Song of the Coyote. # The night is black. A coyote stands high on a hill. Its eyes shine in the darkness. It lifts its head. It howls. The wild sound fills the air. The coyote's howl is the night song of the mountains. Coyotes look like small wolves. Their soft fur is grey and yellow. They helong to the dog family. In some ways they are like dogs. But they are wild. Coyote pups are born in the spring. A mother will have about six pups. At first, the father brings them food. Later, the mother hunts, too. She will teach her pups to hunt. Coyotes eat all kinds of things. They eat birds. They eat eggs. They eat snakes and insects. But they like rabbits best. They are very clever. Often two of them hunt together. One digs at a rabbit's front door. The other waits at the back of the burrow. The rabbit runs out the back. The coyotes have lunch! There are fewer coyotes now than there used to be. But the coyote's howl still fills the night. It still sings of being wild and free