A Coyote By Any Other Name…

A Coyote by Any Other Name

            The coyote has been called a lot of things, some not very flattering and some that can’t be shared in a family friendly post. The scientific name, Canis latrans is latin and basically translates to “barking dog.” Although most people are likely to associate coyotes with howling rather than barking, anyone who has spent time around coyotes knows they do bark regularly.

The common name “coyote” has Mexican roots and is based on the Aztec word “cóyotl” which means “trickster.”

            The word coyote is pronounced several different ways, the most commonly used and accepted being “Ki-O-Tee.” Other common pronunciations are “Ki-Oat,” “Coy-O-Tee,” and “Coy-Oat.”

            As mentioned, in Native American Culture the coyote is referred to as the trickster. The coyote plays a fairly major role in indigenous mythology for most Native American tribes, especially western tribes. Taking ques from the real coyote, in mythology they are usually crafty, intelligent, sneaky and have an appetite that never seems to be satisfied.

            Despite these similarities, the coyote plays different character roles for different tribes. In some myths, the coyote is revered as a hero who creates, teaches, and assists humans. In other cultures, his actions are meant to teach the dangers of recklessness, greed and arrogance. Other tribes view him as a humorous character who’s lack of wisdom frequently gets him into trouble that he resolves with his cleverness. Some Pueblo tribes believe the coyote is good medicine for hunters.

The Trickster

Modern day hunters have a wide variety of names for the old trickster. Many shorten the word coyote to ‘yote and some refer to them as dawgs.

            Here are some other words and phrases, in no particular order, used to refer to the coyote.

            desert dog                        song dog                        pasture poodle

            canine cockroach           prairie wolf                      sage wolf

            brush wolf                        calf killer                        fawn killer

            cased wolf                        little wolf                        American jackal

            pasture puppy            hooter dog                        walking buzzard

            yelp dog                        yodel dog

            Mark Twain wrote quite an essay on his opinion of the coyote and described the critter as “A long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolfskin stretched over it, a tolerably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of forsakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye, and a long, sharp face, with slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth. He has a general slinking expression all over. 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 for a velocipede. He is so spirtless and cowardly that even while his exposed teeth are pretending a threat, the rest of his face is apologizing for it. And he is so homely! -so scrawny, and ribby, and coarse-haired, and pitiful.”

            The coyote certainly needs to be admired for his adaptability and perseverance. It has been said that if a major catastrophe occurred on Earth, the only things left alive would be cockroaches and coyotes. Widely despised, respected and pursued, the coyote will forever be a part of the American landscape, no matter what you call him.