Lately in the early autumn evenings, as darkness has fallen and I can see "the shepherd's lamp" (an old term for the first star you observe after sundown) and other stars dotting the night sky, I have been hearing the yipping and yelping of coyotes. The ethereal vocalizations are an ancient sound, and these voices carried on the evening breeze are a reminder that the natural world still thrives in the Tehachapi Mountains.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are probably the most adaptable predators in North America, and they can be found in amazingly diverse habitats, from oak woodlands to open grasslands, from creosote brush scrub in the desert to suburban neighborhoods within cities.

They are most often seen in fleeting glimpses: crossing a roadway or a farm field, loping a short distance, typically stopping to look back, then trotting away again to disappear into the vegetation. With their cryptic tawny, gray, sandy or brown colors, coyotes are masters at vanishing into their surroundings.

Coyotes are carnivores whose preferred diet includes cottontails and jackrabbits, as well as mice, ground squirrels and other rodents, but they are also opportunists who will eat insects, birds, reptiles, eggs, fruit and carrion. I have seen coyote scat containing the seeds of juniper berries, plastic and paper food wrappers, beetle wing cases and more. Coyotes are considered to occupy a dietary niche somewhere between cats, which are strict carnivores, and bears, which usually consume far more from the plant kingdom than the animal kingdom.

The Nuwa (Kawaiisu or Paiute) word for coyote is sina'avi, pronounced "si-NA'av," or "si-NA-vee" by some tribal members. The coyote's place in American Indian culture is often described as "cultural hero" or "trickster" but neither of these terms accurately depicts the coyote's place in traditional Nuwa stories and attitudes.

In many Nuwa winter stories, the coyote plays the role of the hapless miscreant, who often aspires to do things beyond his abilities and usually fails to survive his folly. The Nuwa were careful about saying things that could be interpreted as disrespectful to people, so the coyote frequently serves as the foolish protagonist, demonstrating unwise behavior and suffering the consequences. In this way many of the stories can be seen as parables or fables.

In "Sina'av and Sanaap," for example, pine pitch (sanaap) teases coyote by repeatedly calling his name. The coyote becomes enraged, firing all of his arrows into the tree without effect as sanaap continues to taunt him, and then finally attempting punch the pitch and becoming permanently stuck by all four feet and perishing. Thus tribal elders were able to pass along to younger members the potentially dire results of losing one's temper, using coyote as the unfortunate example.

Coyotes could also be seen as somewhat foreboding, with connections to the spirit world, and seeing a coyote around your dwelling in daylight was believed to foretell death or disaster for a loved one. Coyotes were not as feared as wolves — the Nuwa word for "wolf" is Nuwa-ka'a-gud, meaning "the one who eats humans" — but coyotes were perceived as vaguely threatening.

There are extremely few recorded instances of fatal coyote attacks on humans, though coyotes in arid environments in Southern California have grabbed small dogs and cats, and even small children, though they have nearly always released the toddler and fled when confronted by an adult or older child. This kind of behavior is aberrant, however, and coyotes living in mostly intact ecosystems like the Tehachapi Mountains generally avoid getting close to people.

Their reluctance to get close to people or human habitation means that coyotes are seldom a threat to farm animals — raccoons kill far more chickens than coyotes. Sheep and goats in outlying areas, however, are vulnerable to coyote predation and must be protected from them.

Toshimi Kristof took the close-ups of the coyote on this page when she and her husband Les were hiking in Sycamore Canyon in Bear Valley Springs recently and encountered this one. It is probably a young male — they seem to be the most curious about people — and looks to be in good health. Coyotes can vary widely in appearance: those living in harsh deserts or areas of scarcity can be extremely thin, small and rangy, while others in more plentiful surroundings can be large and robust. They occasionally hybridize with dogs to create a "coydog" (pronounced "ky-dog") and will also sometimes interbreed with wolves where their territories overlap.

The song of coyotes, which can sound slightly unsettling to those unfamiliar with these interesting animals, is an affirmation that the wild world continues to move to the ancient rhythms of nature. . . .

Have a good week.

Jon Hammond has written for Tehachapi News for more than 30 years. Send email to tehachapimnlover@gmail.com.

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