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Tripod is the beloved, and some might even say iconic three-legged coyote spotted frequently in Twentynine Palms, and even as part of a mural on the side of one local business.
Though coyotes have a fearsome reputation as high-desert predators, the sight of a wounded coyote hobbling through desert brush or down a driveway is more likely to inspire sympathy than strike terror. And though Tripod has become something of an institution over the last several years, he still faces one major threat, human beings.
Rick Boyd, the Animal Control Supervisor for Twentynine Palms, had this to say about Tripod.
Boyd: “He’s been around for a year and half, two years, just another one of our three legged coyotes that’s out there, but now he’s just kind of an icon, which is not helping him at all. People are feeding Tripod, they think it’s neat watching him eat and they feel sorry for him. They see a coyote with three legs – but Tripod gets along just great in the wild by himself, hunting by himself, he does great. All coyotes are in their own territory, so tripod isn’t in a territory by himself, that is a coyote territory. All the territories where you see coyotes, that’s their family territory.”
How did Tripod lose his leg? Boyd can’t say for certain, but he knows the most common way coyotes can lose a leg.
Boyd: “You’ve seen the bear traps, the ones that snap? I’ve seen them get their legs in those, and I’ve seen them running around with the trap on their legs. If they have an infection or an injury, they’ll actually chew off their leg to keep going, to keep moving on in life. I’m not positive on him, but I’ve seen this happen in Twentynine Palms. Those traps, they’re illegal in California, but I’ll get those, I find them in the desert, and there will be half a coyote leg in them.”
Boyd explained that Tripod’s popularity among residents and visitors to the area may unfortunately be his undoing. He stressed that feeding wild animals is one of the worst things you can do for them, and that there are laws against feeding coyotes. But the sympathy people feel for Tripod and other wounded animals can sometimes overtake good sense.
Boyd: “When people start doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, they think they’re doing the right thing, what happens is it backfires.
“So he’s out there and he’s eating, but now he’s hanging out by Utah Trail, and he’s starting to beg at cars, when lines are going up Utah Trail waiting to get in to the monument, and the cars are backed up, he’s coming up to cars, because he knows he’s going to get fed. Now he’s creating a danger because now he’s running in front of cars. I’ve heard of two motorcylce accidents so far that he’s caused. he’s going to run in front of traffic, he’s going to get hit.
“It does so much bad for them, for the animals, if people could just admire the animals, respect them, and just watch them play. When you start feeding them and interrupting their way of life, its endangering the animal.”
Z107.7 reminds everyone to let wild animals be wild, and that you should never feed coyotes.
