by Melissa Kay Bishop

Late at night, in any suburb, windows are open to the crisp autumn air. While under the covers, reading in bed, a breeze blows in through the curtains along with something else; something that sounds like eerie, maniacal laughter. Not to be alarmed, it's just The Trickster.

Native American tribes of the plains and the South west, recognized one animal that embodied the world-wide myth of The Trickster. For all its skills, cunning, and adaptability, the Coyote has earned this title and reputation. It could also very well be because of the laughing sound they make.

The Trickster takes different forms in different cultures, but with every one, he possesses the ability to break patterns of culture to therefore define those patterns. He is seen as an outlaw. But the hallmark traits of The Trickster are to shape shift, adapt, and survive.

What better American animal could be the representation of all these characteristics? The Coyote has broken the cultural pattern of man separating itself from The Wild by infiltrating our separate domain. They lurk in alleyways, backyards, and city parks and streets. Long ago, coyotes remained on the prairies and deserts until we infiltrated their domain. So, they did what any trickster would do; instead of being defeated as cultural norms would have them do, they adapted. 

In order to avoid crossing our path, the Coyote has changed his usual hunting times of dawn and dusk, to nighttime to work opposite of our schedule. They have traded rabbits for loose lidded garbage cans and rats. They have defined the spirit of The Trickster by laughing in the face of habitat destruction and surviving. Not only have they survived, but thrived. When the Gray Wolf population faded away at the hands of man, the coyote took its place. How did the Native Americans, long before the industrial revolution, know the Coyote would do this in response to population explosion? It must have been a true vision of the Coyote's trickster attributes.

Shape shifting, the ability to take on other forms, is also a characteristic of The Trickster. The coyote can also do this in the strange fact that it can interbreed with two other species; the wolf and the domestic dog. Although it is a rare occurrence, when a Rover breeds with a Coyote, it is called a "Coydog." I do not know the range of breeds it has mated with, but my imagination stretches from the creation of a great beast as a result of a Coyote/Great Dane union, to a comical Coyote/Pug mix. These silly Coydogs would be true to The Trickster's nature, as he, in all his wisdom, likes to make us laugh.

The wisdom of the coyote may also be in the fact that they keep strong family ties. A male and female will mate for life. It is during the mating season of midwinter or during the late fall when their cubs leave the den to forge territories of their own, that you will most likely hear their famous calls. With a range of cackles, huffs, yips, woos, yelps, howls, and barks they are communicating with their loved ones. It is their form of love poems and letters home from college.

They are also wise in their opportunistic eating habits. If there are no mice to eat, they will make do with a grasshopper. If there are no rabbits, some fruit from your garden will do just fine. They also treat carrion or garbage as a celebratory feast. They have the wisdom of being grateful for whatever comes their way; another secret to their success.

Coyotes have become outlaws as they are relentlessly hunted, trapped, pursued, and persecuted, yet their numbers remain high. They have colonized just about every part of North America and extend into Panama. There is no terrain that they haven't made themselves comfortable in. This may very well include your neighborhood. 

Coyotes in your area will leave evidence with a track that is similar to that of a large dog, but more oval shaped and with fewer claw marks. Their tracks also tend to pattern themselves into more of a straight line than a dog's. But the best indicator of coyotes in your area is that eerie, high-pitched laughter on the night wind that reminds us, not to take life too seriously. 


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