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National Geographic Yellowstone Realm of the Coyote
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It's a world forged |
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a wonderland with jagged edges. |
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Born of a cataclysmic eruption |
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it's been exploding ever since... |
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...Yellowstone. |
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This is the first national park |
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on earth and perhaps |
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A primeval landscape of water, |
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Over the eons, |
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Yellowstone has become |
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home to one of the most diverse |
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communities of large mammals |
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...home to the great Wyoming herds. |
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For thousands of years |
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the call of one great predator |
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The call of the coyote. |
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It's not the largest or fiercest |
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But it may well be |
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According to one proverb... |
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"Next to God, the coyote is |
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If it seems almost human, |
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the coyote is both cowardly |
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...and an opportunist. |
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Above all, the coyote is a survivor. |
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It was present at the birth |
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It has outlasted the Ice Age, |
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the Stone Age, famines, floods; |
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Nearly 1,000 coyotes live |
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This could be the story |
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Let's call this one Cain |
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Canis latrans the "talking dog." |
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Over the next four seasons, |
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This is the story of that year, |
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...a year of struggle... |
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a year through the eyes |
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Wandering across the vast horizon, |
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coyotes like Cain watch over |
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At three years old, |
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big for most of North America, |
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Like most coyotes here, |
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not a leader, just an underling. |
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Usually, he hunts on his own. |
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But every day, he is pulled back |
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the group that sustains him... |
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...his pack. |
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A family of up to a dozen coyotes |
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rules a territory of |
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The top dogs - the leaders... |
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...are a single male... |
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...and his lifelong mate. |
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The rest are usually their offspring |
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Packs are an uneasy blend |
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snarling and snuggling. |
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But for all the seeming affection, |
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when it comes to food, |
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The young are the second-class |
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They must wait to eat... |
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...until after their parents |
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Cain should know he'll also |
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But sometimes the temptation, |
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He needs to eat now. |
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It won't happen without a fight. |
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There's no welcome home here. |
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Bared teeth and arched back |
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But his tucked tail and other signs |
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He's scared. |
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Now he'll have to learn |
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As in most coyote fights, |
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But the outcome is very real: |
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Despite the conflict, |
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his siblings, his rivals. |
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Life is more secure in a group |
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Coyotes have more calls than any |
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This group howl means |
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As coyotes rule the land |
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another animal dominates the water. |
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It's the one creature that |
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And it's having a blast, |
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For the otter, |
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Any riverbank is an excuse |
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From the hills to the valleys |
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For them, it's always rush hour. |
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Zipping along at about |
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it's clear they've raised |
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With their insulating fur, |
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otters are as cozy beneath the ice |
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And since open water can always |
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otters don't face starvation like |
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Fish are abundant and sluggish |
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But catching the fish is |
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To eat it, |
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And that's exactly where |
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Cain's pack is on patrol. |
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Coyotes are patient hunters |
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with a talent for snatching |
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But the feisty otters are |
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Coyotes are most successful working |
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The pack will stake out several holes. |
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But otters can usually find |
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And when menaced, they can work |
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Ever scheming, Cain sets his sights |
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But there's no honor among thieves. |
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Cain's pack runs him down. |
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The dominant male has claimed |
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Once again, Cain is left frustrated. |
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Life in a pack can sometimes |
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Winter for coyotes is breeding time. |
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Junior members of the pack are |
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supposed to spend this season |
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But tentatively, gingerly, |
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Cain begins to show an interest |
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The male leader won't put |
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This is his mate - and his alone. |
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He lays down the law. |
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The ruling male has a dilemma. |
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Should he stay to guard his mate? |
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Should he head out after food? |
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Hunger wins out. |
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Or does it? |
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He can't make up his mind. |
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Cain sees an opportunity coming. |
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The leader has turned up a feast. |
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But Cain has turned up something |
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As an underling, |
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Cain is supposed to help |
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Cain has violated the laws |
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and now he's caught |
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The leaders head off, |
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but they're not through |
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The pack's sentence, when it comes... |
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...will be harsh. |
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The battered Cain will face |
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The top male leads the final charge. |
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Cain's companions have cast him out. |
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Now exiled and vulnerable, |
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Cain will be forced to wander |
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For a lone coyote, |
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Cain's chances of dying |
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All of Yellowstone's best turf |
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has been claimed by one pack |
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And so the outcast must now |
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Without a territory, |
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finding food will be |
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In this winter's bleak landscape... |
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...even the carcasses are picked |
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Cain will have to take greater risks |
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to get meals that might have |
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He is forced to go it alone against |
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With a wingspan of nearly |
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the eagle is a formidable opponent. |
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And it's not frightened of |
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Cain's perils are, in fact, |
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Lone coyotes are wanderers |
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sometimes traveling 20 miles |
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and Cain will have to travel far... |
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...to find food in a land |
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His best hope is under the snow. |
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Rodents like the vole are |
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Enough of these appetizers |
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Not that coyotes are finicky. |
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They'll eat almost anything |
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It's been said, |
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"a coyote's favorite food is |
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When it comes to hunting voles, |
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the coyote is a skilled performer. |
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But another wild dog is |
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...the fox. |
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With its sharp ear, |
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And when it strikes, |
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Foxes fight with style too. |
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It's a dance of dominance when |
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Foxes, unlike coyotes, |
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And encounters are usually testy. |
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In the lower valleys, |
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Cain is on the lookout for animals |
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Once the buffalo roamed the West |
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Then they were all but eradicated. |
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In the bison's most desperate hour, |
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Yellowstone sheltered the only |
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Winter has always been hard on |
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But even in the lethal cold, |
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one thing has always made |
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...the geysers |
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A single geyser like Old Faithful |
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can erupt with enough energy |
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Hot springs, mud pots, |
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these are the vents for |
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Yellowstone has more geysers |
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In the depth of winter, |
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when the subzero winds bite, |
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the bison cluster around |
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Here, grass still grows, |
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covered only by a thin layer |
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of snow that the bison can |
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But sometimes the snow hides ice |
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Buffalo can weigh up to a ton. |
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But their legs are |
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On thin ice, |
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Every step may be |
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In Yellowstone, the things that |
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There's nothing the herd can do... |
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...no lifeline the can throw. |
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It will take the buffalo nearly |
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Death is a long time coming |
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Deep into the month of April, |
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winter lashes the park |
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Yellowstone is chilled, |
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Temperatures drop to 40 below. |
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This is beyond cold. |
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This is an assault |
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If a coyote knows loneliness... |
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But a new season is on its way. |
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With every passing day, |
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huge cracks rend the ice and |
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Cain has made it through |
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But now he must do more than |
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He needs a mate, a pack, |
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Sooner or later he must find these, |
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his life will be desolate and brief. |
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With the coming of spring, |
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And Cain is on the prowl. |
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As the snow retreats, |
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Among them, the bison that drowned |
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Freezing waters have preserved |
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it's reappeared just in time |
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The new season feeds |
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A bear emerges from hibernation. |
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It's time for breakfast. |
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Only this fast has been |
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And a solo coyote can figure |
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The grizzly settles down |
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As the thaw continues, |
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white turns to gold, |
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...and the dance of spring goes on. |
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With great urgent leaps, |
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the cutthroat trout migrate up |
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Many will end up as food |
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Like the osprey |
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In a land of hunters, |
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the osprey is one of the greatest |
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with feet that grasp like pincers... |
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the perfect tool for holding on |
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Every morning, the river |
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brings a new feast to |
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And for Cain, for all those that |
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...the first murmur of spring |
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has now turned into |
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With so much food in abundance, |
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Newborns have also appeared |
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Two months of gestation |
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Five new members of the pack, |
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five potential partners, |
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All around Cain, |
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But he has no pack, no mate, |
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His only companion: a badger. |
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In fact, the partnership of |
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Native Americans spoke of |
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they called them "cousins." |
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What they are is something |
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Cain's keen senses locate the prey. |
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The badger - a master digger |
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Above ground, the coyote keeps |
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Cain gets the meal this time. |
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But his deeper hunger endures. |
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He needs a mate. |
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At Cain's old pack, |
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But they have help: |
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other pack members pitch in |
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to watch over the pups |
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to teach them |
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to protect them from threats... |
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...like the grizzly. |
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A half-ton beast with five-inch |
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Led by the mother, |
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moving the pups to a standby den |
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they've prepared for just such |
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But nature holds other threats |
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Each year the park must face |
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The great inferno of 1988 was |
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to scar the region in two centuries. |
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But almost every year, |
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In the aftermath, |
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His quest for a mate has |
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But he still has many |
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Fire is not only |
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It also kindles new life. |
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After a blaze, |
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As if in response to |
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everything comes to life again. |
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Fire brings a second spring... |
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It is a time of beginning for |
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They have survived the blaze, |
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Weaned in their second month, |
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They've moved into a kind of |
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This tug-of-war is just practice. |
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Today, it's a feather |
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In the early hours of a new day, |
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But he can barely handle a bee! |
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Success. |
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It's the pup's first catch, |
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The pups are becoming more assured. |
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But it's one thing to hunt |
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another to work as a team. |
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And that's what they're |
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Their target - a badger. |
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The pups aren't old enough to know |
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They've still got a lot to learn. |
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But the pups seem to feel pretty |
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Year after year, |
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the drama of Yellowstone's seasons |
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For this park spans the decades. |
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It spans the continental divide. |
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It spans 2.2 million acres. |
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Yet for all the enduring panoramic |
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there is another face to this park |
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rougher, more unformed, |
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Yellowstone has been a national |
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And yet in a sense... |
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...it is built anew every day... |
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...boiling up in great basins |
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Those that roam Yellowstone |
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find that each day takes them |
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Each day, |
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After six months alone, |
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Cain catches sight of |
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She was cast out from her pack |
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during the food shortage |
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The lone female has been |
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The two coyotes offer something |
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a partnership |
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Once paired, |
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And this first date |
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Together they will hunt |
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Together they will search |
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Finding one won't be easy. |
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In fact, it will be the challenge |
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All the surrounding territories |
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And turf won't be taken |
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In Cain's former pack, |
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the pups are six months old |
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Working with the adults, |
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they are now a well-coordinated |
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And their target is |
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The mother does her best to |
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But it's no use. |
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The coyotes claim their prey. |
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Long after her battle is lost, |
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But the coyotes won't be |
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In the cruel equation |
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the death of the elk calf means |
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The final days of summer turn cool. |
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As Cain and his mate wander, |
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the buffalo go head-to-head |
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in a violent mating contest |
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The males are well-dressed for |
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padded with extra wool to |
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And when it comes, |
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For the losers, |
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And there is no dignity to death |
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The colors of fall herald the |
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For Cain and his mate, |
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They've hunted side by side, |
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An injured mule deer seems |
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But the coyotes are cautious. |
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A mule deer's hoof can slash |
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The pair just can't get |
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Two coyotes can't surround |
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Their failure is a dangerous omen. |
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For a pair that can't make a kill, |
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winter will be an ordeal |
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With the first snows, |
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The bighorn sheep are fighting |
| 00:48:35 |
Now all of Yellowstone's creatures |
| 00:49:02 |
The thermal springs offer |
| 00:49:05 |
...but the season will still |
| 00:49:12 |
The odds against Cain and his |
| 00:49:16 |
Without a pack, |
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holding a territory even more so. |
| 00:49:22 |
Without a pack, |
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they stand less chance of surviving, |
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Rivers are natural turf boundaries. |
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And to cross the line into |
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another pack's domain is to |
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But for the hungry pair, |
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They can't resist the lure of |
| 00:49:50 |
The resident pack can't afford to |
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share their food with trespassers. |
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A clash is coming... |
| 00:50:05 |
And for Cain, it will have |
| 00:50:09 |
This is his old pack. |
| 00:50:11 |
These are his kin. |
| 00:50:13 |
And Cain is still coyote non grata. |
| 00:50:54 |
Vicious as it is, |
| 00:50:58 |
It will stop |
| 00:51:02 |
And one has. |
| 00:51:07 |
It's Cain. |
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This is now his turf. |
| 00:51:14 |
Defeated, the former leaders |
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Old and tired, |
| 00:51:25 |
Cain and his mate claim |
| 00:51:28 |
the right to eat first. |
| 00:51:38 |
Confrontation becomes cooperation |
| 00:51:41 |
and sisters accept the takeover. |
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They all settle in for a banquet. |
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Cain will in time become a father. |
| 00:51:55 |
And by helping raise his pups, |
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his siblings will make sure |
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Sibling rivalry turns to |
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And Cain's pack begins life anew. |
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More adversity will lie ahead |
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Punishing winds and |
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But the coyotes will survive. |
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They have survived fire and ice, |
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survived the attacks of |
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This too they will outlast. |
| 00:52:53 |
There is an Indian tale that states |
| 00:52:56 |
the coyote will be |
| 00:52:59 |
After the buffalo are gone, |
| 00:53:01 |
after man has disappeared, |
| 00:53:08 |
And in the darkness will echo |
