07/23/2025
I will never understand how people can hate them so much. When I look at Silas— an orphan coyote who was found starving and covered in ticks today— I see a creature just as bright, sensitive, curious, and worthy of respect as a domestic dog. I see a frightened puppy who misses his mom. I see an animal who intuitively relates to humans, who responds to my body language and my breathing. I see an animal who makes eye contact with me in a silent agreement that we won’t hurt each other.
Coyotes are not domestic dogs, but they are dogs. Just like domestic dogs, their social structure and thinking patterns are similar to humans. They are monogamous partners, dedicated parents, cooperative friends. They play with toys. They chase their tails. They get scared of fireworks and traffic and bigger, stronger dogs. Yet they are maligned, feared, and killed because, unlike our pet dogs, they live freely, independent of us, and they have to hunt for their food.
Coyotes are a treasured and critical part of our ecosystem in Tennessee. After we killed every last one of our red wolves— animals so similar to coyotes in appearance, size, and behavior that an average person can’t tell them apart— we experienced an unsustainable explosion of smaller predators like raccoons, foxes, and feral cats. Our songbirds and turtle populations declined rapidly as these small predators decimated their numbers by eating eggs and young. Deer populations, too, have exploded, leading to the destruction of forests, disease outbreaks, and traffic collisions.
Nature has a way to solve its own problems, so coyotes crossed the Mississippi to fill the gaps left behind when the wolves were all gone. Coyotes are part of the solution to one of the greatest ecological disasters in our state’s history, but are vilified for it.
We can’t hate Silas because he may one day eat a fawn, or because his presence might mean that a pet owner can’t let her chihuahua outside unattended at night. We love and respect him for his wildness and for what he offers to our planet.
We need help caring for Silas and our other patients. Please see our Linktree for ways to donate. 💜 https://linktr.ee/forfoxsakewildlife
Our greatest need right now is for cash donations through PayPal, freeze-dried raw kibble from our Amazon wishlist, and frozen food donations through RodentPro. Thank you all for making it possible.
[Description: a coyote in a cage, resting his head on a green and white towel. He looks tired. He looks similar to a domestic dog in appearance and is red-brown in color, with a black nose, large ears, and a long snout.]
