Found a coyote, I think

[1010]

ahh more ramblings and finger pointing with plenty of moral authority. Nobody did anything but you.

 

[Sigarms]

I think some have missed the point here. The effort was NOT to domesticate a coyote, make a coyote into a pet, or take away her freedom to be wild.

She came to us unexpectedly and we thought she was a domestic dog. Then we tried returning her to the wild and she almost froze to death. So we brought her home and began to feed and warm her. The alternative for her was to become lunch for some wild birds. The Y in the road was for her to either be eaten right there, or to develop this wonderful story and learn a huge amount from her. Yes, I made that decision and I'm very glad I did. To say, as some have, that she is somehow miserable, because she was restrained, is ridiculous.

It was decided that we'd study her. The idea was NEVER to train her or to pen her up and keep her. It was to study her and learn about her and her kind.

Once she was out of her box and roaming around on her own, before she even opened her eyes, she was free to wander as she chose, within limits. I say "within limits" because we would take her with us on trips and we had to keep her out of traffic, or with us in other peoples houses, etc. Once she was more capable, she was completely free to go and was never fenced in while at home. We live on five acres in the high desert and don't have any fences. Sandy stayed outside almost al the time and dug her own den, struggled with wild coyotes, napped during the day and wandered at night. She spent hours visiting us as we built our new house and spent time on the porch, day and night playing and hanging out. She stole things from us and hid them, invented her own keep-away game and patrolled around the place as she wanted to. She would always come to see us when we got up in the morning and spent many hours wrestling around with me, growling and play biting as we rolled around. She always came running when Liye came back with road kill rabbits for her and could usually be found scouting around like a cat might do. Mid-day, we never counted on seeing her because she was busy napping in her den. If we wanted her, we'd send Beibei to get her. Beibei could get into the den, wake her up and bring her back. In fact, Beibei would wander farther than Sandy and Sandy became uncomfortable when Beibei would wander too far. Sandy would look back and forth at us and Beibei with some concern. No fences in sight.

She lived with us and stayed here because she chose to do so. It would have been far easier for us if she had found a mate and left, or had just decided to live in the wild away from people. Far easier. But she chose to be with us and we chose to be her friends and learn from her.

I avoided trying to train her because I wanted to learn her true nature, not just force her to conform or do tricks. She became housebroken on her own, developed friendships with other local dogs, found her place in the hierarchy, developed a love for riding in the truck and settled into our schedule.

The main exception to this was that we put a collar on her early and trained her to be on a leash. She got along fairly well on a leash and it was useful if we wanted to move around on foot with her and keep her out of trouble, or from scaring anyone. For instance, visiting friends in the city or letting her out to pee along the highway. It allowed her to not panic when restrained and to even go for a controlled walk sometimes. She never was completely comfortable with walking on a leash because she was shy and cautious. So, if I wanted her to move faster, or toward a new person, she would hit the brakes until she decided it was safe to proceed.

Some keep making the point that it's unkind or improper to "cage" a wild animal. I get that, but overplaying that point misses what was really going on. Maximum value can be had here by understanding what we did and what we tried to do. Not by trying to make this story into something it's not.

Nature vs nurture is a big part of Sandy's story. Yes, she is a coyote from the wild, and that is what makes her so interesting. What does that mean? Who are these wild dogs?, Etc. But she was responsive to nurture. This leads to my ongoing question: What is the difference between a wild dog and a domestic dog? It's not a subject for argument, it's a simple question. It's not about trapping wild dogs. It's not about being mean to a wild dog for my own benefit. It's a simple question. And it seems that she could have lived her entire life here if it wasn't for outside influences that were, in my estimation, unfortunate.

I sincerely appreciate all of the input and thoughtful responses made here. But this is not the forum to rail about how I or others have mistreated wild animals. Or how bad it is to keep them miserably confined. Or about taking away their choices. Or turning them into little pets to cuddle with. It is about peeking through a window into another world that VERY few of us have ever had the chance to do. And all done in a very humane way that attempted to allow Sandy to be herself, be healthy, have fun and reveal who she is. An attempt to learn all I could about a very interesting animal by interacting with her while not restricting her. Indeed, I went WAY out of my way to protect her from Animal Control, concerned neighbors, jerks that wanted to use her for target practice, diseases, starvation and wild dogs likely to kill her.

And remember too, the alternative was for her to be a bird's lunch. Some might argue that that is nature's way, and what we did was interfering. That's one way to look at it. But I say we learned a lot and had a life changing experience without harming her. The proof is that she is well balanced and happy.

As for the "marriage" comment someone made, read the story or study coyotes if you are interested. They mate for life. This stabilizes them and helps reveal a lot about their world. They play, scheme, use teamwork to hunt, live in a common den and switch rolls in their relationships. They need each other and their relationships are sometimes referred to as being married. It's not anthropomorphizing, it's a useful term to help understand them.

Thank you, I did miss the point.

 

[Molalla1]

I posted it once before Raspy, you done good, and from reading your posts I would really like to see a book come out of this. . . you have a very good command of the written word.

 

[dragoneggs]

ahh more ramblings and finger pointing with plenty of moral authority. Nobody did anything but you.

1010, Not sure why you are so bent out of shape on this thread? :confused3: There is an unsubscribe button if you need it.

I posted it once before Raspy, you done good, and from reading your posts I would really like to see a book come out of this. . . you have a very good command of the written word.

Agreed.

 

[cqaigy2]

Thank you, I did miss the point.

Well said.

 

[Raspy]

Thanks again for the comments.

It's good to be home tonight, been traveling too much lately. This is a quiet place and the night has it's own energy. Late summer in the high desert with Fall peaking around the corner. Dim lighting reveals the dimensions of the living room, with plenty of room for thought. The chiming of midnight from an heirloom clock doesn't startle Gogo as she holds the chair down. My glass is almost ready for a re-fill.

And once again, the coyotes are on patrol. Faint singing in the distance. I'll go out soon with Gogo, and we'll listen for them in the cool night air, but we won't see them. Each time we revisit this little ritual, I am reminded how alive the high desert is. Joyous dogs in the night. Cold noses snorting. Ears swiveling. A bit of dust as they bolt.

I can hardly wait to keep doing just exactly what I'm doing.

 

[Silvic]

I can not wait for your book to be published.
While I can not imagine what more you can say than has already been written by you in this fantastic thread I still eagerly await the book.
Your writing and story telling skills are SO GOOD that I am certain the book will surpass this thread even as good as it has been in the telling of her story.
Thank you

 

[two_bit_score]

I posted it once before Raspy, you done good, and from reading your posts I would really like to see a book come out of this. . . you have a very good command of the written word.

+ 1 :thumbsup:

 

[Sigarms]

I would like to think that everyone who has participated in this thread would get a decent discount on any book published by the OP

Yes, I would buy one for the reading.

 

[MossRoad]

I am convinced that animals have very little capacity for rational thought, as we understand it.

Our 2 year old cat that just passed away from a heart defect would walk over to a basket under our end table, pick out the laser pointer with his teeth, bring it over to me, drop it in my lap, get down on the floor, sit down and face me until I picked it up, turned it on, and played with him. If I didn't pick it up and turn it on, he'd get back in my lap, pick it up again, and drop it in my lap. If I'd pick up the laser pointer and toss it over onto the other couch, he'd go get it, pick it up with his teeth, bring it back, and drop it on my lap again.

To me, that shows a pretty good thought process.

I mean, a dog will bring you a ball when it wants to play.

But the cat knew the laser pointer made a clicking noise with the button. If you clicked your fingernail, he'd look at you real fast, then look around the room for the red dot. Little dude was as smart as any dog we've ever had. He was very easy to train, as I think he understood cause and effect. I miss the little guy.