Excellent info. We hear them every night in rural Ontario as we live near a large sheep farm. Without the electric fence and seven guard dogs they would be in. They are magnificent animals.
Good video. During college I attended a lecture by a biologist doing research in Algonquin Park he went in to a little detail about the genetics. He mentioned that when the Red Wolf population became threatened they began mating with coyotes in the southern fringes of the park while they began mixing with Grey Wolf on the norther fringes of the park. The closer you get to the Park the larger the coyotes and display wolf like characteristics. Interesting situation
THIS IS AWESOME! Whoever that man was that talked about the ecology of them was right on point people are more afraid of things that wont kill you than the things that will these days.
We don't have Coywolf here but we do have Coyotes. Growing up I never really saw any until the last 10/15 years or so. Now I see them pretty often. I think there should be a study here ( if there isn't one already ) in Northwest Indiana just outside of Chicago.
Chicago University has been studying them as well as researchers in NYC for over a decade. Coywolves are on the move migrating not only into the NE states but into densely populated urban areas like Chicago and NYC. They are neither shy nor harmless. Only circumstances determine the course of an encounter with them. They have attacked and in a case in Ontario killed adults as a predatory act. In other words they stalked their victims like prey and killed one woman in Ontario. Also they are becoming more bold in daylight hours. One was found in Central Park in NYC. He did not attack anyone but was caught in daylight roaming the park. The important thing to understand is they aren't big, cool looking dogs. They are one of the most successful predators on earth, even more so than the wolf, and by interbreeding with Canadian wolves, they no longer co-exist peacefully with humans. We are suitable prey for this new breed. Just because you haven't been shot doesn't make a person with a gun any less likely to shoot you. Same for this new species. They are predators and unarmed with facts or weapons, we can become their prey.
Ah, I'd see them in the summertime all the time when they were in their (fairly short) summer coats. They were leggy and lean. They had big paws too. I remember happening across some fresh tracks one winter, and followed them a short ways. Was surprised to nearly bump into a coyote, instead of a medium to large dog, which is what I had thought had made the tracks initially.
So fascinating! I keep my dogs fenced in, but always go outside with them when they go out. We have had coywolfs go over fences in this neighborhood in Yarmouth Port to kill a dog. So leashed outside the yard, and with us in the yard. Our dogs are under twenty pounds. The coywolf pack is heard yipping and howling in our woods at least once a week. I do not agree with the coyote hunts here on Cape Cod, I am just super careful.
@prjibaro1 That comes down to size. The "western Coyote" is approx (25 pounds) and the Gray Wolf (approx over 100 pounds). The Eastern Wolf is about (60 Pounds) so it's right in the middle between the Gray and the Coyote and can mate with both as research from biologists has confirmed so then it makes sense how the genes could pass between them.
craziest shit thats ever happened in my life I was once hunted by 5-6 of those things. Northern Colorado. They looked like big ass blakish/silver german shepards. Easily twice the size of any coyote I've ever seen. The chest/head of that alpha male was enormous
I recall a Scientific American article which speculated that the Mexican Grey Wolf was a true breeding hybrid of wolves(canis lupus) and coyotes(canis Iatrans) I had a fox coyote hybrid vixen living near my house in Colorado Springs which bred with a male coyote and produced at least a litter a year. A very interesting individual.The clan ate ALL the neighborhood cats in just a few months, including one of my own. These hybrids had NO fear of people and would approach you boldly day or night but never attack.
That ain't good. That probably means someone has been feeding them. You'd best keep your cats indoors from now on or at least supervise them when you let them out.
I live in Northern Colorado. Me and a buddy of mine were actually hunted one time, by 5-6 of those beasts. It was the craziest/most intense moment of my life. Broad daylight. I know they wanted my dog and puppy at the time. But I had put them both in the house. Then casually walked towards the lil dots we had seen that were moving towards us, after we put my dogs inside. I didn't think wed get close, shit close enough to see them. We got farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr too fuckin close lol. The alpha males head/chest was MASSIVE. Very interesting creature. but def not shy of humans like full wolves. but def were not coyotes..... they hunt in packs and were like at least twice the size of any coyote I've ever seen in my life. Shit was crazy lol
I own a coydog, genetically tested, his father was a coydog (german shepherd mother bred by accident with a large eastern coyote.) His mother was coydog also, husky crossed with eastern coyote. Our eastern coyotes here can reach up to 75-80 lbs. genetic heritage is closer to that of the red wolf a hybrid wolf coyote that came into being over a hundred years ago when the inhabitants here killed off the wolf and the remaining few wolves bread with the coyotes. See my video of Cheyenne here on YT.
there right whenever someone asks me what my favorite animal is i say the wolf and they say stuff like "why there one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet" but people fear what they do not understand---that is why when i am afraid of something i study it--and grow to understand it--it really does help.
Coywolves I agree about you deserving respect it isn't only my daughter has steadfast compassion for wolves and has hints of how an outcast coyote would feel, my disabled daughter has also read a few coyote fiction books as well as numerous non-fiction and fiction wolf stories. A fiction book titled Listen is one of the Coyote fiction books she's read, the author's last name is Tolan.
@prjibaro1 That's a very interesting subject. Out west, the large Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) would more likely kill the "Western Coyote" (Canis Latrans). However, the Gray Wolf can mate with the "Eastern Wolf" (Canis Lycaon) in places like Algonquin Park in Ontario where both species still exists. The Eastern Wolf can mate with Coyote's which is how we have the "Eastern Coyote" also called "Coywolf". So there is a way for the genes of the Gray Wolf to make it into the Coywolf albeit indirectly.
@prjibaro1 The Genes seem to be mixed at a very wide variety, depending on the specific animals circumstances (who his or her parents were etc). For genetic specifics I would suggest reviewing some of data published by Dr Way and also other scientists showing what they were finding with the animals they tested. That is the best way to get at least a view of the species genes. Check out the link on the "info" of this film. That blog will link you to Dr Way's website
@nwwmark It's amazing to discover this change - documentaries from the 70s and 80s all seemed to scream that wolves and coyotes were naturally hostile - but this new smaller breed somehow seems more wiley, aware/skittish like a coyote, but alert and trots/moves like a wolf.
@qpwillie Great question, "yes" they are fertile and produce fertile offspring as well and have been breeding successfully as "Coywolves" for many generations. Research biologists like Dr Way provide great insight as to the genetics and also the living behavior of these amazing animals.
Personally I think that a species like Coywolf,Coyote's and Wolf's for that matter are far more valuable by being alive and helping regulate the ecosystem as these large niche carnivores do, and amazingly well at that. The important role of large carnivores comes from millions of years of evolution. If you can learn to watch them in the wild (which is very tough to do and requires lots of stealthy skill) then you can see the amazing and secret world that they live in and that is priceless.
@prjibaro1 Great question prjibaro1, actually it's the same exact animal.Both speak to the (Northeastern US and or Eastern Canadian) Coyote-Wolf . In the past I had been calling the species "brushwolves" which is a term I have heard used many times as well and others call them "Tweed Wolves". All the names are meant to describe this large Coyote/Wolf hybrid. All things considered the description used by Dr Way of "Coywolf" or "Coywolves" seems to best describe this amazing animal.
@sandrabrigham - Rhodesian Ridgebacks are great hunting dogs. Does your dog ever try to chase them? My mother lives about 20 miles north of NYC and their are a lot of coyotes. You can tell when they are close because people's dogs (the large ones that live in the back yards) start going crazy. It usually lasts for a few minutes until the coyote leaves. They get aggressive during mating season though... one had a brief skirmish with a woman's pit bull as she walked it near the woods.
All popular game animal population numbers continue to climb,as well as coywolves.they have minimal effect on deer or turkey population. Turkeys can fly in to trees.how much can predation possibly impact?the deer hunters complain but 8 of every 10 roadkills on the road is a deer.I see 2-3 new ones every day.coyotes/coywolves eat mostly rats,squirrels and rabbits.yea they hit the deer fawns in the spring and the adults in winter.that's natures way......deer are more of an actual nuisance than coyote.they cause millions of damages to property and vehicles a year.the predators numbers are controlled by prey numbers.disease sets in with malnutrition if the predators are overpopulated.
The major risk with Coywolves in a human area is that someone will blunder too close to a den especially if the mother or father or both are nearby. The reaction would be like a mother bears reaction. Then of course, the town council will panic if a citzen gets nipped that way then theyll kill the coywolves. I see this sad stuff in the future.
The size is probably not being coywolf, let alone larger in weight than the average coyote -- the size is probably due to having a much thicker coat, to be able to handle cold temperatures at that elevation. Sometimes long thick coats make a coyote look larger than it really is.
Very interesting, however, I wish the music had not been included during the portion that the coywolves were running across the road. It was next to impossible to hear the dialog.
I have three massive white ones that come in my yard around 5 6 am. I have a 100# German Shepard that chasses them.out. let me tell you sir.. .my archer is 2/3 their size with his winter coat. In CT
Okay people, coyotes, jackals, wolves, and dogs! Can all interbreed, and fertile offspring! They all have the same chromosomes, and are the same species!
@secretspothampton - you said it is necessary to harvest them because we encroach on their territory??? with all do respect that is backwards logic. These animals are actually only coming into the ecosystem because their is a niche to fill. Wild animals are not like humans - they don't try to maipulate their environment "for fun". I for one home they help quell the overabundant deer population which causes many car accidents. Also they prey on 2 other nuisances - rodents and raccoons.
I have three massive white ones that come in my yard around 5 6 am. I have a 100# German Shepard that chasses them.out. let me tell you sir.. .my archer is 2/3 their size with his winter coat. In CT
Erin Delic no problem you just did not know all cats are not lap cats if born in the wild, its almost next to impossible to make house cats unless they very youg out of them i did have one kitten that was sick brought into the house and she live sin the house now. But her brother is wild he keeps the other animals from eating my figs off the trees i grow here it goes down to minus 20 and there very hardy fig trees also very rare, so he does his job, and earns his keep, also keeps down the mice population outside too if i lose him i will lose the figs too
Where do u live because I've had them run through my yard stop look at me and the other day I was at my friends and we heard his neighbors dog bark and then this god awful snarl. I live on cape cod.
