What a Coyote Taught Me About Jumping to Conclusions

… a simple lesson on not jumping to conclusions.

Sometimes we leap. And when we do, we’re absolutely, positively, sure we are right. Because we’re smart and not everything requires an investigation. We know things. We have our truth.

You don’t do that, do you? I mean, you know… leap to conclusions about things when you have only a little information, and barely any truth?

Well, this time it seemed that I did. Jump, that is.

Plus, I sensed there was a lesson coming for me.

And that didn’t stop me from formulating my conclusions.

This phenomenon has been going on since shortly after we moved in. And I was immediately ticked. “Why our driveway?” I asked. This was the kind of thing we dealt with in suburbia… people allowing their dogs to poop anywhere, then neglecting to pick up after themselves (yes, I mean their dogs)..

And now, somebody’s dog was pooping in my driveway. And I was pretty sure I knew who the guilty party was. Until I stumbled upon some new information.

I had first noticed the evidence as I drove by in my SUV.

It looked obvious to me as I took evasive maneuvers to miss the offending evidence—dog doogie in the driveway. But Jeff, you live in the country. What’s the big deal?

Well, this is the big deal. If you run over it with a tire, then, well, the garage will smell like poo. Do I really need to explain this?

Then truth is revealed to me.

Upon affording myself a closer look while on my walk the next morning, I discovered the error in my conclusion.

These piles were packed with juniper berries, bits of fur, and other unidentifiable components that don’t resemble the byproducts of any kibble I’ve ever seen. Maybe I had leaped too soon? Maybe it wasn’t my neighbor’s dogs doing it after all?

You know, a lot of other critters live out here too…

Critters such as elk, marmot, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, rabbits, and what have you. But who could it be? I’m thinking coyote.

So, here in the Southwest, you’ll hear about animal energies or medicine. Yeah, I know, it’s a thing out here. But let’s just say for a moment that the wile coyote has some special knowledge to share with us. You know, his animal medicine.

According to “Animal Energies” by Gary Buffalo Horn Man and Sherry Firedancer, Mr. Coyote is both the great one and the foolish one. Of course, we learned the latter part while watching Roadrunner cartoons. Gary and Sherry say,

…He mirrors our own human capacity for displaying cleverness and stupidity, sometimes both at once” (Sorry about the ‘stupidity’ part, I’m just quoting a quote).

We and the clever coyote “can send troubles away or invite them carelessly!”

The choice happens to be ours (or his).

And by jumping to the conclusion that my neighbor’s dog was decorating my driveway with poop presents, I could have invited some troubles my way. My propensity to jump to a conclusion nearly cost me peace and friendship with a neighbor.

I have no bone to pick with the coyotes.

It’s not like I can get them to stop. Politely asking won’t do the trick. I am still puzzled why they seem to have an affinity for driveways to take care of business. They do. Since I didn’t alienate any neighbors over my original theory, I’ve been able to ask around. And yes, coyotes definitely like driveways.

I guess another thing is, coyotes were here first. Yes, they were. The animals and critters were free to roam the earth long before the settlers began carving up the land to stake their claims. We may have a deed to a patch of land that says it’s ours… and they’ve been doing their deed since the beginning of, well, for a very long time, I’m sure. Ergo, the coyotes were here first.

What I learned, a.k.a. – Wisdom of the Wild.

So, let’s sum things up. Coyotes poop anywhere the need strikes. And that might be on my driveway or out among the prairie grasses, although I’m told the grasses tend to tickle a bit.

The driveway is just a swath—It’s a pathway. “We travel in packs, and ya gotta keep up. We can’t just wander into the woods and dig a latrine only to satisfy some human.”

Let the coyote choirs sing in the night as they will. And resist leaping to conclusions before you’ve conducted a proper investigation into the facts of the matter.

Be untucked.

p.s. Oh… one last thing, would you take a sec and share this post with a friend? Thanks, I really appreciate it!