Coyotes of Brown County
~ by Mark Blackwell
There is nothing like a clear night in Brown County; the stars hanging low in the sky, the snow in the woods glistening, lit by a full moon. The quiet is not just an absence of sound but a tangible part of the winter environment. On nights like this you can’ t help but close your eyes and surrender to the ambiance. Your breathing slows your eyelids slowly lower and then … AAAaaaiiiiiiiiiieeeee, YIP YIP YIP, Ai, Ai, Ai eeeeeeeeeeeee. Dang coyotes! That is what happened on the occasion of a recent night hike.
After you regain a modicum of composure( and / or shake out your pants) you might be of a mind to wonder about our wild canine neighbors. What is a coyote? Where did they come from? What is their place in the greater environment? Why do they sneak around and instill terror in innocent ridge residents?
While I have been acquainted with Brown County for almost 50 years I didn’ t get around to moving in permanently until 17 years ago. That was when I became acutely aware of coyotes. I thought since I had quite a bit of experience with wildlife like rattlesnakes and copperheads, screaming owls, whippoor-wills with operatic vocal registers, my nerves had developed calluses. But none of those things prepared me for a particular full moon midnight in July of 2000 and my first encounter with what some Native Americans call“ God’ s dogs.”
That was the night of the day when my wife and I finally got the cabin in habitable condition and declared it to be so. It being a mild evening for July, we slept with the windows open. There is nothing quite so pleasant as drifting off to sleep in a comfortable bed with a cool breeze wafting over the sheets, while a distant whip-poor-will trills his lonely call. And that’ s the way it was that night. Until …
AAAaaaiiiiieeeee, yip, yip, yip, aaaaaiiiieeee, coyotes, right there, below the open window that provided the cool breeze wafting over my terror paralyzed body. As soon as I regained a semblance
32 Our Brown County March / April 2017