Once just a colorful character in children's cartoons or accounts of the Old West, coyotes are now real-life neighbors to nearly every one of us. Coyotes can be found in every U.S. state except Hawaii, and they make themselves at home in suburbs and cities, as well as the countryside. Most of us have heard or read stories or watched TV accounts of coyote problems across the country, and many of us have heard the howls of a coyote pack somewhere just beyond our sight.

The spread of the intelligent, adaptable, and opportunistic coyote across America is one of the biggest wildlife success stories of recent years--but not everyone is happy about it. Parents worry that their children might be attacked by a coyote in the backyard or a nearby field or park. Pet owners have the same concern about their cats and dogs. Sheep and cattle farmers, and even fruit growers, have long been up in arms about losses to coyotes. And the list goes on. . . .

As with any topic about which little is known and much is feared or suspected, bring up the subject of coyotes, and myths and half-truths fly. These myths and misunderstandings are rooted partly in the actual habits and activities of coyotes and partly in our fear of and fascination with them. Myths & Truths About Coyotes gives every reader an interesting course in Coyote 101--deflating the myths, illuminating and sharing the truths, and delivering a few surprises along the way.

"Brilliant! In Myths & Truths About Coyotes, Carol Cartaino has managed to do the near impossible. She's given us impartial insight into coyotes' existence and tapped into every aspect of their lives. Whether you love coyotes or hate them, we must all learn to live with them. Carol has given us a gift in showing some of the best ways to do so."
--John H. Williams, wildlife biologist and author of Deer Hunter's Field Guide: Pursuing Michigan's Whitetails
About the Author: Carol Cartaino, a native of New Jersey and graduate of Rutgers University (major in English and minor in biology), has had a lifetime interest in animals and the outdoors. Growing up, she had just about every pet animal known and walked home from the library every week with armloads of books on wild animals. All of her best time as a child was spent in the woods near home or on her grandparents' farm in Western Pennsylvania. As an adult she has spent many happy hours hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking, and engaging in outdoor photography and nature study. For the past 40 years, Carol has been a professional book editor and writer's collaborator, working on almost every subject imaginable within nonfiction, with a strong emphasis on how-to, self-help, and reference. She has helped many authors--from the editors of "Field & Stream" and "Arizona Highways" to scuba divers, photographers, plastic surgeons, veterinarians, and experts on moonshine and cookery--to produce satisfying books. In her ten years as an editor in the Trade Division of Prentice-Hall, Inc., books on nature and gardening were among her specialties. In the decade that followed she was editor-in-chief of Writer's Digest Books in Cincinnati. In the years since, she has been a freelance editor and book doctor for literary agents, publishers, and individual authors. Since 1980, Carol has also served as editor and collaborator for best-selling author Don Aslett, whose books have sold a total of more than three million copies. Carol lives with her son and many pets on a 66-acre farm in Southern Ohio, on which she can continue her nature study and listen to the coyote songs.