I was traveling the other day and happened upon a fellow parked along the highway. At first I thought it might have been vehicle trouble but as I approached I could see someone leaning on the hood of a truck. He was glassing a distant slope with his binoculars. I was curious. Little did I realize I was going to make a connection that would reinforce my being wild about Minnesota. A connection with a Coyote, the ‘wild’ of Minnesota.
I slowed down to scan the landscape. A frozen lake sprawled across the foreground with some characteristic bulrush and wooded bank breaking far across the distant shoreline. There, on a secluded hillside, I spotted the subject of interest: a mature Coyote. This one was a grand animal – full bodied, defiant, wild, free – and on high alert. At that moment it was difficult to determine who had taken the greater interest in this match-up.
No escaping the wild in the Coyote’s eyes
Even from across the ice-capped lake I could feel the heated intensity of the untamed dog’s piercing gaze. Coyote have become plentiful in this area and, for the most part, are not greatly appreciated. Coyotes are wild animals, and they can be very ruthless. It is the nature of the wild and Coyote are passionately true to their nature. If the ‘wild’ had a face it would be the face of a Coyote.
Regardless of how people feel towards Coyote, few animals can stir my senses like this rouge predator can. Their wailing cries slash the inky-deep stillness of the Minnesota twilight. Haunting howls from distant corners search for camaraderie. Persistence pays off for the Coyote as evidenced by a returning cry. And then another . . . and another. The calls can be heard from all directions and consume the senses with their soulful refrain. If the ‘wild’ had a voice, it would be the Coyote’s voice.
Minnesota’s ‘wild’ is many things – and becomes much bigger than life in absence of things. It is as much the isolated timber tracts and unspoiled lakes as it is the absence of concrete, cell phones and traffic noise. There is nowhere else I can be that will heal so deeply as this. It is a re-birth of the senses. It is clarity of thought. My breath draws deeper. Color returns to my vision. I feel calm and connected.
The Place of the Coyote
My spirit cries out as if the Coyote’s own calling. I understand my place and my purpose – and that of the Coyote. Our passions – mine and the Coyote – we see the land through one heart. It is here that we are free and defiant. Here where we struggle and survive. It is here that we live and know peace.
P.S – I first published this work in 2010. Reading it still gives me a rush of energy. The Coyote image is not available at RedBarnProject but I could probably find you a great photo of a Golden Retriever named Bender! Peace.
