Yellowstone: Realm of the Coyote Page #3

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wandering the park like Cain.

The two coyotes offer something

precious to each other

a partnership

the promise of a family.

Once paired,

most coyotes will mate for life.

And this first date

has gone very well.

Together they will hunt

through the grasslands.

Together they will search

for a home.

Finding one won't be easy.

In fact, it will be the challenge

of their lives.

All the surrounding territories

are held by large packs.

And turf won't be taken

without a fight.

In Cain's former pack,

the pups are six months old

almost fully grown.

Working with the adults,

they are now a well-coordinated

killing team.

And their target is

a sickly elk calf.

The mother does her best to

defend her young one.

But it's no use.

The coyotes claim their prey.

Long after her battle is lost,

the mother continues to fight.

But the coyotes won't be

denied their meal.

In the cruel equation

of Yellowstone,

the death of the elk calf means

life for the young coyotes.

The final days of summer turn cool.

As Cain and his mate wander,

the buffalo go head-to-head

in a violent mating contest

the rut.

The males are well-dressed for

battle; their heads and shoulders

padded with extra wool to

absorb the pounding.

And when it comes,

the pounding is ferocious.

For the losers,

the cost is sometimes death.

And there is no dignity to death

in a land of scavengers.

The colors of fall herald the

return of freezing temperatures.

For Cain and his mate,

now comes a critical test.

They've hunted side by side,

but now they must hunt as a team.

An injured mule deer seems

an easy target.

But the coyotes are cautious.

A mule deer's hoof can slash

like a knife.

The pair just can't get

the job done.

Two coyotes can't surround

their prey the way a pack can.

Their failure is a dangerous omen.

For a pair that can't make a kill,

winter will be an ordeal

a deadly ordeal.

With the first snows,

begin the battles of winter.

The bighorn sheep are fighting

for a chance to mate.

Now all of Yellowstone's creatures

must once more fend off starvation.

The thermal springs offer

respite for some...

...but the season will still

take its awful toll.

The odds against Cain and his

partner grow with each passing week.

Without a pack,

hunting is difficult,

holding a territory even more so.

Without a pack,

they stand less chance of surviving,

or of raising young.

Rivers are natural turf boundaries.

And to cross the line into

another pack's domain is to

risk confrontation.

But for the hungry pair,

now is the time for risk.

They can't resist the lure of

a bison carcass.

The resident pack can't afford to

share their food with trespassers.

A clash is coming...

And for Cain, it will have

a special significance.

This is his old pack.

These are his kin.

And Cain is still coyote non grata.

Vicious as it is,

this battle won't go to the limit.

It will stop

when one coyote proves strongest.

And one has.

It's Cain.

This is now his turf.

Defeated, the former leaders

wander off into exile.

Old and tired,

their prospects are poor.

Cain and his mate claim

one of their rewards

the right to eat first.

Confrontation becomes cooperation

as Cain's brothers

and sisters accept the takeover.

They all settle in for a banquet.

Cain will in time become a father.

And by helping raise his pups,

his siblings will make sure

the family line lives on.

Sibling rivalry turns to

revelry of a sort.

And Cain's pack begins life anew.

More adversity will lie ahead

this winter - lethal temperatures.

Punishing winds and

the never ending struggle for food.

But the coyotes will survive.

They have survived fire and ice,

survived the attacks of

man and beast.

This too they will outlast.

There is an Indian tale that states

the coyote will be

the last animal on earth.

After the buffalo are gone,

after man has disappeared,

all that will be left is darkness.

And in the darkness will echo

the call of the coyote.

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