The argument was so heated, that before it was over one of the neighbors would call the police on the other.

"I'm smarter than you. You'll see, you can't keep doing this . . . . you're bringing the undesirables in here. I moved here because I wanted to be surrounded by a nature conservation area . . . . Now you are ruining it. . . . . I own the sidewalk and you'd better get off my sidewalk, or I'll call the police. I'm smarter than you, and don't you forget it."

"Step off 'your' sidewalk, and you'll see who is smarter than you," the big man retorted to the much shorter man whose fist was still doubled, before continuing down to the safety of his house.

Now, any reasonable person listening to, but not seeing, these two grown men would have thought they were eavesdropping on a couple of primary school children, squabbling in very typical childish fashion.

It was all about "the undesirables" and taking nature out of nature preserves. One city boy pitted against one old country boy, neither willing to admit that both of them might know something the other didn't, or that they both could be wrong.

Before I Continue, Let's Look At The Undesirables

The wild dogs -- wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes, and other less familiar of their kind were here long before mankind. They have a wide range. Wild dogs are found from the ice and barren tundra of the Arctic to the southernmost tip of America, Africa and Asia, and even in Australia.

You'll find them in the plains, in the depth of Death Valley, the lowest spot on earth. And also you'll find them high on the Himalaya Mountains, almost as high as men have ever reached in their climbing. What's more, you'll find them in long settled parts of Europe and even in the suburbs of American cities.

Unlike cats, the wild dogs band together. They live and hunt in pairs or family groups. Some of them -- the wolves and hunting dogs for instance, unite into great packs when food is scarce.

The wild dogs hunt both by stealth and ambush as many cats do, but they may run down their prey by great endurance. They cannot climb trees (except for some foxes), nor do they catch their prey with claws and hold it for their claws are long and blunt.

The dogs can dig, however, which cats cannot. They catch some small mammals in that way. They are also able to dig dens in which the young can be born and sheltered.

The wild dogs cannot strike killing blows with their front feet, like the grizzly bears. They way wild dogs can run, swiftly and untiringly over long distances, their ability to work together, their loyalty to the pack and their courage, together wit their strong, slashing jaws, make them among the most successful animals of prey.

Best known of the wild dogs and, until recently, most widely distributed, the wolf is worthy of first place among his relatives in terms of knowing about. In early days, the wolves not only killed the game on which men depended so much upon, but also the domestic animals men kept.

In the past, they even occasionally killed and ate humans in very remote places under unusual circumstances. So naturally they got a reputation for being dangerous.

Back then, men lived in small groups and their weapons of wood and stone were not sure protection against these fierce and daring beasts, which were urged on by the pangs of hunger. Tales, both true and false, abound of women, children, and unarmed men easily becoming victims of the pack.

Let's Look At One Such Famous Wolf Story

Even the better weapons of the Middle Ages were not completely able to protect men from wolves. As late as the time of Louis XV of France -- a great wolf terrorized the country, killing and eating about ninety persons before he was brought to bay by a small army.

The development of the rifle and its commonness in the frontier settlements of the American West have been important in changing the wolves from dangerous, bold animals to much more cautious ones.

Wolves no long attack humans. They have learned to fear men and men's far-killing guns, wicked steel traps and poisoned baits. Only a man-fearing wolf has a chance to grow up today.

In most of us humans, however, there remains traces of the old traditional dread of wolves (and others of their kind). Their weird, chilling howls make all but the experienced woodsman or hunter uneasy. Even the night-song of the coyote is hard on a tenderfoot's nerves.

Once wolves were found throughout Europe and most of Asia, as well as in North America, from central Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. Gradually they were killed off and driven out of much of this great territory in many countries. Yet, these animals, so hated and still feared by men, have continued to hold out which is clear and full proof of their cunning and daring.

Although wolves show a great variety of color and size, there are only one or two distinct kinds -- the common wolf of Europe, Asia, and most of North America -- and the small red (or sometimes black) wolf of the central or southern United States.

Among the common wolves in Alaska and the Canadian North may be found individual animals that are almost white, and some that are black. They may be brothers of the same litter.

The wolves of southern Europe on the other hand, are much small than those of Alaska and northern Siberia, at least on the average. Wolves of warm climates have short hair, very unlike the long-furred animals of the Arctic wastes.

Scientists and naturalists who have studied wolves find that in intelligence and courage, and in other ways, they show many differences. Many of their habits we should call "good" if they were human.

They are faithful mates, often for years or for life. The father hunts food for the young ones and helps to take care of them. Fights between mates are virtually unknown and members of a pack work together much like players on a football team.

Small packs are usually family groups, the parents and their partly grown-up young. Such a pack hunts over an area of several hundred square miles (if not encroached upon by man), making a great circuit and coming back to the same parts every week or so.

During the summer, rabbits, woodchucks, and even mice, are their chief food. For variety there may be an occasional young deer, or an animal found dead. Where fish is plentiful, as when spawning time comes for the Pacific salmon, the wolves feed on them, catching the fish in the shallow parts of the streams.

In the early days on the American plains, wolves preyed on the old, sick or injured bison, of which there were many out of the vast herds. Even healthy animals were taken. The deer, caribou, or even moose during the winter, for deep snow hampers these animals more than it does the wolves.

Dens of these beasts are usually in natural caves, or if there are no caves, they dig holes, often enlarging the burrows of badgers, or other diggers.

The young are as helpless as puppies and if not hidden safely away might fall victim to any of the other carnivorous mammals, or to certain birds. Even when the cubs are fully haired, and able to run, they need a safe retreat. There are usually six or eight cubs, born about the end of March or the first part of April.

Years ago, a pair of wolves in the Mount McKinley region in Alaska, were seen to drive two grizzly bears away from the neighborhood of their den. The parents snapped viciously at the bears' heels, almost like a dog chasing cattle, and the bears spent no time in disputing the rights or these courageous animals.

At the same time, the young children of the naturalist who was photographing this scene played around the den in safety, and the wolves allowed the photographer to come within a short distance of the cubs.

Before the cubs do any hunting of their own, the parents bring mammals they've caught for food. By the time winter comes, the young are large enough to catch most of their own prey, but it is about two years before they are fully grown.

The coyote, who is technically behind the back story of this discussion, looks very much like a small wolf. However, its big ears and sharp muzzle are more jackal-like.

In the animal stories of the western United States indigenous peoples, it is often mentioned with respect, as the wisest and most cunning of all animals.

While the great Gray wolves have retreated before the settlers, the coyotes have increased in number and are now found in many places where they were not known earlier.

They do not do the damage to the larger livestock that the wolves did, but they often kill sheep, especially lambs, and they will kill many chickens and other domesticated fowl.

It should not be forgotten, however, that coyotes feed chiefly on rabbits, ground squirrels, and mice, and by keeping these plant eating mammals from increasing, they do a great deal of good for both farmers and homeowners.

Carcasses of animals that die from various causes provide feats now and then and the coyotes clean up the remains of the kills of larger carnivores. However, they are usually lean and hungry.

Only a very fast dog can catch one and the dog must be larger, or the coyote will turn the tables and chase the dog home. This is a key point, the coyote will almost never kill the dog, just chase it off.

Coyotes usually hunt in pairs and often take turns chasing a jack rabbit, which runs in large circles, as a rule -- until the relay race tires out of confuses the poor rabbit.

When hunting prairie dogs another trick is used. The prairie dogs, large fat-bodied ground squirrels, live in colonies and are always on the watch for danger, but they are curious and like to bark saucily at their enemies when they think they are safe.

When a pair of coyotes approaches a prairie dog "town," one coyote lies quietly outside. Its mate then walks openly, without any stealth into the colony.

The prairie dogs bark and dive into their burrows, and this coyote walks on through the prairie dog town.

The prairie dogs stay in their burrows until the enemy has passed. The coyote that hid on the edge of the town now slinks into the colony and crouches low near the mouth of a burrow.

The prairie dogs cautiously stick out their heads and see the first coyote walking away on the other side of the town. First one and then another comes out and sits up to yelp at the disappearing enemy. Then, the coyote that hid rushes at the nearest prairie dog and the pair of cunning hunters dine.

Coyotes can and do live and thrive in high urbanized and suburb areas. Coyotes are very smart, in that they quickly learn to avoid traps.

It's a common problem in some parts of the United States that Canadian geese populations can quickly become out of control and a public nuisance, as beautiful as these geese are. It's now known that urban-suburban coyotes can help curb the Canadian goose population in more peopled ares, as they gather, hide, and later eat the eggs.

Another way that coyotes are desirable wild neighbors is that they keep rodents populations under control.

For those "tenderfoots" who have not lived among coyote populations, it is a fact that they pose almost no threat to humans and their pets (provided you are being a responsible pet owner).

Being primarily meat loving, but still omnivorous, they can be unwittingly attracted to food that is left outside for pets. So, it's not uncommon for them, especially in the winter months to pass through the neighborhood if irresponsible pet owners are leaving dog or cat food outside.

They will if hungry enough eat bird seed, but it is not their prefered diet. They will even eat and like fruit. If you have fruit trees, and leave excess crop on the ground, they will feed on it.

However, if there are enough small mammals, all of this is pretty much ignored, but they will investigate it because they are opportunists. They normally will not get into secured trash cans. In general, humans are in more danger from raccoons, who are more often prone to rabies.

That said, responsible pet owners need to take precautions when coyotes are neighbors. If starving or if the pet is small enough and let loose, especially at night -- coyotes will view your dog or pet as prey.

Additionally, while coyotes are primarily nocturnal hunters -- it is not uncommon to see them during the daylight if hungry.

By nature a coyote is elusive and will at all costs avoid contact with humans. You'll see them at a distance, but should never approach them -- the same as any wild animal.

Coyotes breed during January and February and sixty-two days later a litter of pups should appear. They normally have about four to six pups, although some females will have as many as a dozen.

The pups are born blind and for the most part are either raised in caves or ground dens for the first few months. Unlike their wolf cousins, by the following December, the pups will be mature enough to seek their own territories.

Now, the two angry neighborhood men, both thought they were absolutely right when they were heatedly arguing over the country boy's feeding popcorn to birds on the nearby nature preserve that both their homes overlook.

The younger, tenderfoot city boy, had some real and imaginary concerns about drawing in "the undesirables" as he called the coyotes. He contended he'd bought his home largely because of the "nature preserve" but he didn't want the bad kinds of nature living there.

OK. We're not talking about the coyotes being in anyone's yard. The bird feeding was taking place in a nearby pasture quite some distance away. The curious coyote pup had licked some of it, but with gazillions of birds in the Florida flyway sharing this nature preserve (not to mention the herd of cattle) -- a little discarded popcorn once a week is not going to suddenly turn these coyotes into marauding murders of small dogs, women and children.

Mr. Country Boy is livid that in sixty some years of feeding the birds anyone would tell him he can't. The fact that the "tenderfoot" lets his dogs roam free without a leash, endangering them and presenting them as prey to the coyotes is not lost on him.

By the time this argument had deteriorated to a tit-for-tat name calling, and who was violating which home owner association law -- the cops were called. Let's just say they weren't amused.

It is we, not the coyotes who have migrated into their territory. Our little beagle, Beauty knows the score. She's not interested in being a McBeagle Coyote sandwich menu option. She respects nature and if she could talk she would point out that you can't take the "nature" out of nature preserves -- we just need to be better neighbors to both humans and non-humans.