They’ve adapted to human intrusion everywhere. In towns and cities wherever they can find food. Rodents. Garbage. And even small pets. As this article points out, they’ve even become accustomed to human patterns, waiting to cross streets on red lights. [They’re not the only animals to do so as I just saw a video of a raccoon doing the same thing.]
In my study of American Indians, I loved the many stories about Coyote.
Many Native American tales about Coyote, the trickster figure, begin with a standard opening: “Coyote was going along …” This phrasing bears some resemblance to the fairy-tale salvo “Once upon a time …” There are differences worth noting, though. “Once upon a time” locates a story in some distant world, refracted through the prism of fantasy. “Coyote was going along” suggests something else. The audience to these narratives is dropped on the trail with this character, in midstride. The events of the tale may have occurred long ago, in a distant time, but its protagonist keeps going, trotting through our present. Coyote is always up to something, always on the move.
He frequently loses limbs and comes close to death, but Coyote always ends up skipping away, tail and ears high.
This is a long but very interesting article by a transplant from New Mexico to Chicago. Check it out @ The Channel Coyotes - Emergence Magazine
