I used to think it would be handy to keep some chickens in the backyard – just for the eggs – but two things held me back: the local laws and the coyotes. Well, now the laws have been changed, but the coyotes aren’t going away.

In fact, it looks as if coyotes will never go away. They’re more widespread on this continent now than they were in the 19th century. Once mainly a western animal, they now live from coast to coast, down into Mexico and Guatemala, and up almost – not quite – to the Arctic. Coyotes have expanded their territory even though we humans have been busy shooting, trapping, and generally struggling with them all this time. How do they do it?

For one thing, they’ve learned to live with us, better than we’ve learned to live with them. They eat our garbage, and sometimes our farm animals and pets. They run away when we yell at them – usually. (Urban coyotes are getting braver.)

As well as being willing to eat almost anything, coyotes can live in almost any kind of habitat, from pine forests to prairies to deserts to the ‘burbs, as long as it has a little cover to hide in. It also helps if there are no predators around – but then, the modern world has plenty of places without bears, mountain lions, or wolves.

If we don’t actually want coyotes in our yards, we’re told, we have to keep them free of anything edible, including fallen fruit and small animals. And fresh eggs, probably. Oh, well, chickens would’ve been a pain anyway . . .