Photo Book A Showcase For Controversial Coyote

People have had a love-hate relationship with coyotes for a couple of hundred years.

Many ranchers in the Inland Northwest carry rifles in their pickups and never lose an opportunity to shoot coyotes that make the mistake of getting into or staying within range. They blame coyotes for killing sheep, calves and chickens.

Numerous hunters, frustrated by deer, elk and other game animals, shoot every coyote they see and leave the carcass for scavengers. Many are now attempting to call coyotes close enough for killing shots.

Thousands of other Inland Northwest residents admire coyotes for their wildness, cunning and beauty.

All can’t help admiring the superb color photos in “The World of the Coyote,” by Wayne Grady and published by Sierra Club Books. The pictures were taken by some of the world’s best wildlife photographers. The author, an admirer of the coyote, relates how the animal mates, raises litters, hunts and co-exists with man, its worst enemy.

Man has waged war on the coyote since the highly intelligent wild dog began killing chickens, sheep and calves. He has devised diabolic traps and created such poisons as 1080, but still hasn’t exterminated the wily animal. In fact, the coyote has expanded its range to include much of the North American continent.

“Whitewater Rafting Manual: Tactics and Techniques for Great River Adventures,” by Jimmie Johnson, published by Stackpole Books, $16.95, paperback.

Inflatable rafts have become the most popular way to run rivers that have a lot of whitewater. Johnson, a long-time Rogue River guide, tells how to buy first-class inflatables and other equipment, how to read water, maneuver the craft and make onriver repairs. The 260-page book contains all the information beginners need to buy and use inflatable rafter.

“Essential Fly Fishing,” by Tom Meade, with color illustrations by John White, published by Lyons & Burford, $15.95, paperback.

This is an excellent guide for beginning fly fishers. Meade discusses clearly and concisely just about everything a neophyte should know to get started. White’s outstanding drawings and line drawings, much of them in full color, supplement the prose. The low-priced book is one of the best available for beginning fly fishers.

“Plug Fishing for Steelhead,” by Mike Laverty, published by Frank Amato Publications, $12.95 paperback.

Most veteran steelheaders have boxes filled with all types of plugs and they know how to use them. Novices who want to catch lots of the seagoing rainbows without going through a lengthy trial-and-error learning period can read Laverty’s information-filled, 64-page book. By the time they’ve absorbed the author’s recommendations, they’ll be on the way to becoming experts.

“The Sierra Club Guide to 35mm Landscape Photography,” by Tim Fitzharris, published by Sierra Club Books, $18 paperback.

If you want to produce the kind of photos you see in calendars, you can learn a lot by reading this 112-page guide written by a man whose work appears regularly in Outdoor Photographer Magazine and other publications. Fitzharris is a great believer in filters. He says polarizing filters are nearly always attached to his cameras and he frequently uses variable neutral density and warming filters. He sometimes uses several filters at once.

“Aurora, the Mysterious Northern Lights,” by Candace Savage, published by Sierra Club Books, $25.

The colorful curtains of light that swirl in the night sky have inspired awe in man for thousands of years. Ancient man attributed the phenomenon to departed souls. Modern man knows the lights involve the earth’s magnetic field, the composition of the upper atmosphere and the sun’s electromagnetic radiation, but he’s still as impressed as ancient man. Savage, author of several natural history books, traces the history of man’s reaction to the lights. Color pictures hint at the variety and grandeur of the phenomenon.

“Thompson River,” by Art Lingren, published by Frank Amato Publications, $14.95 paperback.

This is the seventh in the “River Journal” series being published by the Portland magazine and book publisher. The author, who has fished the Thompson for 25 years, provides enough detail about the British Columbia river for an angler to have a chance to hook a few steelhead.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review