Possible Clues:

• Cousin of the gray wolf
• Jackal kin
• Shy ostler's regularly absent animal
• Hapless predator of toondom
• Ostler regularly follows shy creature
• Demure love note for wild beast
• Trickster of Native American folklore
• Aquatic bird gripping tail of grey European wolf
• Trickster of Shoshone mythology
• Prairie preyer