Young Female Coyote
Photo by Katherine Davis
A blueberry farmer here in Maine called me and in an excited tone, shared with me an encounter with a female coyote that she never dreamed could have happened.
I asked her if she could write her experience down and send it to me, as I could never repeat adequately what she shared with me.
Here it is ~ Her words poignantly express how our relationships with the Wild can be…..if we are open to it…and not allow fear to get in the way.
I spend hours on a tractor flail mowing the blueberry fields in the Fall of the year. This year I had company ~ a beautiful female Coyote. She would come out of the forest when she heard the tractor and begin mouse hunting. At times we would be only 20 to 30 feet apart. I would stop the tractor, and talk and whistle to her. She would then look up from her hunting and wag her tail at me.
I’d make another pass on the field and we would repeat the greeting again. One time she crossed directly in front of me, just looking up and blinking those golden eyes at me. She was so much like my own lab. Over and over again…nose to the ground, butt in the air, tail wagging…then pounce for the mouse! I swear…once she wanted to show me her catch….or maybe wanted to share it with me. She would toss it up in the air for me to see, as if to say “See what I can do!”
There was a mutual trust and respect between us. If someone unfamiliar showed up, she would quickly disappear. I was so glad she still had all her wild instincts. I often wonder if she had learned stories passed down through Coyote generations on our farm…to not fear the woman who learned to respect the Coyote long ago in the blueberry field.
