My humble review of Americaâs New Wolf:
âAmericaâs New Wolfâ follows the spread of a new elusive carnivore in the Maine wilderness. Is it a coyote? A coydog? A coywolf? A brush wolf? A âNew Wolfâ? The animal has more aliases than a convicted felon.
Itâs larger than the common western coyote, reaching up to 50+ pounds, and appears to be a very successful hunter of healthy, adult deer.
As expected, farmers and outdoorsmen arenât happy about the new visitor, who is now serious competition and a threat to their livehoods. Traps are set, bullets are flying around, pups are eliminated from their dens, but the numbers refuse to go down. The mongrel coyote is now a permanent resident of the state and people must learn to live with him.
No other animal in modern Maine has stirred up and divided people to this extent. There is hardly a middle ground between those who blindly love it and those who vehemently hate it. Still, there are certain parts in this book that acknowledge the canineâs place in the ecosystem - the 60âs are the beginning of a turning point in attitudes towards predators. Whatâs even more surprising, the book doesnât call for full-scale eradication (mostly because itâs costly and proven to be futile).
Few other animals have endured such hatred, prosecution and continent-wide eradication campaigns such as the grey wolf. The Eastern coyote is the wolf that not only refuses to be eliminated, but also thrives despite everything humanity throws at it.
