If coyotes could be people this guy would be Steve McQueen. We met one cold day in November in Rocky Mountain National Park where I was cruising the road to the Moraine valley and he was walking down the side of the road. I slowly coasted to a stop, rolled the window down and asked him “where you going?” That began a mostly one-sided conversation that lasted for nearly 45 minutes. Because it was the middle of the week and cold there was virtually no one else in the park, not a car went by and we had the day to ourselves.

After he was asked where he was going he sat down on his side of the road and I stayed on mine and we had our conversation. He said his name was Hard Case because when he was younger he liked to fight a lot and that was how his ear got ripped.

I asked him a lot of questions because I’d never had the chance to talk with a  coyote before and he answered some and others that perhaps were just a bit too personal, he disdainfully ignored. Things like who his  favorite ranger was, how many voles could he eat at a single setting (31) and whether or not he liked summer better than winter. It turns out that he had mixed feelings about that one. In the summer the tourists would throw him food, which he liked but knew he wasn’t supposed to have, and in the winter he didn’t have to worry about getting run over crossing the road.

Since I was there to take pictures I asked if he would mind posing a little, nothing too strenuous, no jumping up in the air and slamming his nose against the ground to catch voles, no slinking, nothing that would make him look foolish. He wanted to borrow my shades but I thought that would look too staged. A simple look left

and a look right and then he wanted to borrow my shades again. Things got a little testy when I refused. I was worried about getting them back actually, after all I had just met this guy and these were brand new Ray-bans.

When I was firm about it he said some pretty uncomplimentary things, very rude things if you want the truth, and decided the conversation was over.

I told him not to be like that. I tried to talk him back saying that I would bring a hamburger for him next time, but he was really cheesed off and said there wasn’t going to be a next time and I should go… well that part was impossible to do so I won’t even repeat it.

So that was that and with no further ado he got up and left. I learned a valuable lesson that day, new friends can be really fickle.