Tales of Hybrid Coyote/Wolves

Not long after I left Birmingham for the country living of Northwest Richland County, I was on my morning walk when a fox stumbled into the road. At least, that what I initially thought. This fox was moth-eaten and had little bright color to his coat, and it wobbled on unusually long legs.

He stopped at the edge of the pavement, surveyed the scene, quietly sized me up, and disappeared back into the tree line. About the time he vanished from view, I realized the animal was a coyote.

The second coyote I saw was splattered along I-26 near our exit. People talk about them frequently, and sightings are reported from time to time, but unlike deer, possums, and actual foxes, coyotes are rarely seen. Friends claim to hear them though, howling like in old Westerns late at night, during a full moon.

I read a story just the other day that claims the coyote inhabiting territory east of the Mississippi River is called the Eastern coyote. These animals that are so numerous along the Atlantic coast are really coyote/wolf hybrids. I’m guessing there won’t be as much handwringing and storytelling about this animal as the 100 percent full-blooded wolf.

Back in the days when superstition explained everything and reason was questioned; when folks believed unsubstantiated rumors that were scientifi- cally impossible rather than facts, wolves were considered supernatural creatures. Thankfully, the days of ignorance are long past. Today, we have the Internet, so everything is easily verified.

Wolves got blamed for everything bad that happened in the Dark Ages; whether it was domestic animal slaughter, bodies on the roadside, or unexplained creatures. These days, Obama and Bigfoot get blamed for all those things.

From then until well into the modern era in America, wolves were eradicated whenever possible. Lon Chaney made a movie career from our fear of wolves. Finally, animal specialists proved wolves were good for the environment, and things improved.

Although their numbers are still small, wolves are holding steady in some places and evidently breeding with their cousins in others. Must be Alabama wolves. What’s interesting about these Eastern Coyotes is that people aren’t afraid of them. Who knows why. We’re still terrified of wolf/human hybrids. Why not wolf/coyote? Maybe because we think of Wile E. Coyote.

There are even plans being made to use this wolf/coyote hybrid to control deer. Imagine. Deer, those cuddly characters from Walt Disney movies, have so overrun places like Pennsylvania and Virginia, they are now considered pests, like locusts, squirrels, and Republican presidential candidates. And someone thinks coyotes can save the day. What if we were concentrating on the wolf side of this animal?

The public outcry would be tumultuous. Politicians would weigh in. CNN would go exclusively wolf. Big fat, cigar smoking, quasi-hunters would stalk the woodlands of these areas, wearing expensive camo jackets, orange tinted sunglasses, and smoking big stinking cigars. But that isn’t the case.

Coyotes aren’t as threatening, so everything is cool. We don’t have a problem with a pack of coyotes killing Bambi or snatching a Pomeranian from the front yard or howling at the moon.

As long as one doesn’t turn into Lon Chaney.