The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton

Shreve Stockton was a city girl, born and bred, until a need to return home to New York City from San Francisco cheaply led to her riding back cross-country on her Vespa. When she passed over the border into Wyoming, she fell in love with the state, and moved there shortly after she returned home, to a small town called Ten Sleeps. There, she met and fell in love with Mike, a rancher who shot Coyotes for the government when they became too numerous and troubled the ranchers and homeowners.

One day, Mike, when he was on a "search and destroy" mission, took home a coyote pup for Shreve and asked if she wanted to keep it. If she didn't, he would drown it in a tub of water. Its fellow pups had already been gassed. Shreve was horrified that anyone would want to kill a defenseless animal, and immediately took in the approximately 10-day old pup, who she named Charley.

Right from the beginning, Charley didn't act like the wild animal she knew he was. He was embarassingly affectionate with both Shreve and her fellow housemate Eli, a ginger tomcat. Eli didn't like Charley at first, and when Charley got on Eli's nerves too much, out came Eli's paw for a hard swat, but eventually, even he learned to live with Charley as the tiny pup grew. And he grew very swiftly, but even as he grew, he remained affectionate and loving.

Because of Charley's adorableness as a puppy, Shreve started sending pictures of him as he grew to some friends and family. But general acclaim for her pictures, and a need for money, led her to start a mail list called "The Daily Coyote". There, you could sign up, and for a small fee, could recieve a new picture of Charlie once per day. This soon grew into a blog, also called "The Daily Coyote", where she displayed old pictures of Charlie.

But it was this blog that was soon to cause trouble between Shreve and Charlie. Her blog became so popular that it not only had those who sang its praises, and the praises of her and Charlie, but also its detractors, who sent e-mails and comments that were ignorant and abusive. Shreve's attempts to respond to the detractors led to her spending more time in front of the computer than with Charlie, and he took her situation as percieved weakness and attempted to take over as Alpha, leading to several incidents where she got bitten. She became afraid of Charlie, and their relationship deteriorated.

But reading a book called "The Energetic Alpha" provided a way for her to get back on track, and eventually, she had a breakthrough that allowed her to reconnect with Charlie as the true Alpha of the pack, a situation she is still in today. But living in a region where Coyotes are shot on sight, is there any hope for Charlie to survive? Or will some well-meaning neighbor or rancher, hunter or passerby, shoot Charlie on sight because they don't know him?

I loved this book, and soon after I read it, I sought out "The Daily Coyote" blog, which honestly, you have to see to believe, and her new site, here. I was rather surprised to see that several of her blog posts made it into her book, and while I haven't read her Vespa blog, I wouldn't be surprised to see that some bits from her book were originally posted there as well.

The focus of the book is not only on Charlie, but on Shreve herself- how she came to find and love Wyoming's wide open spaces, and how she adapted, going from a city girl to a thoroughgoing country gal who is able to hack deer and Elk Legs off caracasses for Charlie, and deal with the realities of raising animals for feed and hunting, both of which she had never encountered before moving to Wyoming. But Charlie is the true star of the show.

The story of Charlie growing up, and how Shreve dealt with his antics, and his more serious attempts to become Alpha when her life changed and she began spending less time with him, is fascinating to read. I'm not sure I could have handled the changes both of them underwent. Though I have to admit that Charlie is ever so cute as a puppy, and gorgeous as a teen and adult. The book is filled with pictures, and watching Charlie grow through them is fascinating. I'm glad I read this book, and "met" Charlie. I wish Shreve and him many more happy and healthy years together, and recommend his book to anyone who loves animals. You'll fall in love with Charlie, too!