Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-08-21
THE CLEVER COYOTE
CREATURE THAT is AN ISHMAEL.
ITE AMONG BRUTEs.
BUT UNcOMMONLY SMART
Only Excelled by the Fox in Cum
ning-Not Built on Fighting
Plan and so Must Resort to
Strategy.

Strategy.
The coyote is the Ishmaelite OF the
brute creation in the southwest. This
hand of all men is against him. Bret
Harte speaks Of him as
A shade on the stubble, a ghost by
the wall,
Now leaping, now limping, now risk
ing fall,
Lop-eared and large-jointed. but ever
Away
A thoroughly vagabond outcast in
gray.
He is characteristic of the plains
and foothills OF the arid region of the
southwest. Every one knows him
and his name is the synonym of all
that is mean and deceitful and sneak
ing in nature. To call a plainsman or
a cowboy coyote is an epithet that
is vigorously resented, sometimes by
pistol-balls. Indian folklore abounds
in legends of the wariness and sa-
gacity Of the coyote, and among the
Apaches and Pimas the folklore ranks
the coyote the butt of the brute crea-
ton. The coyote is usually very lean,
has a long, slender snout and bushy
tail, and looks very much like wolf,
to which family in fact, he belongs.
His fur is lighter colored in winter
than in summer, being in the former
season grizzly gray, with black
streaks on the back, hips and Shout
ders, and tawny ones along the legs.
The under side of the body is dingy
white
The coyotes vocal talents are his
first to command notice. Every one
who has had even the least expert
ence on the plains of the southwest
has heard it. He never raises his
voice between sunrise and sunset.
The Indians call him a ventriloquist,
for he can so place his voice that
even the oldest plainsman cannot tell
whether the bowls come from east,
west, north or south. Truly, there
can be no sound so weird, startling
and battling as that from the throat of
one of these healthy and hungry
brutes. It is an indescribable medley
of vail, shrek, bark, whine and
groan, and the rapidity of the sounds
and the glibness of the alterations in
key are wellnigh incredible. His howl
cannot in any way be compared with
the long, rasping cry of the wolf, or
the bronchial bark of the dog. Then,
too, no other animal, in this country
at least, can be heard so far.
81 we'll remember" said Col. T. w.
Brooks of Ontario, Cal, to the writer
the other day, ''the first time I heard
a coyote howl. 1t was in the Apache
campaign in 1875. We were biv-
ouacked on an alkali plain and al
most within sight of a camp of 1000
bloodthirsty Apaches in Arizona. |
was out for stroll in the dark,
smoking cigar, and wondering what
the outcome of the fight the next
morning would be- Suddenly there
came from about 500 yards back of
me, although it seemed much nearer,
a succession of the most awful
shrieks, barks, bowls and cries. |
stood transfixed. The sounds came
thick and fast, and finally ended in a
long howl, the most dismal I have
ever heard. Then the noise stopped
but before | could recover my breath
it began again in the same way as be-
fore, only louder and in a more wall
ing tone, until it seemed as if a cho-
rus OF Apache fiends were lamenting
the invasion Of their haunts by the
white man. I would have wagered
that old Geronimo and several hun
dred Of his braves had us surrounded
and were yelling in fiendish, savage
delight. [ started, and was on a run
for the guard-hOusG to turn out the
guard and arouse the garrison, when
ringing Who comes there?' warned
me that | was approaching a sentinel
After I had been duly advanced, this
man proved to be an old soldier
friend. 1t occurred to me it would do
no harm to see if he knew what that
horrible noise was, especially as he
seemed totally undisturbed by it.
Jones, did you hear that yelling
across the parade?'
Eyes, sir.'''
Here thought 1 saw the beginning
of a grin at the corners of his mouth
and in consequence became very dig
nified.
what was it, Jones?'
'Nothin' but coyotes, sir
But Jones, if that noise was made
by coyotes, there must have been a
thousand, and surely l would have
seen some of them, even in the dark.
Excuse me, sir, I saw them plain,
and there were but two
'Then it came to me that I had
heard the older army officers tell of
the wonderful powers of ventriloquism
Of the coyote. l had to keep that
soldier in tobacco all that campaign
to be sure he never told the army
his coyote story on the latest tender