Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History

Coyote America is the story of—to no one's surprise—coyotes in America. However, most interesting, it's a story of American history, through the lens of a uniquely American canine breed.

It's grim at times. American coyote policy has included the poisoning and extermination of millions of coyotes, often to benefit Western ranchers. Coyotes, however, are incredibly adaptive both geographically and to new threats. Coyotes have expanded to every continental US state, and have learned to exist on the fringes of cities and suburbs. Most impressively, coyotes will have larger litters when they're under threat. Thus, every single mass extermination program has failed.

The book was enjoyable and interesting. I learned a lot about coyotes and US environmental policy. There was no deeper thesis, however. But, for what it is, I'm glad I read it.