Coyote Girl (a one in a million success story)

This video song is about a coyote named Rosie who brought our Laurel Canyon, California neighborhood together in the late summer of 2009. No one knew what she was because she was hairless and dark gray- some people even thought she was a Chupacabra.

It turned out she was a small, nine month old female coyote with mange and secondary infections. She was the saddest looking animal we had ever seen. Everyone wanted to help her.

The whole community joined together and spent three months tracking her. We finally trapped her in my garden and brought her in for rehabilitation. She was released in February and is now running free, as she should be, helping to keep our community vermin and disease free.

The images seen during the solo are the complete cycle from new born to four weeks to four months with mange to nine months with mange to ten months to one week after her capture to three weeks into rehabilitation to healed and ready for release.

Rosie was a situation of a coyote bringing a community together and teaching us how to live with the wildlife rather than destroying it. Hopefully other communities will learn how to do the same.

By the way, after seeing Rosie for the first time, I believe that the legend of the Chupacabra originated with people seeing coyotes with mange - the number two killer of coyotes.

The song and another cut from the upcoming Waiting For Rosie CD are available for digital download at http://www.petcds.com. Also available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/SkipHaynes1

All profits from Coyote Girl are donated to rehabbing native wildlife. Coyote Girl is the beginning of a campaign to educate people about coyotes and all the wildlife we live with in the urban interface.

Coyotes, like sharks, are completely misunderstood and a very necessary part of our ecosystem