Coyote or Wolf

[TheEggCollecter]

That is a coyote by the looks of it but it doesn't matter coyote or wolf they will both take advantage of a chicken flock.

 

[FarmalI]

I agree, it is a coyote, and if not taken care of, it will get closer and closer and will eventually not pay attention to humans

 

[jokerone]

Coyote or Wolf??


Both, its a Coywolf hybrid. (according to PBS) Most of the Coyotes east of the Mississippi have Wolf genetics in them now.

 

[blucoondawg]

Coyote or Wolf?? Both, its a Coywolf hybrid. (according to PBS) Most of the Coyotes east of the Mississippi have Wolf genetics in them now.

These coy wolves you keep referring to are nothing but coyotes with some wolf genetics from who knows how long ago. These animals are predominantly coyote. The only animal I would call a coywolf is a first generation cross of the 2 species which isn't common in the wild especially in areas with gray wolves who will not tolerate coyotes in their area, they will kill them or run them off.

 

[jokerone]

These coy wolves you keep referring to are nothing but coyotes with some wolf genetics from who knows how long ago. These animals are predominantly coyote. The only animal I would call a coywolf is a first generation cross of the 2 species which isn't common in the wild especially in areas with gray wolves who will not tolerate coyotes in their area, they will kill them or run them off.

How long ago? they claim 1919.

I was taught in biology that a species is an animal that can mate with another animal and its offspring can reproduce more of itself. A Mule can not reproduce more mules. The scientists in this PBS video are calling it a species (Eastern Coyote = Coywolf). According to PBS these Coywolves have different behavior than Coyotes including their interaction with humans as well as other Coywolves.

 

[blucoondawg]

Domestic dogs come from wolves at some point in ancient history, so is my wirehair a wirewolf hybrid? If a coyote and wolf mated back in 1919 and ever since then they have been mating with coyote, that would make their genetic makeup mostly coyote which would explain why they are the size of a coyote, built like a coyote, carry themselves like a coyote etc. I have read up on this from many sources and what I read is that scientists are hesitant to even actually consider it a different species from a regular coyote. An actual F1 coywolf looks far different from the picture you have posted, wolves are much larger, proportionally different, have a distinctly different head, also carry themselves in a different manner than a coyote when walking, running, or standing. The op's picture as well as the picture you are using is of a coyote or a animal that is 99% coyote with a 50x great grandpa that may have been a wolf. Also I have a hard time believing such a large number of coyotes east of the Mississippi have wolf genes when wolves have been eradicated from most of that range for many years until recent misguided restoration projects.

 

[enola]

We have coydogs in SC. Lots of coydogs. They are even worse than coyotes. Their breeding habits are more like dogs. They can have 2 large litters per year. And coydogs don't inherit the "instinctively wild" genes from the coyote. They are not afraid of humans and are not basically nocturnal either.........

 

[jokerone]

Domestic dogs come from wolves at some point in ancient history, so is my wirehair a wirewolf hybrid? If a coyote and wolf mated back in 1919 and ever since then they have been mating with coyote, that would make their genetic makeup mostly coyote which would explain why they are the size of a coyote, built like a coyote, carry themselves like a coyote etc. I have read up on this from many sources and what I read is that scientists are hesitant to even actually consider it a different species from a regular coyote. An actual F1 coywolf looks far different from the picture you have posted, wolves are much larger, proportionally different, have a distinctly different head, also carry themselves in a different manner than a coyote when walking, running, or standing. The op's picture as well as the picture you are using is of a coyote or a animal that is 99% coyote with a 50x great grandpa that may have been a wolf. Also I have a hard time believing such a large number of coyotes east of the Mississippi have wolf genes when wolves have been eradicated from most of that range for many years until recent misguided restoration projects.

Did anybody actually watch the video I linked to? The photo I posted is from the PBS special. I'm just repeating what PBS had. I'm not making it up, Its not my opinion. Its PBS's

 

[blucoondawg]

No I did not. Honestly I don't consider PBS to be a overly great source of fact, I prefer to read many different sources, which I have and find many varying opinions on the subject. The fact remains the pictures show a coyote, possibly a large coyote, but that is debatable since there is nothing of known size in the pictures to distinguish the size of the animal, could it be a coyote with a generations old shot of wolf dna? Possibly, but I still wouldn't call it a hybrid, I would say it is possible that some hybridization many generations ago could have helped the current eastern coyote evolve into a coyote that is generally larger than the typical coyote, but I wouldn't call it a hybrid. Now if that eastern coyote bred with a wolf and had a first generation litter of pups, those I would call coywolf hybrid pups.

I recently read an article in the newspaper from wildlife biologists in my state who have been researching the occurrence of this hybrid and so far they are saying that it isn't happening as of yet in Wisconsin, we have both coyotes and wolves in overwhelming numbers yet no evidence of the hybrid can be found. Also in the western US wolves and coyotes have coexisted forever and the folks out west also don't seem to have these hybrids which leads me to believe that as with all hybrids in animals these crosses just don't happen very often, wolves will kill or displace coyotes, therefore only interact on the very fringes of their range this leads to the occurrence of the hybrid being low and quite unlikely, I am not saying the hybrid doesn't exist, but I will most certainly say that for PBS to state most all coyotes east of the Mississippi River are now coywolves is complete hogwash.

 

[jokerone]

No I did not. Honestly I don't consider PBS to be a overly great source of fact, I prefer to read many different sources, which I have and find many varying opinions on the subject. The fact remains the pictures show a coyote, possibly a large coyote, but that is debatable since there is nothing of known size in the pictures to distinguish the size of the animal, could it be a coyote with a generations old shot of wolf dna? Possibly, but I still wouldn't call it a hybrid, I would say it is possible that some hybridization many generations ago could have helped the current eastern coyote evolve into a coyote that is generally larger than the typical coyote, but I wouldn't call it a hybrid. Now if that eastern coyote bred with a wolf and had a first generation litter of pups, those I would call coywolf hybrid pups.

I recently read an article in the newspaper from wildlife biologists in my state who have been researching the occurrence of this hybrid and so far they are saying that it isn't happening as of yet in Wisconsin, we have both coyotes and wolves in overwhelming numbers yet no evidence of the hybrid can be found. Also in the western US wolves and coyotes have coexisted forever and the folks out west also don't seem to have these hybrids which leads me to believe that as with all hybrids in animals these crosses just don't happen very often, wolves will kill or displace coyotes, therefore only interact on the very fringes of their range this leads to the occurrence of the hybrid being low and quite unlikely, I am not saying the hybrid doesn't exist, but I will most certainly say that for PBS to state most all coyotes east of the Mississippi River are now coywolves is complete hogwash.

They showed a "coywolf" next to a western coyote. It was a notable difference. the coyotes I've seen in Southern Illinois over the past 20 years look a lot larger, furrier than what I ran into in California at Camp Pendleton in the late 70s. It would also explain why their behavior is different now. Perhaps I saw more of them out at Pendleton because I was sleeping outside a lot of the time?

If you watch the video they give a fairly good explanation of how and why these cowolves have spread over most of the Midwest and eastern US + eastern Canada.

thanks.