How to tell the difference between coyotes and wolves (horses, home, shed)

[netwit]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Coyotes, wolves and dogs can and do hybridize, which blends the lines a bit, but I doubt you would mistake a coyote for a wolf if you saw the two in a line up. A wolf would make you scared, not curious and wary. Coyotes make you curious and wary.

An anecdote: While playing a morning round of golf about a month ago I found the remains of a cat lying in the middle of the fairway. Two paws, a stripped foreleg with the scapula attached, the tail and the face of the cat were all that remained. There is at least one pair of coyotes that live and hunt on that golf course. They are actually beautiful animals with beautiful coats - well fed by fat, golf-course squirrels (and apparently cats) - not mangy at all and look to be quite similar in size to huskies or shiba inus. Not little 35 pound desert coyotes at all.

The behavior that you described here probably means that the coyote poses some menace to your property; it's probing for opportunity whether that be garbage, unattended dog, new foal, cats, etc. etc. I get the sense that this may not be something you want to do, but I would recommend you shoot that coyote if you see him again or at least shoot at him. You're not doing him any favors if you bolster his confidence around humans.

This animal will be a goner the very first chance there is.

[bongo]

Then please take it to fish & game for positive identification for inquiring minds on C-D! Thanks

[netwit]

Originally Posted by bongo

Then please take it to fish & game for positive identification for inquiring minds on C-D! Thanks

I will definitely update when that happens and do what I can to identify it because I'm very curious about what it is and how much it weighs.

I haven't seen him at all since the cat-killing day, which is the longest time I haven't seen him. The reason I haven't seen him may be because my dad came over and shot off a few rounds at nothing. My impression previously was that the animal was familiar with what guns do, so I think he may be lying low for the time being. I do expect him back though based on previous behaviour.

Now my dad's story as to why I haven't seen him goes like this - he says that the first (wild) shot got him in the head in the bush and that's why there was no yelp, and the second in the leg as he was going down. Now the only reason this is funny to me is because my dad had several strokes less than a year ago, one of which left him completely blind in one eye. He is still adjusting to it - he couldn't shoot worth a damn right now if the animal was two feet in front of him but it was his way of puffing out his chest and letting me know he's still da man.

[shadowwalker]

Well first you got to shoot them when you see them. You'll be doing alot of animals a lot of good. Having prebought a book on both of them you then can study the differences at your leisure. Both animals "thrill kill" just for the sport of killing. They will devastate entire populations of animals then move on to better opportunities to kill. They will sever the hamstrings, eat just the noses, leave huge slashes on the bodies of living animals only to let them suffer until the end of their lives, sometimes this takes days... In unbelievable agony, loneliness and fear just wanting to end it, the pain,fear and loneliness...
I have came on animals killed by both, oh they may have a few bites out of a hind quarter, the nose or face off, maybe the stomach ripped open and the entrails drug out a few feet to the side, the ears chewed off. I could see the kick marks of many hours of the animals trying to get up only to mark up the ground at their legs, some even made it to clawing a half circle around their body.
but hey!!! lifes not fair right.

[trimanreturns]

There are too many coyotes because wolves have been hunted into near extinction. Wolves used to control the coyote population. And contrary to some of the posts, neither critter "thrill kills". That's a human sport. They may kill to protect their territory and their young. Hunting is instinctive in them. If you want to see wolves in a semi-natural habitat, there is a (private) wolf preserve near Julian in San Diego County, CA. KQ Ranch is an RV resort located next to the preserve and you can hear the wolves howl at night. At first it's scary because we associate it with evil and bad movies, but then it becomes beautiful to hear something so wild. The preserve raises wolves to educate about them and release in specific habitats.

[Pammyd]

Originally Posted by netwit

I know, I know, this is probably a dumb question and I've Googled this topic no end, and it seems to me that unless you are too close to the animal, it might be impossible to tell whether it is a wolf or a coyote?
To make a long story short, this area is not known for either coyotes or wolves, and I've only ever seen animals others have identified as coyotes in other places at far distances and to me it looked like it could be anything.
But this year, as I was going out to the horse pasture, I spotted what I thought was a coyote flying by, tail straight, tannish blending-into-wheat-coloured grass colour. Thinking it was the first coyote that I've ever seen here, I rounded the corner, thinking to see the tail end disappearing out the other end of the pasture. Instead I found the horses backed against the barn door and the coyote sitting about 25 feet away.
I thought he would run when he saw me but he didn't. I thought maybe he was sick and so I took a few steps towards him since I've always heard that coyotes are small, a bit bigger than foxes. And I know what foxes look like.
When I took a few steps in his direction, he got up and took an equal number of steps back. We did this dance for maybe 15 minutes and he showed no fear or anything obviously aggressive other than the fact that he didn't run. No hackles raised, nothing.
I let the horses into the barn, thinking the opening and the closing of the barn door would surely sent the coyote away but when I ducked out the door, he was still there, lying down. And the whole time I'm thinking he looks a lot bigger than I thought coyotes were.
Because he was maybe 25 feet away, I saw his sides looked as though they had thick hair, grey and greyish white mottled with a bit of tawny. I talked to him and he would **** his ears at me and they seemed the same size as my GSDs.
I started getting a little nervous suddenly, because, for example, when you look at a fox, you know that a fox isn't going to be able to kill you. But when I looked at this animal, from the size, I suddenly appeared to myself to be very killable.
Anyway, he got up after a few minutes and took off across the field, not like he was scared or in a hurry, but like he had business to attend to and I was not it.
Since then I've seen him more than half a dozen times on the field. Once my 100 pound GSD went out after him, and by now I was afraid this animal might be a wolf, so I went tearing after my GSD. My GSD was within 10 feet of him so I got a size comparison. This coyote was taller but looked lighter. My husband also witnessed this.
He showed no fear of my GSD but stood there like a king or something. I've since watched him through binoculars. He has reddish colouring on the back of his ears and the same colour of reddish between his ears to his nose. The underside of his tail is black. But he has some kind of tawny colouring to him that when he sits still, unless you know where he is, he blends in so completely as to be invisible.
I have talked to neighbours, and two neighbours reported sighting the same animal. One was a farmer coming out early in the morning and found himself 5 feet away from this animal that showed no fear and stood there 'like he owned the place.' He described the animal as being bigger than a GSD. By the time he got his gun, the animal had disappeared.
The other neighbour spotted what she described as 'a very large coyote' in the ditch when she was driving.
I know a thick coat can make animals seem bigger than they are though.
So what is this animal? Could this possibly be a lone wolf? Is there any way of for sure telling what kind of an animal it is? I don't have a very good camera so my long distance shots of this animal are not clear enough. And the shot wouldn't show his size anyway. His head does not appear to be abnormally big. To me, the length of his snout and ears looks like my GSDs.
I should add that after the incident in the horse pasture, I found and measured one perfect paw print and it was more than four inches long.
According to websites, coyotes here range from 25 - 35 pounds. This is farm (grain) land, not bush land, although we have a ten acre bush area on our property. Not a single farmer has had any livestock killed even though there are sheep with lambs, and cows with calves in the pastures all around here. Which one would think would be easier prey than 1100 pound horses, if that is what he was interested in.

You took an awful chance walking up on this "creature" who sounds to me more like a hungry wolf than a coyote. We have had coyote walk across our yard and we live in the suburbs. They also frequent the pasture across the street from us and they are scrawny, thin with ratty looking fur. They like the wolf, show not much fear of humans and will kill small animals in your yard. According to the size of the pawprint you measured, I would definitely say you have a wolf who is very indignent and full of himself and YES they can take a horse down and if hungry enough will. I am wondering if perhaps someone is feeding this guy? He doesn't seem to be too afraid of you, your neighbors or the horses. Just be careful around him. Find out from a game warden what can be done about perhaps moving this guy to some high country where he can hunt small game and leave you alone.

[brokencrayola]

We have coyotes as well as wolves in our area. It is not uncommon to see coyotes in open fields. They are looking for mice or whatever they can find to eat. When I see a coyote it is almost always during the day and they are out in an open field. I have seen 2 wolves, both at night crossing the road. Wolves are larger and all I can say is when you see a wolf you can feel it, at least that was how it was with me. Coyotes are scrawnier, but can have the same coloring as a wolf. I was once taking a walk down a rural county road and had a coyote follow me. He had no fear and it made me very uncomfortable.

[phonelady61]

Originally Posted by Pammyd

You took an awful chance walking up on this "creature" who sounds to me more like a hungry wolf than a coyote. We have had coyote walk across our yard and we live in the suburbs. They also frequent the pasture across the street from us and they are scrawny, thin with ratty looking fur. They like the wolf, show not much fear of humans and will kill small animals in your yard. According to the size of the pawprint you measured, I would definitely say you have a wolf who is very indignent and full of himself and YES they can take a horse down and if hungry enough will. I am wondering if perhaps someone is feeding this guy? He doesn't seem to be too afraid of you, your neighbors or the horses. Just be careful around him. Find out from a game warden what can be done about perhaps moving this guy to some high country where he can hunt small game and leave you alone.

Thank you for suggesting a kinder approach to the problem and I was also suggesting the same thing and I am worried she does have a wolf problem and again thanks for suggesting a kinder approach . I was wondering why a f&g warden wont tranq it and take it off . it scares me that she lets it get so close . take care . Im afraid he will try to take down a small child next you know .

[phonelady61]

Originally Posted by brokencrayola

We have coyotes as well as wolves in our area. It is not uncommon to see coyotes in open fields. They are looking for mice or whatever they can find to eat. When I see a coyote it is almost always during the day and they are out in an open field. I have seen 2 wolves, both at night crossing the road. Wolves are larger and all I can say is when you see a wolf you can feel it, at least that was how it was with me. Coyotes are scrawnier, but can have the same coloring as a wolf. I was once taking a walk down a rural county road and had a coyote follow me. He had no fear and it made me very uncomfortable.

oh my gosh you are brave i would have been scared but I also remind myself not to panic as a diving instructor once told me you panic you are already dead LOL !!! I try not to panic over anything . wow I hope that never happens to you again . Uncomfortable to say the least . I think I would have peed my pants LOL ....

[trimanreturns]

Sounds like this critter has done no harm and is not aggressive. Why is everyone's first impulse to kill it? And why must it be a "hungry wolf"? Makes him sound blood thirsty. If he was hungry he'd be chasing something!