Date: 10 March 2011
When writer-photographer Shreve Stockton decided to return to her old love, New York City, after a spell in California, she took the long journey on her Vespa, and on the way unexpectedly fell in love with the open spaces and Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Rather quickly she made the move from New York to the small town of Ten Sleep. She taught school, wrote, acquired a cat and became friends with Mike, a local trapper and cowboy. One day he brought her an orphaned baby coyote he couldn’t bring himself to kill.
Coyotes are hunted intensely in the area to protect farmed animals so Charlie was at first raised in secret. Shreve sent her ‘Daily Coyote’ photos of Charlie to friends and family who encouraged her to write a blog. Lovable and as trainable as any pup at first, Charlie’s hero and playmate was Eli the cat and Shreve was ‘the boss’. Much joy and delight followed as both Charlie and the relationship grew, but eventually there were the big questions to face about his future and Shreve’s safety, and changes had to be made. A great story set in an amazing setting, that informs and questions while acknowledging the controversies.