America’s Most Successful Underdog: A Skeptical Review of "Coyote America"

The Big Idea

Coyote America is a cultural-natural history of the coyote: how a mid-sized, flexible predator outsmarted federal extermination programs, colonized cities, and embedded itself in Indigenous myth as Trickster long before European arrival. Flores argues that our war on coyotes backfired because ecology punishes simple solutions. Remove wolves, and coyotes surge. Kill coyotes, and they breed younger and more. The book solves one problem why coyotes are everywhere while only partly solving another, what to do about it now.

What’s New Here (and Why It Matters)

Plenty of wildlife books praise resilience. Flores ties resilience to policy error. He shows how government campaigns, bounties, poisons, and propaganda created the modern, urban-savvy coyote. That matters because cities keep expanding and so will human–coyote encounters. The novel contribution is the bridge between mythic history and modern management: Trickster isn’t just folklore; it’s a working model for a predator that exploits our blind spots - garbage, pet food, outdoor cats, fragmented greenbelts.

Core Arguments / Plot Architecture (spoiler-safe)

• Structure:

  • Origins and prehistory of coyotes in North America.

  • The Trickster through Indigenous storytelling.

  • European settlement, wolf collapse, and the opening niche coyotes filled.

  • 20th-century eradication campaigns and their perverse effects.

  • The rise of urban coyotes and coexistence realities.

• Claims:

  • Predator control often triggers a vacuum effect that favors coyotes.

  • Coyotes adapt diet, territory, and social structure faster than we adapt policy.

  • Culture shapes policy: caricaturing coyotes as vermin justified bad management.

• Evidence style: Historical records, ecological studies (summarized, not technical), policy history, and narrative reportage.

Deep Dive

Frameworks & Models (plain and usable)

• Vacuum Effect 101: Remove competitors (wolves) or destabilize territories and coyotes expand and/or breed more.
  Use it: Before “removal,” ask what niche you’re opening and who fills it.

• Anthropogenic Buffet: Coyotes follow food subsidies—garbage, pet food, feral cats, fruit trees, unsecured compost.
  Use it: Fix the inputs and the outputs (sightings, conflicts) drop.

• Behavior > Body Count: Changing animal behavior—through hazing and removing rewards—beats broad lethal control for urban settings.
  Use it: Focus on consequences animals can learn, not just carcass numbers.

• Cultural Lens: Stories drive policy. Trickster myths, frontier folklore, and modern media shape what voters tolerate.
  Use it: If you want better wildlife policy, change the narrative as well as the rule.

Evidence Check

• Strong:

  • The historical-political arc (bounties, federal programs) is well documented elsewhere; Flores synthesizes it clearly.

  • Urban ecology insights track what city biologists report: coyotes are dietary generalists with flexible ranges.

  • The link between human behavior (open buffets) and wildlife behavior is practical and repeatable.

• Weak:

  • Numbers are summarized more than audited; you’ll want to consult primary studies for rates, effect sizes, and regional variance.

  • Ranching economics and depredation costs appear mainly as scene-setting; quantitative depth is limited.

  • Some Trickster–policy parallels risk romanticism; metaphor does heavy lifting without always closing causal loops.

Assumptions Under the Hood

• Coyotes’ adaptive edge will persist even as landscapes urbanize and climates shift.

• Nonlethal tactics can scale fast enough to matter in cities.

• Public attitudes can shift from “pest” to “managed neighbor.”
  If any of these fail, conflict persists and lethal control regains political momentum.

Practical Takeaways

1. Audit attractants weekly: Pet food, compost, fruit drop, unsecured bins—remove the buffet.

2. Leash small dogs at dawn/dusk; supervise cats or keep them indoors. Saves wildlife and vet bills.

3. Haze boldly, early, consistently: Shout, wave arms, throw small objects near (not at) the animal—teach wariness.

4. Push cities for bylaw + bin design: Wildlife-proof lids and fines for chronic attractants outperform ad hoc responses.

5. Target, don’t carpet-bomb: Lethal control, if used, should be specific to problem individuals and paired with attractant control; broad culls can worsen things.

6. Design green space with sight lines: Mow edges, reduce ambush cover near play areas, and post clear guidance where wildlife corridors meet neighborhoods.

7. Track and publish encounters: Transparent dashboards make policy less emotional and more adaptive.

Contrarian Note

Flores’s sympathy for the coyote is earned, but it tilts the frame. Chronic depredation does happen, and “just haze them” can sound glib to small-stock producers at the exurban edge. A tougher accounting of who bears the cost and how programs compensate or prevent it, would help. Admiring adaptation shouldn’t minimize the bill it sometimes hands to others.

Blind Spots & Risks

• U.S.-centric lens: Canada and Mexico appear less; rural variation within the U.S. is also huge.

• Disease and public health: Rabies, parasites, and mange get less attention than behavior and policy.

• Quant depth: You’ll need outside sources for detailed population dynamics and cost-benefit analyses.

• Equity in coexistence: Advice is easier to follow in affluent neighborhoods than in places with limited services and time.

Who Should Read This (and Who Shouldn’t)

Read if you’re:

• An urban planner, HOA board member, or city staffer dealing with wildlife.

• A teacher or parent who wants a clear story that links ecology and culture.

• A natural-history reader who likes narrative over spreadsheets.

Skip (or skim) if you’re:

• A rancher seeking step-by-step, region-specific control economics.

• A researcher wanting primary data and methods sections.

• Someone who dislikes policy history and cultural framing.

How to Read It

• Pacing: A part per sitting; take notes on policy mechanisms and any local relevance.

• Slow down: On chapters covering federal predator programs and the emergence of urban coyotes-that’s where the management lessons live.

• Skim if needed: Extended mythic context if you’re impatient; mark it for later.

• Format: Print or e-reader; keep a checklist of actions for your home or neighborhood.

• Pair with: City or state wildlife agency guides for current, local protocols.

Scorecard (1–10)

• Originality: 8 - Cultural myth + policy failure is a sharp combo.

• Rigor / Craft: 7 - Solid synthesis; light on technical depth.

• Clarity: 9 - Clean, narrative prose with clear through-lines.

• Usefulness: 8 - Actionable for urban readers and policymakers.

• Re-read Value: 7 - Strong for reference and teaching; less for raw data.

If You Liked This, Try…

• Barry Lopez, Of Wolves and Men - A foundational look at predator myth vs. management.

• Mary Roach, Fuzz - Funny, clear-eyed tour of human-wildlife conflict tools.

• Peter H. Raven et al., Environment - For a systems view of trophic dynamics behind policy.

• Jon Mooallem, Wild Ones - Cultural narratives driving how we “save” or scapegoat animals.

• Ben Goldfarb, Crossings - On how roads shape wildlife behavior and what design can fix.

FAQs

Q:Is this a science book or a storybook?
A:Both. It’s science-lite—accurate in outline, narrative in style, and policy-aware.

Q:Will it help me with coyotes in my neighborhood?
A:Yes for basics: remove attractants, haze, and push for better bins and signage. For livestock or chronic cases, you’ll need local agency guidance.

Q:Does it argue against all lethal control?
A:No. It warns that broad culls can backfire and argues for targeted responses paired with attractant control.

Q:What’s the biggest surprise?
A:How quickly coyotes colonized cities once we cleared competitors and laid out food.

Q:Is the Indigenous “Trickster” material just decoration?
A:It’s thematic scaffolding: a cultural frame for adaptation and opportunism. Sometimes romantic; generally illuminating.

Final Verdict

Flores makes a plain case: coyotes win because our policies taught them how. The history is brisk, the lessons are practical, and the moralizing is mostly kept in check. You won’t find lab-grade statistics here, but you will get a clear map from myth to municipal policy, plus the basics for living alongside a smart neighbor you didn’t invite. Buy if you’re a planner, educator, or natural-history reader; borrow if you need the technical weeds.