Monday, January 6, 2014

A Coyote Tale

"The Father of Song Making"
"cries of the coyotes seems to express remembrance of something lost before time"
J. Frank Dobie

Pictures of a sunrise were on my mind when I pulled up to the gate that entered Antelope Flats. It was still dark as I set my tripod and camera up to record the anticipated and most colorful sunup ever seen! Day broke and there was not a cloud in the sky! Not to say it wasn't wonderous, it was just ordinary! I thought all was lost until I noticed movement a ways back in the flats. Coyotes!


The Trickster
There were two of them. Under the cover of darkness I had somehow managed to have a ringside seat to their morning hunt as the sun came up. I felt as if I was the trickster instead of them!


Prairie Tenor
Just last evening after sundown I heard two different packs calling to each other. One down by Quanah Parker Lake and the other from a westerly direction that might have included these two hunters. J. Frank Dobie observed that English speakers living with the coyote seldom refer to their voice as "singing"; to them it is barking, howling, or yelping; but to the Vaquero people of the Brush Country it is nearly always "cantando".  Although I'm not a vaquero, I was raised hearing the songs of the coyote sounding across these Oklahoma Plains. Their voices assure me everything is right for the moment. Sweet singing it is! 


End Of The Hunt
I had the privilege of a full fifteen minutes of observing the antics of these coyotes while they were hunting and catching what appeared to be grasshoppers. Good source of protein I hear!

No sunrise photos; But a better than ever moment spent with the coyotes!


Book of Many Coyote Stories!
A good resource if one is interested in the Coyote. Dobie began gathering his stories and making notes in 1921. A priceless collection of information and tales! I purchased this book back in the early sixties and still enjoy the tales. Check out that $3.95 price on the cover!

"To many who have heard the ecstatic
little prairie wolf greet their camp fire
from out of the dusk, or have arisen at
the break of dawn and heard his frenzied
hymn to the sun, a west without the
coyote seems colorless and flat."
H.E. Anthony
American Museum of Natural History

-pics from October 2012 archives-

8 comments:

  1. What a wonderful gift you received from those coyotes. I loved reading about your experience, and thanks for the tip on the book. When in New Mexico we have stayed in Eldorado, just outside of Santa Fe, several times in a casa that is close to coyote residences. Our nighttime walks with or dog have always been accompanied by coyote serenades, I am going to buy the book for my husband who is enamored by coyotes.

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  2. Serendipitous Coyote encounter, sure is refreshing when life throws in a nice surprise now and then!

    I find them most fascinating and love watching their antics!

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  3. i usually refer to them singing, too. they can strike up quite a chorus - especially when our 4 dogs chime in whether inside or outside the house. :)

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  4. The singing of coyotes around here means I need to get my rifle because they are getting ready to have my chickens for dinner!

    It's amazing the things you can see if you get up early, huh? LOL

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  5. I would also like to have the opportunity to observe wildlife as it happens in nature. A true gift!

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  6. Wow! you just happened in the right time, and the right place.

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  7. Great shots. I really like that old book.

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  8. Definite shots of opportunity. Good job capturing these hunters in action.

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