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In her
memoir The Daily Coyote, Shreve Stockton does something
not often seen in the literary world—she has written
an imminently readable and charming book from a blog.
Stockton's
eponymous blog details her life with a coyote named Charlie.
Since the Daily Coyote is primarily a photo blog with brief
commentary, Stockton has a year's worth of Charlie stories
that even regular visitors weren't aware existed. Stockton's
tale of raising and living with an orphaned coyote pup is
unique and fascinating, and she never shies away from the
questions readers may have about her unusual arrangement.
Stockton's
story begins with falling in love—with a state. During
a cross-country trip on a Vespa, she stops in Wyoming and
becomes enthralled with the state's incredible beauty and
the friendliness of people living in its small towns. Unable
to shake her crush on Wyoming once back in her hometown of
New York City, she finds herself looking at listings for rentals
in Wyoming and shortly thereafter moves to be with her love.
Once
settled in the small town of Ten Sleep, she is befriended
by Mike, a local part-time rancher whose full-time job is
working as a government trapper, protecting livestock by killing
poaching coyotes. Stockton takes the time to explain his job
to readers who may not be familiar with these hired killers,
and notes that without them, local ranchers would probably
poison the coyotes themselves and kill many other animals
in the process. When Mike kills a female coyote that was raising
a young pup, he brings that pup to Stockton to raise, rather
than letting it die in the wilderness.
Stockton
does not back away from discussing the harsh aspects of living
in Ten Sleep. Besides having a helpless coyote pup dumped
on her, she has to deal with difficult winter weather living
in a small cabin with no hot water. She loses her job as a
substitute teacher once people find out she's raising a coyote—an
animal that is much despised by the ranchers. Her cat Eli
becomes standoffish after the pup moves in, knowing instinctually
that cats are coyote food. And then there are the difficulties
of raising a wild animal with no training or assistance. All
of this adds layers of complexity to a book that could have
been just another heart-warming "life with animals" memoir.
Stockton's
sentences easily evoke the grandeur, beauty, and bleakness
of life in Wyoming, and her color photos show readers Charlie
as he grows from an adorable pup to a full-fledged coyote.
Readers will feel like cheering as she teaches the pup simple
commands like "sit," knowing that coyotes are not supposed
to be that smart. She also discusses how the Daily Coyote
evolved from an email of a photo a day she would send to a
few friends to a popular and controversial blog where commenters
both berate and praise her for raising Charlie. And then there
is her sweet cowboy romance with the walled-off and taciturn
Mike. It's clear that their love of Charlie helped the couple
through some rough times.
As the
tale moves from Wyoming's brittle winter to the verdant spring
and summer Stockton never ventures into overly-sentimental
or maudlin territory, which keeps The Daily Coyote
apart from many other animal books. And she resists the trap
of reproducing blog comments and conversations, something
that ensnared many others who have adapted their blogs into
book form. Animal lovers and wilderness lovers alike will
no doubt enjoy life with Charlie as much as Stockton does.
(December,
2008)
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