Vanity Fur

Baker's coyote contest.

On January 14, 2006, the town of Baker, Montana will have its annual coyote calling contest. No, this isn’t the kind of contest where you can win a t-shirt for moaning in public. This is a chance to win a few hundred bucks for killing the most coyotes.

The coyotes are apparently begging for it, what with the livestock issue and their penchant to snack on the neighbor’s poufy Bichon Frise. And they’re just so obnoxious and self-promoting: their howling scares the pants off of us when we’re camping, which we suppose is why everyone has to tolerate their ubiquitous recorded wailing during Halloween, and you can’t walk more than ten feet in Santa Fe before seeing a picture of one wearing a bandana and baying at the moon.

But there is another reason that Baker, Montana believes the only good coyote is a dead coyote: it looks faaaabulous with our new Manolos!

Yes, take a look in your local clothing store, because there is a strange, ironic relationship between fashionistas and coyote hunters. Consider the Wall Street Journal’s recent report that fur-trimmed vests are a fall “success story,” including the briskly selling J. Crew “puffer vest” with coyote-fur trim for $188 and the Adam & Eve satin puffy vest with coyote lining, which fetches $650.

So it’s official: Baker is the new Hollywood, and Yosemite Sam has joined the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. One man’s varmint is another man’s “exotic animal,” we suppose. Us, well, we’re holding out for J. Crew’s Prairie Dog line—unless, of course, the House Cat line makes us look thinner.