelping Mt the moon. At such
times. owing 10 the yentriloquistic quail
TICS referred to. one COYOTE can create the
| imnression In the mind of n householder
or camper that he is surrounded by a
pack. The yelps come In such quick sue
cession that they fairly oyerrun one an
other md seem echoed back and repeated
from everv hin rock and bluff. In this
way a single coyote will arouse the peo-
| ple Ms he speaks along, every dog on the
alert. vet ON the morrow the remains Of
some plump turkey will be found in the
road, telling the story of this crafty zoe
man.
In such trips the coyote Is generally
olone md 4 have met him on the out
skirts of the town sinking home in the
early morning. perhaps under the protec-
lion of the heavy fog. Often there is a
| mirage and Mt n distance of a few hun
dred feet Don Coyote looks rs large rs a
sheen looming I'M in the mist. Generally
he stops. turns and stands, rigid pic
ture for a moment. perhaps wondering
what the moving object is; then. con-
WINGED that il Is an enemy, he turns and
runs for the Pucnte hills with marvellous
speed. | give Don Coyote credit for
much intelligence. as on one occasion Mt
least he led hounds and horses out of the
way to n barbcd wire fence, passing I'M
der il himself, but witnessing the com
pletc decentralization of the hunt rs he
bounded AWAY.
While the COYOTE hunts singly in towns
or villages, be runs ia packs in the open,
and il is here that he demonstrates his
skill and cunning. 4 friend OF mine oh
served a pack of coyotes on the edge Of
desert manipulating jack rabbit
They swcpt across the country in a line.
soon starting a hare. then formed in two