Call number
Publication
New York : Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, [2016]
Pages
vii; 271
Description
With its uncanny night howls, unrivaled ingenuity, and amazing resilience, the coyote is the stuff of legends. In Indian folktales it often appears as a deceptive trickster or a sly genius. But legends don't come close to capturing the incredible survival story of the coyote. As soon as Americans-especially white Americans-began ranching and herding in the West, they began working to destroy the coyote. Despite campaigns of annihilation employing poisons, gases, helicopters, and engineered epidemics, coyotes didn't just survive, they thrived, expanding across the continent from Anchorage, Alaska, to New York's Central Park. In the war between humans and coyotes, coyotes have won hands-down. Coyote America is both an environmental and a deep natural history of the coyote. It traces both the five-million-year-long biological story of an animal that has become the 'wolf' in our backyards, as well as its cultural evolution from a preeminent spot in Native American religions to the hapless foil of the Road Runner. A deeply American tale, the story of the coyote in the American West and beyond is a sort of Manifest Destiny in reverse, with a pioneering hero whose career holds up an uncanny mirror to the successes and failures of American expansionism. An illuminating biography of this extraordinary animal, Coyote America isn't just the story of an animal's survival-it is one of the great epics of our time.… (more)
Awards
PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award (Shortlist — 2017)
Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award (Adult — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016
Physical description
vii, 271 p.; 9.8 inches
ISBN
9780465052998
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Grace.Van.Moer
Really enjoyed this book. Did find the parallels between coyotes and humans a bit of a stretch, but an interesting and engaging read nonetheless.
LibraryThing member untraveller
Tons of good background information on the coyote, wildlife ecology, and wildlife management. Hard to find fault with the book other than at times it has a 'spiritual' sense which I did not think necessary. Still good. Left in Greenland for somebody to read on a dark, lonely night. Finished
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27.08.19. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
“Persecuting an animal in a battle you can’t win is an act of political ideology.”
Is our determination to completely exterminate this species a direct reflection of ourselves? A reflective person might conclude that and it certainly occurred to me as I listened to this disturbing tale.
Having them in our cities is nothing new. Ancient cities in the north and central American zones are rife with tales and examples of coyotes moving in and doing well. The best strategy to adopt is to learn about them, keep them wary of us and let them be. That last part is key because, like humans, coyotes are survivors and they are uniquely predisposed to overcome our attempts to poison, trap, shoot and sterilize them. Despite spending millions and millions of Government dollars to kill millions and millions of coyotes, their range and numbers have never been greater or higher.
It’s interesting, but largely depressing and frustrating. Even though we should know better, we always take on nature as if we understand what we’re going to do to it. We always take drastic and often unrecoverable measures that nearly always backfire. We treat nature like an inert object that won’t react to us. We never learn. But coyotes do. And they’re winning. Despite nearly 500,000 that are massacred every year (and that includes now).
If you’re like me you’ll have to skip over the endless narration about the war against this wonderful creature. It was too negative, too stupid, too maddening and too sad to listen to. Humans suck.
It ends sort of hopefully, but it still hasn’t sunk in to most that there are coyotes in New York City precisely because millions of them were killed in the name of saving cattle (and sheep, which isn’t even an issue since hardly anyone raises sheep in big numbers these days). Federal agencies still slaughter thousands every year. The book gives advice about how to live peacefully with them, and to adapt our behavior to theirs - like not feeding them, supervising very small children and keeping pets leashed or enclosed. Personally I love hearing the yips and songs of my neighborhood coyotes. I hear them much more often than the wolves that are their natural population check. Both evolved together and have carved out their own ‘jobs’ in the natural world and need to be present together. I’m glad I have both nearby. As hunters age out and decrease, we’re going to need them to keep everything else in check - deer, rodents and rabbits.
You get the idea. Oh and Mr. Flores, that Chuck Jones Wile E. Coyote portrait was a riff on a self-portrait Vincent Van Gogh did after his tragic self-mutilation incident. You go on quite a bit about this painting, but no reference to its reference and that was weird.
Is our determination to completely exterminate this species a direct reflection of ourselves? A reflective person might conclude that and it certainly occurred to me as I listened to this disturbing tale.
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Coyotes and humans are very similar. We’re adaptable, circumspect, omnivorous, have relatively long childhoods where we have to learn directly from parents, and most importantly, we have fission/fusion social structures. That means that we have a wide spectrum of normal interaction with each other - from loners and hermits, to pack leaders and hangers on. Having them in our cities is nothing new. Ancient cities in the north and central American zones are rife with tales and examples of coyotes moving in and doing well. The best strategy to adopt is to learn about them, keep them wary of us and let them be. That last part is key because, like humans, coyotes are survivors and they are uniquely predisposed to overcome our attempts to poison, trap, shoot and sterilize them. Despite spending millions and millions of Government dollars to kill millions and millions of coyotes, their range and numbers have never been greater or higher.
It’s interesting, but largely depressing and frustrating. Even though we should know better, we always take on nature as if we understand what we’re going to do to it. We always take drastic and often unrecoverable measures that nearly always backfire. We treat nature like an inert object that won’t react to us. We never learn. But coyotes do. And they’re winning. Despite nearly 500,000 that are massacred every year (and that includes now).
If you’re like me you’ll have to skip over the endless narration about the war against this wonderful creature. It was too negative, too stupid, too maddening and too sad to listen to. Humans suck.
It ends sort of hopefully, but it still hasn’t sunk in to most that there are coyotes in New York City precisely because millions of them were killed in the name of saving cattle (and sheep, which isn’t even an issue since hardly anyone raises sheep in big numbers these days). Federal agencies still slaughter thousands every year. The book gives advice about how to live peacefully with them, and to adapt our behavior to theirs - like not feeding them, supervising very small children and keeping pets leashed or enclosed. Personally I love hearing the yips and songs of my neighborhood coyotes. I hear them much more often than the wolves that are their natural population check. Both evolved together and have carved out their own ‘jobs’ in the natural world and need to be present together. I’m glad I have both nearby. As hunters age out and decrease, we’re going to need them to keep everything else in check - deer, rodents and rabbits.
You get the idea. Oh and Mr. Flores, that Chuck Jones Wile E. Coyote portrait was a riff on a self-portrait Vincent Van Gogh did after his tragic self-mutilation incident. You go on quite a bit about this painting, but no reference to its reference and that was weird.
Show Less
LibraryThing member marshapetry
At times really difficult to stomach what humans have done to coyotes and the environment in the name of progress but over all a fantastic book. And if you are aware of coyotes in your daily wanderings you might get some questions answered. Yay coyotes! And yay for this book that celebrates them.
Audiobook note - Good narrator, but there were a couple of problems with the recording. Won't distract from the content.
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Highly recommend. Audiobook note - Good narrator, but there were a couple of problems with the recording. Won't distract from the content.
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LibraryThing member AnaraGuard
Very interesting history, not only of coyotes and the American drive to wipe them out, but of the ecological movement. How radical the Endangered Species Act was when it was passed! How forward thinking some of our early naturalists were, long before Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring.
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Unfortunately, the first chapter is dull, and that inhibits many readers from going forward. Skip ahead and you will be rewarded. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Tells the story of the coyote in America through the Native tribes stories to its journey from west to east, south to north, across borders and how it has survived all attempts to eradicate it from the United States. The coyote is found in both rural and urban areas. They are adaptive like humans
I enjoyed the book. It took me a little while to get into it but then I got sucked in and learned a lot. I knew very little about coyotes but found their history and how the government and ranchers tried to destroy them fascinating. I chuckled over the Nixon administration's passage of laws protecting the environment hoping the youth vote would come his way. They turned out to be some of the strongest laws passed to protect the environment and no one read them until after passage then they had a lot to say. So much is in this book that reading was slower than usual but it is worth reading and savoring this history of a much maligned but necessary animal.
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are. They have managed to learn and outsmart those coming after them.I enjoyed the book. It took me a little while to get into it but then I got sucked in and learned a lot. I knew very little about coyotes but found their history and how the government and ranchers tried to destroy them fascinating. I chuckled over the Nixon administration's passage of laws protecting the environment hoping the youth vote would come his way. They turned out to be some of the strongest laws passed to protect the environment and no one read them until after passage then they had a lot to say. So much is in this book that reading was slower than usual but it is worth reading and savoring this history of a much maligned but necessary animal.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bhiggs
I just kept falling asleep every time I read it. Maybe I'll revisit this, I skimmed through a lot of the book (1/3rd) and just didn't' find myself captivated. I have a rule that if the book will be a slog to get through, I just abandon it. (See the other Limbos in the list). But like all Limbo'd
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books, I may revisit one day. Who knows. Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
I live in an area where we almost daily hear of a coyote sighting, so this book spurred my curiosity. It covers the history of the coyote in the Americas, starting with legends of the past and moving into the dispersion of the coyote into areas where they have not historically been present.
Coyotes
I think the response to this book will depend on how much the reader already knows about the coyote. It is oriented toward those with little previous exposure. I found it worthwhile, but it does not cover much new ground.
Coyotes
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are now prevalent in all urban areas. Their biology predisposes them to survive and thrive, and the science behind their persistence is explained in detail. This book paints them in a positive light. It is geared toward treating coyotes with environmentally sound methods, rather than repeating the prior history of attempting to annihilate them. I think the response to this book will depend on how much the reader already knows about the coyote. It is oriented toward those with little previous exposure. I found it worthwhile, but it does not cover much new ground.
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LibraryThing member Anniik
TW/CW: Some sexuality, stories of animal attacks, death of coyotes, mild language
RATING: 4.5/5
REVIEW: Coyote America is a non-fiction book which focuses on the evolution, survival, and importance of the coyote (canis latrans) – which happens to be my favorite wild animal.
I found this book to be
The author seems to be very pro-coyote, which I definitely approve of.
This was a fascinating book to me and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about one of the Americas’ most fascinating indigenous animals.
RATING: 4.5/5
REVIEW: Coyote America is a non-fiction book which focuses on the evolution, survival, and importance of the coyote (canis latrans) – which happens to be my favorite wild animal.
I found this book to be
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really fascinating. The first part of the book covers the Native American legends and scientific evolution of the coyote. The second part talks mainly about the attempts by American government (and ranchers) to destroy them, and the final section talks about coyote expansion into cities and how they are learning to co-habitate with humans.The author seems to be very pro-coyote, which I definitely approve of.
This was a fascinating book to me and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about one of the Americas’ most fascinating indigenous animals.
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