Willy was 6. At 6, he felt pretty independent. He was happy to head off to the stream by his farm. The stream poured into a dugout that saved water for the animals on his father’s farm. Willy came from a pretty big family. There were his big brothers, Adam, John, Joe, Isidore, and George. There were his big sisters, Mary and Tracey, his little brother, Carl and his little sister Elsie. Usually, when he went fishing he would have company from George. But today George was off on his own adventure.
As Willy climbed over the hill by the dugout, he spotted a coyote on the shore. He didn’t want to frighten it off, so he sat down and quietly watched the animal. The coyote was rolling in the grass. He was shedding, so he left lots of fur in the grass. Then Willy watched in amazement as the coyote picked up bits of fur, scampering around to get as much as he could.
“things must be tough for that coyote if he’s eating fur,” thought Willy. But still he quietly watched.
Once the coyote had a ball of fur in his mouth, he went for a swim in the dugout. He waded out until he was completely under water with just his nose and that ball of fur sticking out above the water.
“my gosh, I think he’s going to drown” thought Willy. Still he waited and waited while the coyote stayed under the water. Finally, he saw the coyote come out of the water and drop the ball of fur. Then he scampered off in search of mice or gophers or some other tasty snack.
Willy was curious. So he got up and went to look at the ball of fur. He could see at a glance what the coyote had done because that ball was full of fleas.

Willy Klein married Marguerite Dumelie