wolf-coyote hybrid

[robshap]

About a month ago my wife spotted this strange looking animal cross our backyard. I ran after it and took a blurred image with my cell phone. At the time I thought it might be a large fox or coyote but it seemed really big. Yesterday in the local rag, there was an article and photo by a neighbor who spotted the same animal.It is a wolf-coyote hybrid. I didn't know such a thing existed but they apparently they

have been around for about 50-60 years.

[painshill]

Interesting. I see the newspaper report says they ain't dangerous. That's true as measured by numbers of attacks, but coywolves (aka Eastern coyotes) have inherited the wolf's pack-hunting mentality and the coyote's lack of fear of humans. That's not a good combination, and they have a habit of attacking prey that runs rather than stands its ground.
The Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell was killed by coyotes of some kind while on a lone hiking expedition a few years ago and some experts have concluded she was probably a coywolf victim.

[Hoss]

Yeah they had them in CT. I went ice fishing once and there was a Doe corps that was torn apart. They are smart critters. They packed up and chased her onto the ice. She did not stand a chance out there. The Deer toes have zero traction on ice. When we found her she was pretty much just a head with feet all meat was stripped away and nothing but bloody paw prints in a 30' radius.
I also saw one in the woods I used to Bow hunt. Out alone and stalking in the day time. Kind of spooky looking critters. Just outside my 30 yard comfort zone for a shot with the bow.

[CMD]

We hear the packs at night sometimes. See them in daylight in the neighborhood once in awhile. Most people have learned to take their pets in at night since the coyote became common in Rhode Island.

[gregszybala]

Within the last month there was an episode on PBS about the Coywolf. Worth the watch.

[Ron Kelley]

We have the western coyote where I live. I traveled to northern New York every summer for about 20 years to attend a couple of beagle field trials and visit friends. When I saw the eastern coyote I was surprised at how big they were. A few years back a DNA study was conducted on the Eastern Coyote. Every animal they tested had Wolf and Coyote DNA.

[Olden]

gregszybala wrote:

Within the last month there was an episode on PBS about the Coywolf. Worth the watch.

  An interesting hybrid that I wasn't aware of - I'm wondering how far south they'll go?

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365159966/

[dirt kicker]

Hard to tell from pic in newspaper, but it looks like mange has got that coyote the tail and back legs look bare. That might be why is creeping around town during this hard winter. I have seen coyotes in illinois with almost no fur,and feel bad for them.

[OnewiththewilD]

i come across coyot's all the time. most of the times i spot em' they run off as soon as they catch wind of me.i like to go solo wilderness camping under the stars,and theres been more than a few nights i could hear em' out in the fields or swamps sounding off just after dark.one of the true sounds of the wild.ive never seen a pack together though.honestly, i dont worry about em when im out sleeping amongst the trees, im more worried about being drained by mosquito's!

[robshap]

I watched the PBS video. Very intriguing. I am lucky to have seen one. They are incredibly smart and adaptive and will soon be coming to a town near you or are already there and you just dont know it. I think the one I saw has mange but the video showed some older ones that had little fur on their tails. I wouldn't want to come across one that has rabies.