Things occur to me. When sitting on your couch watching the oft-repeated traffic report on the television evening news, are you the person who needs the traffic report at that time? As you can clearly see, I am back from Hawaii where I enjoyed myself more than I can describe.

Dogs are all called Rover, iguanas are all named Iggy, so I think we will call him Wile E. He is a coyote pup brought in by an animal control officer from a regional shelter. Even in the face of man's encroachment of their natural habitat, coyotes can still be found in populated areas. They have learned to co-exist with man much as have the raccoon and opossum. While a coyote will kill a weak or sick sheep or goat, usually they find enough carrion on the roads, such as rabbits and skunks. They will also raid garbage cans and dog and cat food dishes. Coyotes have been observed playing dead waiting for carrion-eating birds such as crows to come along, and then leaping up and grabbing the unsuspecting bird.

Scientifically the coyote is Canis latrans, which means, "barking dog." Apart from the domestic dog, it's the only member of the dog family that habitually barks. Foxes, wolves and jackals only bark at specific times. The bark of the coyote has become a necessary background of any night scene in a western film. Here at the HSLC we hear a coyote serenade every time a police or fire siren sounds.

It is thought that coyotes mate for life. They are also very good parents and may have up to 19 pups in a litter. The father brings food first to the mother and then for the pups. The pups stay in the den for more than a month and when ready are taught to hunt on family outings. The coyote has been trapped, rounded up, killed in his den, shot from airplanes, lassoed and poisoned. They survive because they are cunning and smart, and we should give them credit for surviving when we have tried our best to destroy them.

The coyote "is a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry. He is always poor, out of luck and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him and even the fleas would desert him." Mark Twain. Beep! Beep!