Althouse: Coyote.

October 28, 2009

Coyote.

Fortitude.

20 comments:

AllenS said...: And there was a roadrunner, not too far away, laughing his ass off.; 10/28/09, 7:13 AM
bearbee said...: Long life, Tricky.; 10/28/09, 7:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Coyote ... fortitude:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz65AOjabtM; 10/28/09, 7:17 AM
Anonymous said...: By the way, let me be the first to suggest that this story is a hoax.

Physics belie the entire premise of this story, but there are other clues that this story is not real:

1) There appears to be no damage to the vehicle. I can assure you that when a car traveling at 75 miles per hour hits a stationary object weighing 60 pounds, there will be significant damage. The photo is cropped very, very closely and shows only the coyote between stuck between the grill. The animal could easily have crawled up there looking for warmth.

2) There are no other photos. If this animal had to be extracted from the vehicle, where are the photos of the extrication process?

3) The story is not by the NY Daily News. The story was supplied to it by a third party ... a features and photo distribution syndicate based in Great Britian. This looks like a fund-raiser for them.

4) Exactly how did an obscure, small syndicate based largely in Great Britain get the world exclusive on this story that allegedly occurred in Nevada?

5) There are no other photos on the Rex Features website (that I can find) of this coyote or any story about it.

6) The driver's name in the first paragraph of the story is "Daniel East." By the end of the story, his name is "David East."

I smell a rat.; 10/28/09, 7:29 AM
Kev said...: (the other kev)

Coyotes are tough, Florida. If one can survive a thousand-foot drop and then an anvil on the head, a dinky car ain't gonna bruise it much.; 10/28/09, 7:33 AM
AllenS said...: Oh, thanks a lot, Florida. I suppose next you'll tell me that a roadrunner wasn't involved also.; 10/28/09, 7:38 AM
Anonymous said...: More clues this is a hoax:

7) There is no blood whatsoever (allowing the photo to be run in a "family newspaper.")

8) The "author" of the story is purported to be "Daily News Staff Writer Ethan Sacks." However, in paragraph 5, Mr. Sacks quotes David East telling the photo agency (Rex Features):

"'Sis, don't look, this is bad,'" David East told the photo agency.

This is an odd construction. How does a Daily News staff writer quote what the driver of the car told Rex Features? Has the Daily News ever spoken to the driver?

And if they have spoken to the driver, why not quote him directly?

This story is bullshit. It feels too good to be true.

So I declare it a hoax.

Newspapers spend their credibility this way. I'm amazed they can't figure out why subscriptions have plummeted.; 10/28/09, 7:42 AM
John Richardson said...: The coyote that ran into this race car wasn't so lucky.

http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/nascar-driver-hits-coyote-at-190-mph-pictures/

After seeing these pictures and even factoring in the differences in speed, I'd tend to agree with Florida that this is a hoax.; 10/28/09, 7:45 AM
Anonymous said...: More clues:

9) Staff Writer Ethan Sacks appears to have the habit of finding amazing animal stories that start in British media outlets but that then turn up as his by-lined stories in the NY Post.

Two days ago, he told us of the Great White Shark that had been bitten in half. He supplied a photo which looks suspiciously Photoshopped.

Again, we get only the one photograph. Not a series of photographs as the shark was hauled onboard the ship, as would be expected if this was real. No closeups. Just the one photo.

All the hallmarks of a hoax.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/10/26/2009-10-26_10foot_great_white_shark_bitten_nearly_in_half_by_20foot_monster_shark_near_aust.html; 10/28/09, 7:55 AM
Irene said...: A sweet story that contradicts coyote reality.; 10/28/09, 8:53 AM
Wince said...: It would have been much more authentic if the make of the car was ACME Co. and the coyote was photographed holding a little sign that said "Help!".

wv - "alibli" = where I wasn't last night; 10/28/09, 9:14 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Coyotes are pests anyway.; 10/28/09, 9:32 AM
Henry said...: If ever I'm about to be hit by a car going 70 mph I'm going to jump between the grill and the radiator.

Good. Now that's off my mind.; 10/28/09, 10:20 AM
Unknown said...: Mark Twain said...

The coyote is a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolfskin stretched over it, a tolerably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of forsakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye, and a long, sharp face, with slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth. He has a general slinking expression all over. The coyote is a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry. He is always poor, out of luck, and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for a velocipede. He is so spirtless and cowardly that even while his exposed teeth are pretending a threat, the rest of his face is apologizing for it. And he is so homely! -so scrawny, and ribby, and coarse-haired, and pitiful.

That they do so well in an urbanized environment speaks for their survival skills, whether this particular story is true or Flo is right.

WV "outot" When you want the kid to get some fresh air before you do something you may not regret, but he will.; 10/28/09, 10:24 AM
Ralph L said...: The car should have overheated with a coyote blocking the radiator.; 10/28/09, 10:28 AM
Rob said...: Radiator Fan? Fan belt?; 10/28/09, 11:39 AM
Christy said...: Totally believable. Coyote is the Trickster God.

VW: founde - fondue is what coyote would be after the tenderizing and cooking going on here.

And what idiot doesn't check the oil when stopping for gas on an 800 mile road trip?; 10/28/09, 12:17 PM
campy said...: Fauxtitude.; 10/28/09, 1:56 PM
john said...: Florida -

Did you ever consider that the coyote could have descended into the vehicle from a helium balloon, one that it could have climbed into in Colorado?

Did you? Some people are so quick to cry "hoax".; 10/28/09, 4:02 PM
WD said...: This is not a hoax.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/luckycoyote.asp

2 from Rex site http://www.rexfeatures.com/search/?kw=coyote&iso=GBR&viah=Y&lkw=&stk=N&sft=&search_oldest.x=-1

3 pics of the extrication process
http://www.rexfeatures.com/search/?kw=coyote&iso=GBR&viah=Y&lkw=&stk=N&sft=&search_oldest.x=-1&search_newest.x=19&search_newest.y=7; 12/10/09, 9:22 AM