big coyote in Gulf of Slides

I saw this female coyote on the Gulf of Slides Trail. She came onto the trail and stopped to check me out, the went about her business of hunting for breakfast. I was surprised by her size. She's about two feet at the shoulders and really thick and healthy looking. She came closer to me, occassionally looking at me and looking for critters. She got within about 15' at one point, as I talked to her and took pictures. At one point, I wasn't ready to shoot when she pounced, so I didn't get a picture of that, nor did she score anything. But it was really pretty.














She looks so much like a wolf to me. I've heard that they have wolf DNA, and I believe it now. This was the best look and closest experience I've ever had with a coyote.

Happy Trails

forestgnome said:

...She came onto the trail and stopped to check me out...

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Man! I can't even get human females to check me out.

Great stuff as always.

Very nice! The summer coat looks lovely!

Brian

What a great encounter! You have such photographic talent, thanks for sharing your work with us!

dvbl said:

Man! I can't even get human females to check me out.

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HA HA HA HA HA

Thanks! That was awesome!

Wow, pretty amazing. Seriously, what do you do for a living?

Amazing photos.

-Dr. Wu

very nice photo and encounter !!

Thanks for the great photos. They are wild and amazing creatures.

That's about as healthy a coyote as you'll ever see, dont you think? Nothin' mangy about that dog. Nice shot forestgnome.

Glad to See

someone finally got a pic. two or three years ago i saw a large grey furry coyote twice in Zealand area w/in span of a few days in dead of winter and it looked VERY wolf-like. there are some up there that are even bigger than yours...

FG - I showed these photos to my wife, who was equally amazed.

I've only seen a couple coyotes (mother and child together) while hiking and didn't have my camera Still, my shots would never have matched yours.

Thanks for sharing these photos with all of us.

Marty

Great shots, fg!

I was up on the Glen Boulder Trail on Saturday and saw the trees knocked down in there. Don't think I'd have seen her, though!

Great job, as always!

forestgnome said:

I
She looks so much like a wolf to me. I've heard that they have wolf DNA, and I believe it now.
Happy Trails

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Great pics.
We have one living in our neighborhood that runs through the yard occasionally. Last time I was mowing it trotted by about 40' away. I stopped the mower and made a "tich, tich, tich" noise - like calling a dog - and it came a few feet closer to investigate, then continued on. My neighbor saw it chasing a fawn. My other neighbor blames it for the loss of a few chickens.

On the Eastern Coyote and "Coy-Wolfs":

Eastern Coyotes Are Becoming Coywolves"It's a hybrid" - a cross - "between a large, eastern coyote and a wolf." ... it is "wrong" to call the animals "coydogs," because they have no dog DNA. ...
www.caledonianrecord.com/pages/local_news/story/fef373e9d - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Wildlife Profile: Eastern coyote - N.H. Fish and GameDNA sampling of coyote tissue in the Northeast shows no coyote/dog crosses. However, they do have a mixture of wolf DNA. Coyote Management ...
www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_profiles/profile_eastern_coyote.htm - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

Chip said:

On the Eastern Coyote and "Coy-Wolfs":

Eastern Coyotes Are Becoming Coywolves"It's a hybrid" - a cross - "between a large, eastern coyote and a wolf." ... it is "wrong" to call the animals "coydogs," because they have no dog DNA. ...
www.caledonianrecord.com/pages/local_news/story/fef373e9d - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Wildlife Profile: Eastern coyote - N.H. Fish and GameDNA sampling of coyote tissue in the Northeast shows no coyote/dog crosses. However, they do have a mixture of wolf DNA. Coyote Management ...
www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_profiles/profile_eastern_coyote.htm - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

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If anyone is interested in learning more about the Eastern coyote, I would recommend the book Eastern Coyote by Gerry Parker. Its an extensive and interesting review of the the subject.

Great pics as usual. You take really nice pictures. Its funny as her face profile looks coyote to me but the pictures looking at me says wolf. Her body looks large for a coyote also. Really beautiful pictures forestgnome.

Keith

A wildlife biologist told me that coyotes in East the are moving into the niche once occupied by wolves--pack behavior, chasing down deer, etc. Probably due to the absence of wolves.

Doug

Uh, how do you know it is a she? Presumably you did not get that close?

I am curious, not being a wise-guy. I learned from my 2nd grader how to tell male from female monarch butterflies (males have pheromone spots on their rear wings...)

Tim

As always, wonderful pics. These are as good or better than stuff you see in field guides.

DougPaul said:

A wildlife biologist told me that coyotes in East the are moving into the niche once occupied by wolves--pack behavior, chasing down deer, etc. Probably due to the absence of wolves.

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I saw a deer carcass in the Shawangunks last spring that had been pretty much cleaned out. The rib cage was entirely empty except for a couple inches of flaming red congealed blood on the bottom. Not sure if that would have been one or multiple coyotes, but whatever it was certainly cleaned their plate.

Matt

All Eastern Coyotes are hybrids. They are crosses between Western coyotes and Eastern red wolves. The DNA was done well over ten years ago now and it is conclusive. An aquantaince of mine on Cape Cod is a bit of an expert on this topic. From place to place even in the Northeast there is variation in size and coat color, but they do tend to be larger than most people expect and many are also more golden in color.

bikehikeskifish said:

Uh, how do you know it is a she? Presumably you did not get that close?
Tim

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Second photo looks like she's squatting to pee!