Coyote: Bite: Leg & Ankle

It came at you in broad daylight, alone, jaws slopping foam, and it did not flinch from your shouting, it bit deep into your calf and had to be beaten dead to stop. The doctor burns each puncture with lunar caustic and speaks quietly of the Pasteur treatment, a long train east, and the folks he has known who waited too long.

• Punctures burned with caustic, the leg is raw, bandaged and stiff for 7 days, no running or hard riding
• The carcass is wrapped for the doctor to examine, everyone in camp wants to know what he finds
• Every cup of water is a test now, you watch your own hands for the shakes
• /me stares at the water in the cup a long moment before drinking

Recovery 7 days for the burned wound to close; the hydrophobia watch runs far longer, and no medicine out here can promise the end of it·Doctor, urgently

It came in low from behind and closed its jaws just above your boot heel, and when it wrenched, something in the cord back there gave a sick creak. The doctor probes it, says the cord is frayed but not parted, and splints your foot pointed down like a dancer's.

• Foot splinted toes-down, crutch only, no weight on the ball of that foot for 7 days
• Punctures either side of the heel-cord, drained and dressed daily
• Boot will not fit over the splint, you travel one boot on, one hung off the saddle

Recovery 7 days splinted under a doctor's eye; walk on it early and the frayed cord may part for good·Doctor, urgently

The teeth punched in either side of your ankle bone, into the joint line itself, and by nightfall the whole thing is swollen tight as a saddle horn. Whiskey inside, carbolic outside, and a wood splint until the joint forgives you.

• Ankle splinted and swollen, crutch for 5 days, no stirrup work on that side
• Joint punctures flushed and wicked open so they drain instead of seal
• Sock and boot retired until the swelling falls, the ankle is purple to the toes

Recovery 5 days splinted with care, 9 or more if you keep the boot on and let it fester·Doctor required

You wrenched free before the second bite, and the fangs plowed out through the meat of your calf instead of letting go clean. The tear is ragged as chewed rope and takes a dozen silk stitches by lamplight.

• Calf stitched and bound, no running or climbing for 5 days, walk it flat and slow
• Sutures checked each morning; one popped stitch means starting the count over
• Trouser leg cut away at the knee and past saving

Recovery 5 days stitched and rested, twice that if it stays ragged and open·Doctor required

The punctures looked like nothing, you washed them with whiskey and pulled your boot back on. Two days later the ankle is hot and shiny and thin red lines are climbing your shin like creeper, and the doctor's face goes still when he sees them.

• Wound lanced and drained, off the leg except short walks for 4 days
• Fever sweats at night; you sleep close to the fire and still shiver
• /me rolls the sock down and frowns at the red lines on the shin

Recovery 4 days if the doctor opens and drains it; left sealed, blood poisoning is a real and ugly gamble·Doctor required

It hit the back of your knee at a run, and the surprise more than the weight put you face-first in the dirt. The punctures are middling, but the knee you landed on is swollen stiff and your palms are all gravel.

• Knee swollen from the fall, no crouching or hard riding for 4 days
• Calf punctures cleaned with carbolic and left open to weep
• Gravel picked from both palms; reins sting for a day or two

Recovery 4 days favoring the knee, a week if you keep working it·Doctor required

Four deep punctures in the meat of your calf, small at the skin and treacherous underneath. The doctor packs each one with a lint wick and forbids you to let them scab shut, coyote mouths carry carrion filth, and a sealed hole is a brewing abscess.

• Punctures wicked open and drained twice a day for 3 days
• Every step squeezes the wounds, short distances, no marches
• Trouser rolled to the knee so the dressing can be watched

Recovery 3 days of draining and carbolic; sealed over dirty, it goes bad inside a week·Doctor required

The bite crushed through the boot top and a fang grated on your ankle bone, a sound felt more than heard. What blood there is comes slow, but the bone underneath keeps a deep sick ache that whiskey only argues with.

• Bone-bruised ankle, visible limp, no jumping or sprinting for 3 days
• Single deep puncture washed with whiskey, then carbolic
• Boot punched through and letting in weather

Recovery 3 days kept clean and rested, 6 if you march it wet·Doctor required

Two honest punctures in the calf and a flap of skin the size of a coin, it hurt worse in the moment than it reads by firelight. You limped the whole way back to camp cussing steady, and the bandaging took less time than the telling.

• Bandaged calf, noticeable limp for 2 days
• Punctures washed with whiskey and left open a day to drain
• /me limps to the fire and sits down harder than intended

Recovery 2 days kept clean, 4 if you let the boot rub it raw·Doctor advised

The snap caught trouser and calf together and tore both on the way out. The cloth got the worst of it, what reached your skin is a shallow rake, ugly and stinging but no deeper than a bramble's work.

• Shallow rake across the calf, stings at a run for 2 days
• Trouser leg flapping open from knee to cuff
• Thin parallel scars to show at the next creek bath

Recovery 2 days bandaged, 4 letting it scab in the open·Doctor advised

It got you twice before your kick landed, once at the ankle, once higher on the calf, both fast and shallow like a dog testing a fence post. Neither hole is deep, but four punctures make a fussy evening of washing and wicking.

• Two bite sites bandaged, tender in the boot for 2 days
• Each puncture whiskey-washed and left to drain overnight
• A curved line of tooth marks above and below the boot top

Recovery 2 days kept clean and dry·Doctor advised

The bite itself was a graze, but dodging the second lunge sent your boot into a sage root and your ankle went over sideways. The coyote lost interest before you finished swearing.

• Twisted ankle, favor it for 2 days, no sprinting
• Shallow graze on the calf, washed and near forgotten
• Elbow and hip bruised from the fall

Recovery 2 days wrapped and grumbling, most of a week if you keep running on it·Doctor advised

Two small punctures above the ankle, hardly worth a bandage, but the coyote came at you alone, at midday, when every honest coyote in the county was asleep. Now every trapper's tale of the hydrophobia comes calling at night, in order, twice.

• Punctures cleaned and left open a day, barely a limp after
• You check the wound morning and night, and catch yourself testing whether water still goes down easy
• /me glances at the bandaged ankle when someone mentions a mad dog two towns over

Recovery 2 days for the skin; the watching keeps its own calendar·Doctor advised

Good stiff leather took the worst of the jaws, and only one fang point found the skin above your heel. A dab of whiskey, a strip of clean shirt, and you were more worried about the boot.

• One shallow puncture, a slight hitch in your step for a day
• Tooth-scarred boot top that will not turn water again

Recovery A day, maybe two, kept clean·No doctor needed

The jaws closed over your boot and squeezed until your eyes watered, but no point got through. Underneath is a bruise in the neat shape of a coyote's bite, a double crescent of purple you can count the teeth in.

• Bite-shaped bruise around the ankle, sore in the stirrup for 2 days
• Pulling the boot off each night is the day's worst chore

Recovery 2 days and it yellows into a story·No doctor needed

The snap missed its grip and the fangs skidded, leaving three red lines down your calf no deeper than a cat scratch. They sting in the wash water and that is the whole of it.

• Shallow scratches cleaned and gone to scabs by tomorrow
• One torn sock and a mildly heroic story

Recovery A day for the skin·No doctor needed

Teeth clipped the flesh above your boot as you kicked free, a graze, a bead or two of blood, nothing a splash of whiskey doesn't settle. It is the closeness that stays: you felt the click of the jaws through the leather.

• A red graze above the boot top, faded by the day after tomorrow
• First night's sleep comes thin, small sounds in the grass keep growing teeth

Recovery A day for the graze; a night or two for the nerves·No doctor needed

The jaws snapped shut on your trouser cuff and tore it clean away, and the coyote stood there with a mouthful of wool while you gained ten yards. You never felt a tooth.

• Not a mark on you, one trouser leg ends short of the boot now
• /me hooks a thumb at the ragged cuff. 'He wanted the pants, not the leg.'

Recovery Nothing to heal, the trousers are past mending·No doctor needed

It lunged for your ankle and met your boot heel coming down, and the yelp it gave was near musical. It ran three-legged for the brush, and all you carry away is a scuff on the leather and a story with a sound effect.

• No wound at all, a boot scuff shaped like a coyote's bad decision
• The yelp, faithfully performed at every retelling

Recovery Nothing to heal·No doctor needed

It snapped at your heel three strides from the corral and got nothing but dust, because you took the top rail at a dead run like it was a porch step. You turned from the far side to watch it pace the fence line, and you laughed until your ribs hurt.

• Not a tooth touched you, legs still humming from the vault
• A jump the witnesses swear grows taller every telling
• /me pats the top rail of the fence like an old friend

Recovery Nothing to catch but your breath·No doctor needed