I read Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan Flores in my last semester of undergrad. The essay I’m going to share below was one of my very last assignments I had to do before graduating…and you can definitely tell! So as a warning, this isn’t some of my best writing, but I think it still captures a lot of what I learned from this EXCELLENT book (and it saves you at least some of the trouble of having to read the book…although you should). Oh, and this was written for my Conservation Biology class so there might be some very science-y lingo in here that you may have to look up.
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30 April 2023
Our Coevolutionary History with Coyotes and Why We Hate Them
Coyote America: A Natural & Supernatural History by Dan Flores sheds light on how coyotes (Canis latrans) went from being a central, sacred character in indigenous stories to a despised pest that was deemed worthy of attempted eradication. Dan Flores dives into history to explain coyote importance to our landscape and their resistance to our best efforts at ridding them from it. The main purpose of this novel is to make readers understand why coyotes are perceived the way they are by seeing them through a historical lens. Flores points to both coyote and human nature as a source of such historical conflict. Flores makes his intentions known in the introduction when he describes that he aims to demonstrate how the story of coyotes and humans are intertwined and how he hopes to draw up sympathy for these wolf-like creatures in pointing out these similarities (Flores 2016, p. 20).
When and Why Coyote Hate Began
To westward-bound White settlers in the United States, the coyote evoked an immense amount of confusion. Writings from these settlers, including those from Meriwether Lewis, debated on the categorization of this species, often teetering between classifying coyotes as wolves to jackals to foxes (Flores 2016, p. 57). We could not pinpoint the coyote; so, the United States settled for the title “prairie wolf” (Flores 2016, p. 54).
Along with this confusion, or possibly bolstered by this confusion, came fear. Flores discusses our country’s “genetic memory” in which we, humans, display an “instinctive anticarnivore loathing” (Flores 2016, p. 76). We do not want to be prey. We also do not want anything to challenge us with the potential to take our top spot as apex predator. Both scenarios are feared. This fear of coyotes stealing our resources and outcompeting us drove early settlers to loathe these creatures, claiming they were harming their farm animals and could potentially harm people (as they were the next predator down from wolves in which our country also has a stigma against). The ancestors of this nation who travelled west and were exposed to coyotes laid the foundation of the general, misleading consensus that coyotes are something to be hated. Coyotes compete with us concerning who is the most cunning and who can outsmart the other. It is here that Flores makes comparison to how humans and coyotes learn and their social systems (Flores 2016, p.105). Coyote families are similar to human families in that young coyotes learn social norms and behaviors from their parents, who also form long-time pair bonds (Flores 2016, p.105).
In indigenous stories, the character of coyote was often a commentary of human nature (Flores 2016, p. 41). The public outcry that called for the persecution of the coyotes during the period of westward expansion had tried to separate the coyote from anything good or anything that could remotely reflect humanity. Descriptions such as “a vile species of vermin that should not be allowed to breathe up good air” were often used (Flores 2016, p. 85). Mass killings of coyotes are frequent in American history, justified by statements like these from fearful, misunderstanding farmers, ranchers, hunters, etc. Even prominent environmental agencies supported these mass killings, ignoring data that indicated predators to be essential within an ecosystem and an “unimportant” cause of mortality for game species like elk (Flores 2016, p. 136-138). In 1924, there were over two million poisoned bait stations laid out to kill predators, often killing non-target species and contaminating the environment (Flores 2016, p. 124, 142). Despite humanity’s best efforts to skew data and convince others that these canids needed to be exterminated, coyotes lived on. Coyotes learned to adapt and overcome our worst acts against them like poisons, coyote-hunting contests, and the near eradication of other predators such as wolves. Coyotes, unlike wolves, have no issues navigating (and outsmarting) humans. They learn like us, and therefore they were able to quickly recognize what devices humans were leaving out to kill them (Flores 2016, p. 104). One coyote was even spotted riding the Portland MAX light- rail train, while others in Chicago have learned to navigate highways (Flores 2016, p. 195, 203). Coyotes had beat our system, and we could not stand that.
A World Without Predators
The coyote’s story contrasts greatly from those of larger predators such as wolves, bears, and mountain lions. Humans were successful in depleting the numbers of those species, but in turn, allowed for a mesocarnivore release. Coyotes were now not frightened or regulated by species above them. The trophic balance was amiss, and this was the coyotes’ opportunity to thrive. Coyotes became expert colonizers of more than just the west, rearing just the right amount of pups to keep their populations strong, often reaching carrying capacity of areas (Flores 2016, p. 134). In areas where wolves were nearly eradicated, coyotes would soon bulk up their numbers. This was seen in Yellowstone with a previously struggling coyote population strengthening after wolf extirpation in the 1920-30s (Flores 2016, p. 127-128). Flores in this novel describes a “world without gray wolves” as “coyote nirvana” (Flores 2016, p. 128). Fear of predators is common, but the coyote is a living example of how trophic cascades happen when fear incites action.
Coyote range has expanded drastically since westward expansion. Coyotes have taken to cities, prairies, forests, and anywhere else they deem fit for colonization. To some, they are viewed as a pest because of how familiar they are. However, many don’t realize the ecosystem services that coyotes provide. While larger predators are needed to keep coyote populations in check, coyotes are needed to keep other prey populations in check. Coyotes are highly adaptive omnivorous generalists, so they can thrive on whatever urban-habituated species each city has to offer. For instance, in Chicago, coyotes keep urban Canada geese in check (Flores 2016, p. 198). Coyotes also can help to control deer populations in urban areas by becoming main predators for fawns (Flores 2016, p. 198). Rodent control is an especially valuable ecosystem service that coyotes provide. In 1927 in Kern County, California, coyotes were proven necessary as their highways became dangerous due to the number of dead rodents smashed on them (Flores 2016, p. 120). This event happened after many coyotes were killed from poisonings in that urban area and nothing was regulating the rodent population sufficiently (Flores 2016, p. 120). By keeping other species in check, coyotes are able to reduce harmful human-animal interactions and bring balance to trophic levels within a highly urbanized system. But even with this knowledge, tolerance of these canids is little as anything infringing human spaces is considered threatening. Those in big cities such as Los Angeles were certain that wild predators were not intended to be in the city borders (Flores 2016, p. 200). What they don’t know is that coyotes have been habituated to urban living for decades. Coyotes were living in Mesoamerica in Aztec cities, one city even being name Coyoacan after them (Flores 2016, p. 9). Coyotes hunted in these cities and the locals were intrigued by it rather than afraid (Flores 2016, p. 10). Coyote-human interactions are not new. The attitude humans have towards coyotes is what has changed.
The views of the environment, nature, etc. in the United States seems to be a continually swinging pendulum. How species, like the coyote, are handled is up to the public’s opinion of them at a given time. The Aztecs placed high intrinsic value on coyotes; therefore, they named a city for them, let them hunt in their cities, and incorporated them in their religion (Flores 2016, p. 10). That attitude changed in the 1880s, and the view of “the only good American prairie wolf was a dead one” lasted uncontested until the 1930s (Flores 2016, p. 84). Federal agencies fought for the best interests of the ranching industry, thus making most of their efforts focused on predator eradication (Flores 2016, p. 88). Even national parks such as Yellowstone were not safe havens for these extermination efforts (Flores 2016, p. 100). Management decisions at this time were based on emotions of stakeholders such as the ranchers and farmers that worried of coyotes, not the best available science. Though, as mentioned before, even the science was not taken seriously that had already determined coyote predation was not harming valued species. During the 1920s there were similar conflicts between government officials and scientists that we see today. Scientists, particularly ecologists and mammalogists, had warned of the dangers of bait stations only to be ignored (Flores 2016, p. 124). Slowly, the values of predators in an ecosystem were coming to light, but even today our country’s “genetic memory” holds hatred for coyotes (Flores 2016, p. 76). Science is much more complete now about trophic levels/predator-prey models, but still, we battle with issues regarding getting the public to understand and passing legislation for environmental protections.
My Coyote Story
This book was certainly written for those who will not find the time or energy to pick up this book. I read this book solely for the purpose of trying to understand why seemingly everyone in hunter circles detest these canids so much. Coyotes are never the protagonist. They are blamed for eating the chickens. Coyotes are blamed for the lack of deer in an area (that, or mountain lions are a popular one). Humans want to feel safe, and there is a fear stemmed from misinformation that fuels this fear-caused-hatred.
While misinformation and a lack of understanding is surely the cause of this hatred, through Flores’ work, I also discovered that it is in our ancestral DNA to despise these creatures and others with sharp teeth and claws. Despite man’s best efforts, the coyote never died. Has humanity found something it could not conquer? I believe that to be true of the coyote. And we hate them for it.
The solution to this loathing is not a simple one. The solution is re-learning and re-shaping our culture to understand the importance of coyotes and other predators in our ecosystems. We must go from taking an anthropocentric view on coyotes to a biocentric one, shifting from believing coyotes will dethrone us from our apex predator pedestal to viewing them as an equally important piece of the puzzle of the world as we are.
Literature Cited
Flores D. 2016. Coyote America: a natural & supernatural history. Basic Books, New York, NY.
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