I nuzzled up to my mothers soft, beautiful fur. I had just taken my first raspy breaths of life and I am very tired. I will rest for the night and grow up to be one of the worst victims of human’s cruel treatment. I am Birch, a coyote. The last year for me has been the worst, I lost my mate, my pups, my happiness, and now my life is a huge nightmare. Now I am stuck in this cage and the future is uncertain. Most people think of coyotes as stupid, black-hearted killers and thieves, but they never even tried to see what we are truly like. Sure, we kill animals, but just for food and only to eat, never for fun, or sport, or any other stupid thing that humans kill animals for. Maybe we steal stuff, but when we see an easy meal, why shouldn’t we take it, hunting is really hard. But we coyotes are defiantly NOT stupid and NOT black-hearted. We have families and pups that we love, we can feel happy or sad, be in pain, or feel sick; just like any animal. Anyway, when I was a pup, I was happy. I love my brothers and sisters, my parents, my home, and I just loved to be alive. When I left my home, I found a nice quiet wood where I could live. Wile I was in the wood, I found another coyote on my territory. I tackled it, but then I realized that this coyote was a female, her name was Tally. We fell in love and had six little baby pups, I was SOOOO proud and my life was going great. But then, my life was started heading downhill.

It all started when all the prey started to disappear! One day, I went out to investigate and found that humans where killing all the prey for sport. When I told Tally, she was worried. What will happen to the pups? But I assured her that they will be fine as long as we can find some food. She wasn’t convinced. For the fall, my whole family had to survive on about two mice a week and the rest of the food was berries and junk.

 One day I found a dead rabbit just laying there. Well, I thought of it as the perfect dinner for the pups, so I took it to the den. Tally was overjoyed and fed it to the pups. The pups ate in their little order when the strongest goes first and the weakest goes last, I thought that was stupid, but as long as all the pups get food, it doesn’t matter, so I let them eat like that, and it saved the life of four of our pups. The first pup was a male named Luke; he ate until he almost threw up. The second pup, Lily, ate what she needed and saved the rest for her siblings. Just as the third pup, Lyco, a male, was about to eat, Tally became stiff. Then she grabbed the rabbit right from under Lyco nose and buried it quickly, as if she was in panic. Lyco was upset, and I was confused. Tally could sense our confusion and she just said in grim words “poison.” I gasped and grunted angrily. Why in the world would those stupid humans try to poison us?!

The next day, the two pups that ate the tainted meat, Luke and Lily, died. Tally was howling and crying with a mixture of distress and sorrow. I comforted her and reminded her that we still have to watch out for our four remaining pups and everything will get better if we are more careful, but boy was I wrong.

 A few days later, we heard a crack, then a huge CRASH!! I jumped a mile and went out to investigate; well, actually, I looked up and saw a huge yellow monster through a few yards away. Tally gasped and started shaking. “What are we going to do?” she asked. You could tell that she was on the hinge of panic, but she contained herself so she wouldn’t get the pups worried.

 “I don’t know.” I whispered. I was sure that she could hear the panic in my voice.

“What’s going on?” asked Storm, the youngest pup.

 “Don’t worry little one.” Tally said with a calm, gentle tone. I was half impressed that she could talk like that at a time like this and half scared for the four remaining pups.

“Are you sure?” asked Luna, the second to youngest pup. Tally affectionately pressed her muzzle against Luna’s warm trembling body, but said nothing. Then she nudged me away from the pups and whispered, “We have to leave, it is our only choice.” I hesitated and nodded, then I hung my head, I didn’t want to leave. Tally fixed her eyes on the ground for a moment than looked up at me. She smiled faintly and licked my cheek. “We are in this together, no matter what. That has to count for something”

“It does,” I whimpered. Tally turned to the four confused pups. “We must go to a new land” Tally told the pups as calm as possible.

“Why?” wined Silver, the fourth oldest pup.”

 “B-Be-Because,” I stuttered.

Tally sighed and told them. “Humans are coming to the forest making it unsafe for us to live here,” she said quietly.

 “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!” Storm wailed out.

“No,” I said firmly, “we are NOT going to die!” Storm was unconvinced and that made the other pups think the same. Storm ran to me and cried in front of me, then I laid down and he buried his face in my coat. I put a comforting paw over his back and drew my tail over his body. The other pups cried out to and Tally instinctively ran to them and drew the three pups close to her body and licked each one in turn. Storm was sobbing. I touched his nose with mine and curled up into a ball, completely surrounding the horrified pup. I moved my muzzle closer to his ear. “Don’t worry,” I whispered, “I won’t let you die.”

The next morning, we set on our journey to find a new land. We didn’t know which way to go, so we just traveled away from the big yellow monsters. I carried Storm on my back and Silver in my jaws, wile Tally carried Lyco and Luna. We traveled and traveled and traveled even more, but everywhere we went, there were human towns.

I think it was the ninth day we traveled, we came a medal track. I put Storm and Silver down and told Tally to watch them. I wandered out onto the wide track. I sniffed it. “Train,” I whispered to myself. “This is a train track!” I called to Tally and the pups. “It should be safe unless a…” I trailed off. I looked to the left and heard the Defining rumble of the giant medal machine. By the time I was looking back to tell the group to stay where they were, Tally, followed by the pups, were about half way across the track. “RUN!” I yowled and turned tail and ran in blind panic. Tally and the pups did the same. No one noticed Silver stop suddenly when her paw got caught between the tracks.

 “HELP” she cried, but her squeaky howl was lost as the train raced into view. Tally and the other pups sprinted safely to the other side and I ran back to greet them. Then Tally saw her helpless pup ran back onto the track to save her. I was horrified to see my mate and one of my pups out on the track like that. Tally grabbed Silvers scruff and pulled with all her might. Silver let out a yelp of pain but she remained stuck. I raced onto the track and grabbed Silver’s body in my powerful jaws. With a violent jerk, Silver’s paw popped free. Tally grabbed my scruff and yanked me towards safety.

 “COME ON,” she howled and the three of us dove out of the way just in time. I panted heavily and squeezed Silver against my chest in relief as she cried wile returning to reality from her petrified state. Tally wedged her paw between us and drew Silver towards her and licked her rapidly, but our trouble was far from over.

As we were passing through a yard of in one of the town, we spotted a dish with brown pellets in it. They smelled good, so I tried one and my hunger died down a bit. I was about to dig in when I remembered that I had a family to feed. I stepped aside saying, its safe. Then Tally sniffed the food and tried one pellet. I was sure she had the same reaction as me. “It’s safe, dig in,” she stated. The pups attacked to food.

 “You eat some.” I told Tally. “You need the strength.” She licked me affectionately and nosed her way into the food. I watched my family eat and Tally signaled with her tail for me to eat some. I hesitated and trotted over. I ate one pellet at a time and restrained myself from taking to much. As we all were eating, a dog a bit bigger then me leaped from the bushed and clamped its giant teeth around Tally’s bony leg. She yelped with pain as the dog dragged her a few feet and swung her around as she collided with the fence and lay motionless. I was horror-struck, but snapped out of it as a lunged at the dog. My teeth met its fur and it yelped. It shook me off and pinned me to the ground with saliva dripping from its messy jaws. I twisted around slipped from the dogs grasp. I curled my lips back and protectively put myself in between the dog and the pups. The dog ran at me and I pushed the pups aside and ordered them to run. The four bundles of fur stumbled and tripped to safety. I launched a vicious attack for the dog’s throat and sprang. The dog’s floppy ears got in my way and I just missed the target and instead got the ear. It yelped and threw me to the ground. Then it sprang at me, but I rolled over and attacked its side. Then it hit me with its massive paw and I fell to the ground. The dog sunk its teeth into my shoulder and I yelped loudly. Just then, Lyco sprinted to the dog and grabbed its tail. The dog looked around and forcefully jerked its tail. Lyco tumbled to the ground as the dog trapped him in those powerful jaws. The dog turned to me with Lyco’s limp body in its mouth and dropped him. Tally gained consciousness and leaped for the dog. She tackled it to the ground and bit it. It yelped and struggled to its feet and turned tail and fled. Tally nudged Lycos lifeless body and howled a low sad song. The remaining pups cried and snuggled up to Tally, all except Storm. He ran to me and dug through my fur searching for safety. I grasped him in my jaws and I stood beside Tally who looked at me, on the verge of tears, then cried into my coat. She lay down and I sat next to her. I let a few tears escape me.

 “What was that thing?” asked Silver, between tearful breaths.

 “That was a dog,” I answered.

“Why did it attack us,” she asked.

“Because people trained it to attack us,” I told her.

“Why didn’t it ask us to leave instead of just blindly attacking us,” She questioned.

“I-I don’t know” I answered.

            Tally, the three pups, and I slowly continued our journey for about another hour. I was very worried because the pups were beginning to complain that their paws ached, my shoulder was killing me, and Tally was limping heavily. Finally, we reached a small wood. We couldn’t live in it because it had no prey because it was too small, but it would do for the night. All five of us snuggled together in a tight circle with the pups in the middle to sleep.

In the morning, my shoulder became better and so did Tally’s leg. We journeyed on solemnly, only stopping to drink in the scents around us to see if it was safe.

Soon, we came to another train track. Silver shuddered and edged closer to Tally, obviously recalling the day when the giant metal train almost claimed her life. Tally ran her tail down Silver’s back comfortingly, but memories aren’t forgotten with just the swish of a tail. I hesitated before setting paw on the icy cold track. I looked both ways, nothing. I sniffed the air, nothing, and I stepped on the metal track to fell for vibrations, nothing. I continued warily onto the track and signaled with my tail for the others to follow. Tally nudged the pups on ahead, but Silver refused to go. Tally fastened her teeth around Silvers scruff and lifted her off the ground. She nosed the two other pups ahead of her and then slowly followed. Silver had her eyes closed tight as if she was expecting a train to come out of nowhere. When Tally and the pups were safely across, Silver loosened her muscles, relieved that the train tracks where behind her.

We traveled for about another day, and then came to a wide open field. On the other side of the field were woods. Tally looked at me, relief clearly shining in her deep gold eyes. I smiled and nodded to tell her that we should continue onward to the woods. I led the way across the wide open field. I was surprised at how well cut and even the grass was. I knew that humans did it.

“What is that” asked Storm, pointing his muzzle towards a small thin flag.

“I don’t know” I answered

“I’m going to check it out,” Storm announced confidently and sprinted of towards the flag

“Storm, Wait!” I shouted after him, “we don’t know what that is!” but I was to late, Storm was already next to the flag and pressed his nose against the flagpole, letting the scent fill his nostrils as if the flagpole was something very important and mysterious. He took a step backward and locked his eyes on the red flag above. He let out playful growl and lunged carelessly at the flag and landed lightly on his feet, and then he lunged again and yelped as he landed. Tally and I ran up to him followed by the other two pups. Storm had landed successfully on three paws, but the other one was jammed inside a hole about an inch or two deep. I picked him up and licked his swollen paw. Then, a blinding flash lightened up the whole field. The pups were horror-struck and I turned my head to see a group of humans with a thing that I think is called a camera.

“RUN!!!” Tally yowled desperately. I picked Storm up and ran for the woods. We seemed to be running for hours and the woods never looked any closer. Another flash lightened the field behind me and I ran faster. Finally, the woods were only yards in front of us. I ran into the woods and stopped after I was several yards away. I gently put Storm back on the ground and liked his hurt paw. Tally raced to me holding Silver and Luna not far behind. She took my place next to Storm and examined his paw slowly, assuring that she didn’t miss on scratch. She plucked a small dirt clog from in between his pad and relaxed a bit. I looked at our surroundings and was happy at what I saw. Trees as far as I could see, the rustling of prey in the bushes and under the leaves, and no scent of humans up ahead. I smiled and looked at Tally. She seemed to be satisfied too.

“I think this is the place,” she told me confidently.

“I agree,” I told her happily. We walked a few minuets deeper into the forest, then, Silver suddenly let out a desperate shrike. She yowled and struggled. Tally and I swerved around. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Behind us, Silver’s paw got stuck in a metal trap. The teeth of the trap dug painfully into her small front leg. She howled and jerked helplessly. Tally bolted to her daughter’s side and quickly examined the trap. She grabbed one side of the trap in her jaws and beckoned me with her tail to grab the other side. I obeyed quickly and Luna and Storm stared in horror at their trapped sister. Tally and I tried to pull the trap apart and free Silver, but the trap was too hard and slippery to get a grip on. You could tell that she was in tons of pain and I almost cried seeing her suffer like that. Then we heard the clumsy footsteps of a human. I yanked at Tally’s scruff and all four of us jumped into the undergrowth.

About a minuet of waiting behind the bushes and ferns, three humans busted through the bushed and laughed spitefully at the little coyote struggling to get free. The biggest human pulled the medal jaws of the trap apart and lifted Silver from the trap. He held her eye level from him and laughed tauntingly at her as she swiped boldly at his nose. He chucked deeply and muttered something to his three companions and the laughed loud enough to scar the prey miles around.

Suddenly Tally sprang from the under growth and threw herself at the man holding Silver

“RUN” she yowled to Silver and the terrified pup scrambled away. Before she got very far, the second human snatched her up and stuffer her in a box, then ran away. The third human went to help the first human. I leaped out and tacked him to the ground. He yelled and turned to face me. I wasn’t going to bite him, but I wanted to scar him enough to keep him away from the forest for a wile. Tally, on the other hand was attacking very viciously. Then Storm and Luna came to join the battle. Then, the third human reached for his gun and a large bang filled the air. Tally immediately loosened her grip the human’s fatty arm and stared in horror at Luna lying still with blood flowing endlessly onto the cold rocky ground. Tally ran to her pup’s lifeless body. She nudged her deceased daughter and howled in grief. I trotted miserably to her side and rested my muzzle on her shoulder. She licked Luna’s body and turned to the humans. She faced them with her fur bristling. I looked into her eyes. The fire inside them told me just how much she was hurt by her last daughter gone and the fierce hunger for vengeance. She snarled ferociously and lunged for the human’s throat. I tacked her to the ground. She struggled strongly beneath my paws.

“What are you doing” I asked

“Get off of me!!” She snapped. I was very taken aback by the icy tone in her voice, it almost hurt. All signs of gentleness and self control were gone from. It was like I didn’t know her. She humans grabbed Luna’s body and sprinted away, the human that Tally had attacked bleeding badly. When they had gone I loosened my grip from Tally. She suddenly started to sobbed.

“I’m so sorry, Birch” she whispered. I licked her shoulder tenderly. There was nothing I could say at a time like this. All that time, Storm was staring in terror as the humans shoot Luna, his mother attack the humans, his dad stopping her, and now, Tally was crying. He was confused, but he didn’t question anything. Tally and I turned to him. Tally stopped crying and shook her head to clear her mind. Tally and I bounded sadly up to him and we both touched noses with him.

“We can’t stay here” Tally told me quietly, “it’s too dangerous.” I nodded my agreement and we continued onward out of the woods and into another town. We walked me and Tally taking turns carrying Storm, town by town.

Eventually, the towns turned into houses acres apart from one another. Next to one of the houses, we saw a lot of birds. They couldn’t fly and were fat. My mouth watered just looking at them. I stalked through the overgrown lawn and soon one was right in front of me. Then a human came out of the door holding a gun. I yowled and fled. Tally ran too. An ear piercing bang filled the air. Tally had Storm clamped in her jaws and bolted ahead of me. I ram as fast as I could and another blast rang so loud, I thought my ears would fall off. The human then started to yell curses after us. Then I heard the door of his house slam closed and I slowed down a bit, slowly getting calmer.

We reached a red barn and went behind it to rest. “Oh boy, that was close” Tally panted.

“I know,” I agreed.

“Is there anywhere safe to be?” Storm asked shakily.

“Of course there is, honey,” Tally paused and then went on, “we just haven’t found it yet”

We walked and walked and walked, as usual. I was starting to lose hope that we would ever reach a place we can call home. Soon we found a small forest, but it stank of humans, so we wouldn’t live there, but maybe, if we traveled far enough into it, we would find a way out and maybe the other side wouldn’t be as full of humans as this place. We started to follow a path that was tramped down by generations of humans, but then trailed off as a less travel path appeared. It smelled like humans have been there recently, but we decided to go that way anyway. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I led the way, but suddenly, the path got unnaturally quiet. I froze because I scented humans very nearby. Tally couldn’t sent them because the sweet smell of Storm, whom she was holding, filled her nostrils. She passed me a little then looked back.

“What’s wrong?” She asked me.

“Can’t you smell humans very close by?” I asked

“No, can you”

“Yes” I answered.

She gently placed Storm on the ground and opened her mouth to drink in the air. “Oh, ya,” she exclaimed, “I can smell them.”  She trotted farther ahead.

“Be careful, Tally” I shouted after her as I turned to grab Storm.

Suddenly, I loud yowl filled the air.

“TALLY” I howled, “WHERE ARE YOU!”

“BIRCH, STOP,” she answered sharply, “don’t come any closer!”

Then I noticed about 20 feet in front of me was a huge hole.

“Tally,” I yelled, “I’ll get you out!”

“No,” she cried back, “you’ll get trapped down here too. You have to go on and find a safe place for Storm and you to live.”

“No, I can’t without you”

“Yes you can, do it for Storm.”

“Tally, I can’t…

“GO BIRCH, someone’s coming!” I turned my head and heard the shouting of humans and the rustling of ferns and bushes close by.

“If you stay to help me, then Storm will die!” Tally pointed out desperately.

“I love you, Tally,” I sobbed

“I love you too,” she answered, “but I will always be with you, you just can’t see me.”

“I love you Storm,” Tally cried.

“What?” Storm asked, obviously confused, “What’s going on?”

“Go” Tally howled.

“…” I was about to say something, but the humans where almost here. I grabbed Storm and sprinted through the forest until I was sure that I was out of sight. I paused in time to hear a ferocious snarl, the shouting of the humans, a huge boom and a faint whimper, and then all was silent. I blinked away tears and sprinted on. Storm was completely confused. I kept on running. I felt I could run forever. I ran and ran and then stopped for a moment to see where I was, and then I realized how tired I was. I slumped to the ground. I was so depressed, Tally meant the world to me, but the other thing that meant the world to me was Storm. I knew that I needed him and he needed me back, so I couldn’t give up on him.

Soon we came to a town. I slinked through a few streets with Storm hanging from my mouth and found a field with big flat stones with human writing on then stuck out of the ground. I found the biggest stone and hid behind it. I explained to Storm that Tally won’t be here anymore. He immediately burst into tears. I was about to do the same, but knew that that wouldn’t help. I pressed my muzzle against his flank reassuringly. It helped a little, I think. He curled himself against my side sadly. I curled up around him and we spent the night there.

In the morning, we found all sorts of prey in the field and plenty of places to rest, store prey, and hide. We loved it there. Every so often, a group of humans would come and put flowers next to one of the stones, but Storm and I stayed well away.

About a month or two later, Storm went out of the field to explore the rest of the town and he never came back. I didn’t know that he left and was furious with him. Soon the anger turned into panic when I couldn’t find him anywhere. When I couldn’t find him inside the field, I looked outside. Right in the middle of a street was a small, furry lump. It was Storm

“STORM!” I yowled. I was about to run to him, but then remembered that then the same thing would happen to me. I howled sadly, and then felt a sting in my side. I yipped, but then I felt very sleepy and fell asleep. When I woke up I was in this cage and here I am now.

I haven’t been fed in days and I have no water. Oh no, a human is coming. He has a gun! I shrink back in my cage, but why? I have nothing more to live for, why am I even alive? He is pointing the gun to me. I have my eyes closed and braced myself for what might happen next. BANG!