"Woyote..." ?

[Pmoper]

Anyone seen the article in Field & Stream Field Notes...? They have a story on a guy in Canada that shot what appears to be an 82 lb coyote...there is discussion on whether it is a coyote, a wolf or a cross breed....darn...I think we are going to need a bigger gun.......web page is http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/fie ... its-woyote check it out....

[Bill K]

Every thing I have ever read is the wolves will not interbreed ( in the wild) with coyotes or dogs, but kill them on sight, if they can catch them. I believe it is a large coyote or a coy/dog cross. I really want to see what the DNA samples come up with. Bill K

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Even living among us, coyotes remain a mystery

"...Two separate teams of researchers studying the genes of coyotes in the Northeast reported evidence that these animals that have for decades upon decades been thought of as coyotes are in fact coyote-wolf hybrids.

"The team headed by Roland W. Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum, studied coyotes from New Jersey to Maine. Jonathan Way, wildlife biologist with the Eastern Coyote Research consulting firm, and colleagues examined coyotes around Cape Cod and Boston. Both teams found that the animals carry wolf and coyote DNA. The paper by Kays and his colleagues was published in Biology Letters; the paper by Way and his colleagues was published in Northeastern Naturalist.

"Based on the wolf DNA found in the Eastern coyotes, Kays and colleagues hypothesize in their paper that Western coyotes dispersing eastward north of the Great Lakes across Canada during the last century mated with wolves along the way, bringing that wolf DNA along with them to the Northeast.

"The findings may explain why coyotes in the East are generally larger than their Western counterparts — that is, more wolflike in size — and why they are so much more varied in coat color, as might be expected from a creature with a more diverse genome. It may also explain why Eastern coyotes appear to be more adept as deer hunters than their Western forebears, which tend toward smaller prey, like voles and rabbits.

"What the finding does not settle is how to define exactly what these animals are, or for that matter, what to call them. Way favors the term “coywolf” to denote the animals’ hybrid heritage. He said because these animals are part wolf — species that enjoy protected status — they deserve some benefits not available to coyotes, which are typically freely hunted...."

Originally published in the New York Times but since moved from the free site to the pay archive.

[Pmoper]

The way they are decimating small game and the deer herd I agree they need "special consideration"....I would gladly give it to them....How about a 39gr BK behind the ear....?