Bruce Hiscock- Coyote and Badger

Coyote and Badger is a natural history book set in Chaco Canyon. The canyon is part of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in the northwest corner of New Mexico. It is a story of cooperation, for in fact these two animals really do hunt together. The book came out in early 2001 and has received much recogition:

First Place from the National Outdoor Book Award, 2001, Children's Category
Outstanding Science Trade Book, 2001, The Children's Book Council

I made three trips to Chaco Canyon while working on this book. On the first trip, I was just looking for a desert story, as I had wanted to write about the desert for sometime. I signed up for a Sierra Club service trip in the park, unaware that I was to find my story there one morning before breakfast.
The first thing you see when you drive the rough road into Chaco Canyon is Fajada Butte. It rises majestically between the canyon walls like a temple.

We camped in a spot not too far from the butte. As I was sipping coffee eary one morning, I noticed a coyote prowling around a jumble of rocks at the base of a nearby cliff. Something was in there. Suddenly a rabbit burst out from the rocks and the coyote had it in two bounds. Then I saw a badger emerge from where the rabbit had been. Were they working together? I forgot about breakfast and followed the animals as they hunted for more game. They acted like pals, coming together and sniffing each other from time to time. I never saw them catch anything else, but I had the inspiration for my story.
There are many ruins in Chaco Canyon. This was a great center for the Anasazi about a thousand years ago, and they constructed elaborate pueblos with dozens of rooms.

The stone work in these pueblos is absolutely gorgeous. It was done by people who worked entirely by hand with no metal tools. This pueblo ruin is recreated in one of the illustrations in the book. I spent hours drawing these structures, trying to understand how they were built and what colors I should use in my illustrations.
Chaco Canyon is high desert, about 6000 feet in elevation. It is very dry and gets quite hot during the day but cools off nicely after sundown. When we were not working for the park we often hiked the desert trails, being careful to protect ourselves from the

sun and carry plenty of water. I saw this collared lizard on a hike. It is a fairly common animal, but I was struck by its beautiful markings.
Near the pueblos are many kivas. Kivas are round rooms that were probably used for religious ceremonies by the Anasazi. The ruins of these kivas are considered sacred places by the Hopi, Navajo, and other Indian tribes of the area. Once the kivas had roofs, made of heavy timbers cut and carried by hand from the mountains over fifty miles away. Today the roofs are gone, but the stone work still stands. This is a drawing I made in my sketch book from inside one of kivas. At that time park visitors were allowed to enter the kiva, and it was a great privilege to sit and draw in a such a place. It was very peaceful. The kivas are no longer open to visitors, but you can stand at the rim and look down into them.

Coyote and Badger is a fictionalized natural history. I did a great deal of research before I began writing, reading many books and articles on coyotes and badgers, including many Indian legends. I have tried to keep the story as true to the animals as I possibly can. I find the desert is an amazing place with its low vegetation and huge skies. It beckons to me, just like my travels on the tundra.