And they go … hoo yip hoo yip hoo
Whoodle do yip who do yip hoo hoo
Hoo yip hoo yip hoo
Whoodle do yip who do yip hoo hoo
“Coyotes” by Don Edwards as heard at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGGEfl8GzK8
Yip, Yip.
We kind of like that song that some of you-hoo humans sing. I say kind of because it’s about as close as you-hoo can get to speaking coyote, though it still ain’t quite right. We do-hoo hoo and yip but we don’t whooodle; that there’s some kinda cowboy yodel. You-hoo may not know it, but we can also growl, huff, woof, bark and whoop, dependin’ on the occasion. Not all us do-hoo it the same way. In fact, we all do-hoo it differently. And we can tell who-hoo’s yippin’ by the way they do-hoo it, even when they’re a mile or two-hoo away. Some of you-hoo may wonder what it is we’re sayin’. Or maybe how a couple of us can sound like half a dozen. Here’s how we do-hoo it. ‘Lotta times it’s just the wife and me gettin’ out of the den for a little stroll in the moo-hoo-nlight. I lets out a howl, then she’ll yip, yip, yip, and then I’ll howl right quick after her. Hoo-Yip-Yip-Yip-Hoo. It gets to soundin’ like there’s a whole bunch of us out there even though there ain’t. It may surprise you-hoo to learn that we don’t have that much to say: maybe just “we’re over here” or “let’s hunt.” Why then, you-hoo may wonder, do-hoo we keep a yammerin’ on like we do-hoo? Same reason cowboys yodel. ‘Cause we like the way it sounds. And we like it when you-hoo turn yer lights on and poke yer heads out the window after yer little Fifi gets her poodle up. Little dogs have a lot to say from a distance. We have no idea what they’re sayin’, but they amuse us and they make good snacks. It has come to our attention that some of you-hoo – hunters mostly – like to imitate us right around this time of year. Well, good luck with that. If you-hoo don’t slam your door or skyline yourself, we’ll probably smell you-hoo comin.’ If you-hoo really want to speak coyote, just go out somewhere by yerself and howl for a good long while. When the sound you’re puttin’ out makes the hair on the back of yer neck stand up, why then yer startin’ to get it.
Yip, Yip.
Peter Anderson recently retired from teaching in order to become a full-time word wrangler. He lives in Crestone.
