Mr Coyote

Posted on by farlane

Mr Coyote by Mark Smith

Coyotes are found in every county in Michigan, something I learned on a Christmas Day 2019 bike ride in Detroit when a coyote & I surprised each other on the eastside! The Michigan DNR shares a little bit about living with coyotes in Michigan, including the fact that it is critical for their well being as well as the safety of our pets & farm animals that they retain their natural fear of people. To do this:

Eliminate outside food sources like garbage or pet food

Clear out brush piles that provide hiding places for small mammals and birds

And for sure keep small pets indoors or accompany them outside!

If you do see an unwanted coyote in your area, you can try to scare it off by yelling, clapping or making other loud noises.

Most coyotes are afraid of people and will leave if you frighten them, but if they don’t leave, remember that they are wild animals and also be aware that there are coyote/wolf crossbreeds in Michigan known as “coywolf” and they are a whole different beast!

Mark shared this photo back in 2016, saying that Mr. Coyote paid a visit to their house looking for Mr. Pussycat, who was smartly hiding under the coffee table! Follow @downstreamer7 on Instagram for Mark’s latest!

PS: Here’s a shot of a coyote pup I took years ago.

Coyote Pup by Andrew McFarlane

Coyote Pup by Andrew McFarlane

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Dawn Patrol

Posted on by farlane

dawn-patrol-by-soaring-pigeon

Dawn Patrol, photo by Soaring Pigeon

Soaring Pigeon caught this coyote stalking at sunrise.

View the photo bigger and see more in his slideshow.

Coywolves: Coyote & Wolf hybrids in Michigan

Posted on by farlane

Coyote on Ice by Jakphoto

Hunting on Ice, photo by OnceJakPhoto

The Freep has an article about a new animal that is being seen in Michigan titled Michigan’s mysterious, misunderstood coywolves:

…a unique, still relatively unknown and misunderstood hybrid of coyotes known as eastern coyotes or coywolves. They’re mostly coyote, but contain a small percentage of wolf from an unlikely mating of the two species about a century ago. It may sound like an urban legend, but coywolves exist throughout the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, and have been confirmed in northeast Lower Michigan through blood-testing and DNA analysis.

Coywolves tend to be a little larger and heavier than their western coyote counterparts, but still well below the size of even the smallest North American wolves. They look like coyotes, though observers often note wolflike characteristics in their faces and fur.

…Coyote expert Stan Gehrt, a professor of wildlife ecology at Ohio State University, rejects the term “coywolf.” He doesn’t even like referring to them as hybrids. It leaves the impression that they are a near 50-50 mix of wolf and coyote, and that just isn’t the case, he said.

“They are eastern coyotes,” Gehrt said. “They aren’t really different from other coyotes, other than they have a little bit of genetic difference. I’ve trapped and tracked hundreds of Midwestern coyotes and a pretty good sample of eastern coyotes in Nova Scotia, and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two.”

But those, including biologists, who encountered coywolves up close in the Lower Peninsula say they had some wolflike features.

Read on for more including a photo of an actual Michigan coywolf. If you think you’ve seen a coywolf, you can report it online through the DNR or by calling the DNR’s Gaylord office at 989-732-3541, ext. 5901.

If you’re interested in learning more, Meet the Coywolf from PBS’s Nature is a cool profile of this animal that you can watch online for free.

Jim caught this photo of a coyote on the ice of Grand Traverse Bay last week. View it bigger on Flickr and jump into his slideshow for more icy goodness.

More Michigan wildlife on Michigan in Pictures.