Coyote America

A Natural and Supernatural History

By: Dan Flores

Narrated by: Elijah Alexander

With its uncanny night howls, unrivaled ingenuity, and amazing resilience, the coyote is the stuff of legends. In Indian folktales it often appears as a deceptive trickster or a sly genius. But legends don't come close to capturing the incredible survival story of the coyote.

As soon as Americans - especially white Americans - began ranching and herding in the West, they began working to destroy the coyote. Despite campaigns of annihilation employing poisons, gases, helicopters, and engineered epidemics, coyotes didn't just survive, they thrived, expanding across the continent from Anchorage, Alaska, to New York's Central Park. In the war between humans and coyotes, coyotes have won hands down.

Coyote America is both an environmental and a deep natural history of the coyote. It traces both the five-million-year-long biological story of an animal that has become the "wolf" in our backyards and its cultural evolution from a preeminent spot in Native American religions to the hapless foil of the Road Runner. A deeply American tale, the story of the coyote in the American West and beyond is a sort of Manifest Destiny in reverse, with a pioneering hero whose career holds up an uncanny mirror to the successes and failures of American expansionism.

An illuminating biography of this extraordinary animal, Coyote America isn't just the story of an animal's survival - it is one of the great epics of our time.

©2016 Dan Flores (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

very informative.

This was an awesome book that gives the full history of the coyote. A really good book.

not what expected but enjoy able

was not quite what i expected but i enjoyed it. For me the second half was much better

Very Informational

Very interesting but does not have many hooks to keep you listening. The book sounds very much like a 9hr lecture but the material is very interesting to learn about.

Could not stop listening

Packed with information and showing the survival of one of our most intelligent species while illuminating some of America's most sordid history and brutality towards our wildlife (which, sadly, continues to this day, just not as publicly), this has been one of the most informative, at times hilarious, at times heart-wrenching listens in my library. This book should be listened to or read by every American who gives even just a little bit about the health of our country. You do not have to be a coyote lover or hater to appreciate and be fascinated by their story. Dan Flores remains objective, which, as a wildlife rehabilitator, I know was not an easy thing to do, and Elijah Alexander is a perfect choice to deliver lively and powerfully. I cannot recommend this book hghly enough and would give it 10 stars if I could.

Informative and Enlightening!

This was very informative. I actually learned much that I had not been aware of. If the science is correct that their numbers would level off if we stopped killing them, then why don't we stop killing them? It makes you wonder who is the smarter, the coyote or the human? I vote for the coyote.

The whole story of the Coyote

this is a great listen, or read if you are at all interested in Coyotes.

An engaging history.

Having read and listened to this book in preparation for my final exams for my Master's Degree, this was by far one of the more readable books on my list. The narration is wonderful, and the book details the history of the Coyote in America through historic events such as the massacre of coyotes and wolves, as well as supernaturally by retelling ancient Indigenous stories of the infamous Trickster.

The sad story about coyotes.

This is a very detailed study of the coyotes and their nature. When you see what man has done to try to eliminate the coyotes from this world, you will be saddened I believe. I have a new learned respect for coyotes.

Not What I expected

The book has great ratings and with my interest in coyotes, I thought it would be something I would enjoy. It is more of a research paper than a story. It is well documented, but does not flow well in the reading. There is too much of man against nature and the harm we have done. There is too much politics and the government actions against the animal. I rated it poorly because I had trouble keeping enough interest to finish the book. I found Mr. Alexander to be a decent but not exceptional reader. His voice tired me and his attempt to highlight quotes from other papers irked me.

Fascinating and informative

A bit long and some of the science can get a little tedious but the history of the actual animal compared to the legend and stories is really neat. Being a North American originated dog makes me a little proud and curious to see how they evolve going forward.