152 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



so far," writes Lankester, 1 "in his interference 

 with extra-human nature, has produced for 

 himself and the living organisms associated 

 with him such a special state of things by his 

 rebellion against natural selection and his 

 defiance of Nature's pre-human dispositions, 

 that he must either go on and acquire firmer 

 control of the conditions or perish miserably 

 by the vengeance certain to fall on the half- 

 hearted meddler in great affairs. We may, 

 indeed, compare civilized man to a successful 

 rebel against Nature, who by every step for- 

 ward renders himself liable to greater and 

 greater penalties, and so cannot afford to pause 

 or fail in one single step." 



All who intimately know the coyote concede 

 that he has a good sense of humor and that 

 there lurks behind those cold, crafty, green eyes 

 a passion for trickery. It is a great sport of his 

 to tantalize and play jokes on the ranch dogs 

 by keeping them up and in a state of growling 

 ill-humor half the night, robbing them and the 

 ranch people who own them of half their sleep. 

 He will bark beguilingly for hours, using his 

 1 Kingdom of Man (1911), pp. 31-32. 



