Daily Coyote

I happened upon a blog that a woman, Shreve Stockton, has started about an orphaned coyote pup she "adopted" by chance in Wyoming. At just a few weeks old Charlie wandered onto her doorstep last April after both his parents were killed, and she has been rearing him, so to speak, as he learns to fend for himself. Apparently, there is an annual coyote killing contest near her home where the person who kills the most coyotes in one day wins $1800. She is teaching him about the outdoors, and he roams freely most of the time, but for at least that one day this year she kept him inside.

Anyway, the blog is quite beautiful, and is a 2007 Weblog Awards Finalist. She started the blog in September, but her stories & photos she shares are from the beginning. So, while it's December now, she's still documenting this past summer. Shreve is a photographer & writer, and there are the most amazing photos of Charlie on her blog. A few of my favorites include:

Shreve is documenting how Charlie is growing, and becoming more independent, honing his hunting skills, while you can just tell deep down she is heartbroken in knowing that someday Charlie will decide he's ready to leave her. She comments frequently that Charlie is very much a wild animal, and while he may snuggle with her and her cat at times, he is not domesticated.

Shreve herself is also very interesting. She lives about 60 miles from the nearest grocery store in a small house by herself. She was driving from San Francisco back to NYC (where she's from) and stopped for only a day to take in the beautiful Wyoming scenery. A month later returned to Wyoming & has been there ever since. She has documented some of her travels on her other blog, Vespa Vagabond. I am somehow fascinated with her lifestyle and the freeness she must have, and can get lost for hours reading through her stories & photos. Very interesting stuff.