Coyote Crossing

Among the various forms of denial in which I indulge

Roadkilled coyotes don’t make me nearly as sad as one might expect, given my obvious proclivities. I mean, from time to time I’ll come across one that really gets to me, that makes me rage or weep or wallow in survivor’s guilt.

But not always.

One day in Searchlight

So I was sitting in Searchlight, Nevada at the Nugget, talking to the bartender, and this guy comes in with a big fat Labrador retriever, walks up to the bar. He says to the bartender, “My dog wants to buy a round for the house.”

The bartender

Wow.

This is some great desert writing with a fantastic ending, and I mean that “fantastic” in a couple senses. Go read it … (continues)

Ambulance chasing

[A story from Death Valley from the week I was born.]

Peculiar Actions of Coyote and Kit Fox
Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 42, No. 1. (Feb., 1961), p. 109.

Ray Goe, Deputy Sheriff of Inyo County, California, told me of a strange happening at the

The Coyote Clan

“The canyons of southern Utah are giving birth to a Coyote Clan — hundreds, maybe even thousands of individuals who are quietly subversive on behalf of the land. And they are infiltrating our neighborhoods in the most respectable ways, with their

A truly inspirational and uplifting thought

“It is my personal belief that when the last human has fallen, and the last skull lies on the irradiated earth, a coyote will come trotting out of some safe place. Don’t ask me where he’ll come from; but I believe that he will survive as he has

It’s a miracle!

And you thought I was joking about worshiping Coyote. We have here incontrovertible proof of His Divine Nature, kindly sent our way by Linda Rockwell.

I think you’ll agree that beats a face in a tortilla any day.

A note to skeptics: yeah, yeah,

Coyote-killing “tournament” in Fallon, NV

What is wrong with the state of Nevada this week? Why are some people there so goddamned afraid of coyotes that they’ll not only commit random killings for me to find on my birthday hike, but sponsor sociopathic “contests” to see who can commit

Back out from the outback

I’ve been asking people over on Facebook to donate to the Desert Protective Council as a birthday present, and today my DPC colleague mentioned she couldn’t find the link here. Because there wasn’t one! Here it is.

The last couple days have been

This I believe

In the email this morning:

Please forgive me for bringing up a name you might rather forget. I was just searching Stephen Morin’s name on Google and came across an article you wrote in April 2005. In it you were understandably skeptical about

Always take the good camera

Above, the best shot I could get of the critter who tried to gatecrash the Mojave National Preserve’s 15th Birthday Party today at the Kelso Depot. The middle of the tracks was as close as he was willing to get to the couple hundred people at the

To His Coy Ote

Had we but stealth enough, and night,
To be Coyotes would be right
We would climb down and slink each way
To steal a lamb or two a day.
Thou by the western gorges’ side
Shouldst rodents find: I by the tide
Of suburbs would eat cats. I would
Love

Robots Versus Coyotes

This weird little piece has its roots in two things that happened yesterday.

The first was that Dana wrote another in her series of Robot Poems, which I liked so much I jokingly told her I wanted to start up a robot poetry tribute band.

The

Joshua tree book intro, draft version

This won’t stay up forever, given what I want to use it for, but I thought I would share. I wrote this earlier this week in a fit of writing-fit writing, read it (or more accurately, handed it to an actor to read, and he did so wonderfully well) at

I can haz roadrunner egg?

Coyote pup, photo by John Good, National Park Service … (continues)

Random corroboration

You find some nice things when you set up a Google Alert for the name of your … (continues)

Don’t Kill Urban Coyotes

Of course, not all of them have bad enough judgment to eat at Quizno’s. Chicago Sun-Times photo

Via Tee Poole, a coyote petition:

You’ve seen the headlines: Coyotes are attacking humans with more and more frequency. One wandered into a Chicago

About me

What is selfhood? I begin to realize, these days, that I cannot actually define myself. I begin to realize, these days, that I have so far done the opposite. I subtract everything from the universe that i know is not me, and declare the remainder

Coyote-killing “tournament” in Idaho

From our friends at Project Coyote, this upsetting press release.

Wildlife advocates are condemning an upcoming coyote killing “tournament”, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 21, and sponsored by the Bent Rod Outdoors, a Challis business.

“This event

Ivanpah Valley: Worth more than megawatts

… (continues)