A Walk in the Woods and Unexpected Encounters

One of the great things about the Appalachian Trail, and hiking or spending time in the woods in general, is you never know what you will see or encounter on any given day. A section of trail or woods you've walked dozens of times can unveil a new epiphany, give you a new experience, help you reconnect in a different way, or show you another layer of the complex ecosystem. And this morning was one of these times for me.

I was descending Kelly's Knob outside Blacksburg, Va on this cool morning after a night flying through the Leonid meteor shower, the fog hanging low, dropping raindrops sporadically but by no means sprinkling. It's just being in the clouds, the nature of that zone. And I was shown an impact of humans in and around the AT. I was startled originally, seeing this large animal suddenly a few feet from me. I jerked to the side without thinking. Was it wounded, sick, old? It was a good sized female coyote, Canis latrans, and she had been shot. I didn't discover that until later upon turning her over, the bullet not exiting. I just starred at the canine beast that could easily pass for a dog, it's Latin name meaning barking dog, though its tail looked more like a fox or squirrel's with it's bushy poofiness. One eye open, teeth barely visible, laying on her side.

Coyotes are killed in high numbers every year. I think hunting is a good thing, part of our historical culture, part of who we are, a easy way to dissuade supporting industrial agriculture for omnivore's, and if you're going to eat meat why not get to know the true source, cost, and experience of earning your supper. I think every omnivore should gut an animal.

I know a lot of hunters who are true conservationists, at times more so than hippies and random sorts of folk associated with 'green living.' But I cannot stand irresponsible hunters, shooting whatever, leaving whatever. Coyotes are legal to shoot, a strange misguided fear picked up from wolves after we trapped, poisoned, and killed most of them. They are part of the symbol of the untamed wild we wanted to extinguish in our earlier American history. If that idea interests you, Vicious: Wolves and Men in America is a sad and interesting read.

Coyotes serve no real threat to humans, a handful of people being attacked over the years, normally after they get acclimated to people feeding them. Yes they do attack sheep and other livestock occasionally, but nothing like the fear many believe. I understand if a small farmer has coyotes preying on his or her livestock, it is an issue of 'survival' in today's terms, and the 'problem' may need to be dealt with in a controlled manner, but killing them out of shear paranoia of what could be is hardly justifiable to put a death warrant on the species.

Coyotes play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem. It's long been known, but misinformation and misplaced fear are prevalent and big components of today's society.

Coyotes are fascinating animals, living in packs and surviving by more solitary means at times. Their numbers grow against eradication efforts in some areas. They have even been known to hunt with a badger, a strange symbiotic relationship that further proves nature never ceases to amaze.

I stare at this dead coyote, imagining her life up here on the mountain, raising and feeding her pups, keeping smaller mammal and rodent populations healthy and in check, eating other small animals when times are tough, adaptability an important trait of the American jackal. Now when I flip her over and her innards move out of the gunshot hole, I hear agitated bugs whirring about inside her, decomposition has begun. It's been less than a day, the cold weather keeping her secret from the turkey buzzards for now, but the bugs begin quickly. She is returning to the food web, but perhaps earlier than she should have.

Maybe I just have a soft spot for coyotes and wolves, I too enjoy howling at the moon for some primordial reason.



I see a fire gone in her eyes and it saddens me somewhat, angers me slightly, and confuses me at how hard it is to conceptualize the motivations of humans at times. Hunting season is in full effect, and I hope hunters of today will continue a tradition, at least in some necks of the woods, to be responsible, smart hunters and not trigger happy kill freaks. It reaches some dark seeded push in us to control everything, to dominate and destroy, but it's not necessary, beneficial, wise, or even owning a grain of common sense. You never know what you'll end up seeing and thinking about when you walk in the woods, and this is where today brought me. The possibilities are endless. Some Native Americans believe the coyote will be the last animal alive on Earth. It makes one wonder.