Rescued coyote pup returned to the wild

The coyote pup was first brought into Kellogg Pet Medical Center in May by a man on a motorcycle, and after growing up at American Heritage Wildlife Foundation in Clark Fork, the coyote was released back into the wild to an undisclosed location early this month.

Wiley, as he was nicknamed by the staff at KPMC, has grown considerably since being taken to AHWF to be prepared for his release.

Kathleen St. Clair-McGee, founder and president of AHWF, was the primary caretaker of the coyote during his stay at AHWF. Wiley was ready to be back in the wild after around four and half months under the care of St. Clair-McGee, who tried to help bring him up as normally as possible so the coyote pup could reacclimate to life in the wild. She said she would wear the same clothing every time she entered his pen and walk around on her hands and knees, she said.

"He thinks I'm mom coyote right now," St. Clair-McGee said when she was bringing up the pup.

Wiley stopped thinking of her as the mother coyote after a while. St. Clair-McGee said there comes a time for young coyotes when things shift and they want to be the alpha dog. When the orphaned pup got to that point, he was ready to be released and on his own.

Wiley was less than six-weeks old when he was brought in the KPMC, according to Dr. Andrew Broaddus. A man traveling through the area stopped for a break at the Sunshine Mine Memorial at the Big Creek exit when the pup walked out of the brush and lay at his feet. He picked it up, gently placed Wiley in his jacket and brought it by motorcycle to KPMC, thinking it was a puppy that someone had lost.

The staff at KPMC said the man was shocked to find out he was a wild animal and not a pet.

This was the first coyote that Broaddus had seen brought into the clinic in his 21 years of practice in Idaho, he said.

Broaddus said there have been a lot of coyote traps in the area where the pup was found, so he believes the mother got caught in one of them.

AHWF cares for many wild animals that are unable to survive on their own until they can be rehabilitated and moved back into their natural habitat.