Don Coyote: The Good Times and the Bad Times of a Maligned American Original - Softcover

Hyde, Dayton O.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345347048 ISBN 13: 9780345347046

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1989

Synopsis

Rancher Dayton Hyde was rattling along on his ancient Allis Chalmers tractor, wondering whether it would see its last mechanical gasp that morning, when he first spotted the coyote.

At first they were strangers,f though the coyote was always there, always some forty feet behind. Hyde couldn't kill him, even though his rancher neighbors believed the old myth that coyotes live only to kill sheep-and should be shot on sight.

But as hyde befriends the Don, as he calls him, and all the other coyotes that live on his Oregon land, he finds a different truth...

Here's a tale of nature in its purest form, a story of heartwarming friendship between an extraordinary coyote heartwarming friendship between an extraordinary coyote and a man whose wonderful observations bring home the powerful fact that a human being is responsible to the land-and not its master. "So joyously ornery, so damned funny, so compelling that it's tempting to try for a marathon start-to-finish read." Los Angeles Times Book Review

About this title

From Library Journal:

Though he discusses observing wild coyotes and hand-raising coyote pups, Hyde's primary and most compelling theme in his latest book is the harmonious interdependence of species in any successful ecosystem. Surrounded by ranchers bent on wiping out coyotes and other pests with guns, poison, and other sophisticated weapons, Hyde instead actively encouraged the presence of predator and prey on his Oregon cattle ranch. He even built a dam to re-create an ancient lake. The result was a banner year: solar heat trapped by lake water moderated frosts, causing grasses and marsh plants to flourish. Because coyotes stayed well fed by small prey the new meadows supported, Hyde lost no calves to them. His beef fattened well on the natural forage, while insects were checked by birds the lake attracted. Readers will enjoy Hyde's graceful writing, good humor, and cogent arguments for working with, not against, nature. Laurie Tynan, Huntingdon Cty. Lib., Pa.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0345347048
• ISBN 13: 9780345347046
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200