The Howler: The Dog Who Joined a Coyote Pack | Terrestrials Podcast

How a coyote’s flexibility is its greatest strength. On the outskirts of the Nevada desert, a young dog named Hades jumped his fence and ran away from home. His family lost hope, until one night, they saw Hades on the news. For almost seven months, he had been sleeping, eating and howling with a pack of coyotes. We usually view coyotes as vicious, bloodthirsty beasts. But turns out, they can be pretty friendly. They form unlikely alliances with other animals all the time. They’re so flexible they can eat almost anything and live everywhere from open prairies to city streets, where they lurk unseen like urban ghosts. Conservation scientist Christine Willkinson, or scrappy naturalist, tells us why a coyote’s scrappiness is its greatest superpower. In a world that rewards specialists, coyotes make a case for generalists - the ones not spectacular at any one thing, but just okay at everything. Plus, to find these ghosts in her own city, Lulu goes on an urban coyote hunt. Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC Studios. This episode was produced by Ana González, Alan Goffinski, Mira Burt-Wintonick, Joe Plourde, Lulu Miller, and Sarah Sandbach, with help from Tanya Chawla. Fact checking by Natalie Middleton. Our advisors this season are Ana Luz Porzecanski, Anil Lewis, Dominique Shabazz, and Liza Demby. Support for Terrestrials also comes from the Simons Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the John Templeton Foundation. 🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab for Kids Presents: Terrestrials wherever you listen to podcasts: https://lnk.to/radiolabforkids!youtube 🔎 Subscribe to Terrestrials on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3I9KI53 🖋 Subscribe to the Terrestrials Newsletter: terrestrialspodcast.org 🌱 Check out all Terrestrials episodes: https://bit.ly/42XAtyg 👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment! Follow Terrestrials : Instagram —   / terrestrialspodcast   TikTok —   / terrestrialspodcast   Our newsletter includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up here: terrestrialspodcast.org Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: terrestrialspodcast.org/join Photo illustration by Tara Anand Video by W. Harry Fortuna