photo by John Tangney
In our Native American myths, Coyote was the teacher….the teacher of how to live respectfully in the community, and how to treat all life on the earth.
And so today Coyote continues to be the teacher …teaching us how to live on this earth home. You and I are born into a society in which certain human behaviors have become institutioanlized….have become the norm….and never really thought about a whole lot…until Coyote arrives.
And one of those human behaviors is to give freedom to our domestic cats to go out and kill millions of our native songbirds and other small mammals….none of which they need to survive….because when they come home…you feed them. So often when I am speaking to communities or I read articles in the paper about coyotes, coyotes and cats seem always to be a favorite subject of concern. People are sending their cats out….and you know that when they reach the threshhold of your door…they become the predators….and Coyotes are finding them roaming around at night, and they kill and eat them….in order to survive.
So what is this keystone carnivore trying to teach us here? Yes, just as their presence changes the behavior of their prey animals for the health of the ecosystem, Coyotes by their behavior are pointing out that we need to change our behavior for the health of the ecosystem. How well do we listen, how well do we learn? Seriously think about your responsibility as a cat owner ~ to spay and neauter your cats, and keep them inside….remember that ALL DOMESTIC ANIMALS have given up the free and wonderful behaviors that they would enjoy when they were once wild…and so our cats, too!
I have attached a link that shares with you the unbelievable number of songbirds that domestic cats kill in this country. When you adaopt a cat, please remember not only your responsibility to their life, but to the lives of the wild one as well.
https://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170588511/killer-kitties-cats-kill-billions-every-year
