ID: Red Wolf vs. Coyote

[Texas Star]

This is from the NM hunting proclamation. Not a red wolf, but maybe it will help some.

Thanks. This is the Mexican sub type of the basic Grey Wolf, Canis lupus. I think big males in Alaska reach 150 lbs. !

There seem to be few modern attacks by wolves on humans in North America. In Europe, they've killed many, esp. in Russia and in Finland.

The Beast of Gevaudan killed so many in France it inspired the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

Wolves (and dholes) have also attacked people in India.

I think all of the larger wild canids are potentially dangerous, but the worst seem to be feral domestic dogs, sometimes with wolf or coyote blood.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A few ago, I was out East of here, between Edgewood and Moriarty, NM.
North of I-40.
I was with a Broker Lady good friend and a buyer.
We are standing out in the wide open prairie, the nearest house probably 1/2 mile away.
I’m facing East, they are looking West.
I see a large Canine animal about 100-150 yards away.
It looked way larger than a Coyote. Have seen plenty of them everywhere,
Don’t think so.
I said look at it, I pointed at it.
When it saw me point, it stepped behind a Christmas tree size conifer, I never saw it again.
German Shepard? Maybe.
Wolf wolf-cross?
There are most likely more German Shepherds out that way than Wolves!
Zero Wolves that anybody knows about.
But I most certainly saw a large Canine of some variety!

 

[Texas Star]

A few ago, I was out East of here, between Edgewood and Moriarty, NM.
North of I-40.
I was with a Broker Lady good friend and a buyer.
We are standing out in the wide open prairie, the nearest house probably 1/2 mile away.
I’m facing East, they are looking West.
I see a large Canine animal about 100-150 yards away.
It looked way larger than a Coyote. Have seen plenty of them everywhere,
Don’t think so.
I said look at it, I pointed at it.
When it saw me point, it stepped behind a Christmas tree size conifer, I never saw it again.
German Shepard? Maybe.
Wolf wolf-cross?
There are most likely more German Shepherds out that way than Wolves!
Zero Wolves that anybody knows about.
But I most certainly saw a large Canine of some variety!

And it saw you point and took cover. They aren't dumb.

I saw a coyote in Highland Park, a very rich Dallas suburb, at 3:00 AM. Most probably don't realize they're there.

 

[BAM-BAM]

In the NE US and in Eastern Canada, there's def.a larger race of coyotes that prob.have some wolf blood.

The pair that killed a folk singer in a Canadian park may have been that sort. The RCMP killed them, but I don't know if DNA tests were done.

It's been widely reported for about the past 10 years that eastern coyotes are breeding with wolves......well more likely the other way around ..... resulting in a bigger more "wolfish" looking (if that's a word ); larger (+60 lbs) animal.



Which leads us to ask the inevitable question on this Forum.......

"What caliber for Wolves??" And remember they hunt in packs.
IIRC Coyotes tend to be family groups................

 

[jtcarm]

Size may be the only cue

I've seen red wolves and that's not going to do it.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as there's not many in the wild. Maybe refrain from shooting canis if you're in known red wolf country.

Knowing territory, habits, how they move, conformation are going to be keys. Under field conditions, color can be very hard to distinguish.

 

[SC_Mike]

Around here we use the triple S strategy.

Shoot, Shovel and Shutup.

 

[vigil617]

In the NE US and in Eastern Canada, there's def.a larger race of coyotes that prob.have some wolf blood. The pair that killed a folk singer in a Canadian park may have been that sort.

Tough crowd.

 

[vigil617]

Here in eastern North Carolina, we've hosted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's program to save the red wolf from extinction. We're up to about 20 animals now that seem to be thriving in an extremely wild section of the Alligator River Refuge about 30 miles inland from the northern Outer Banks. Rangers take people on evening excursions where the highlight is hearing the wolves howling. I hope to be able to go on one of these someday.

There are some good photos of them in this story.

https://www.newsobserver.com/living/article240289766.html

 

[jrm53]

When I was about 9 years old my dad and me we taking a load of corn and alfalfa to the mill in Bentonville Ar to be ground into cow feed. Dad always had a pack of fox hounds and they had been running all night and when we started we could hear then and about a mile and a half from home a big red wolf crossed the road in front of us, dad says thats a red wolf and he was big, this would have been 48 or 49 and they were rare here at that time. I'm 80 and that was the only one I ever saw. The hounds were about 300 yards behind and the wolf was just loping along and did not seem tired or winded. Jeff

 

[bluetopper]

When I was about 9 years old my dad and me we taking a load of corn and alfalfa to the mill in Bentonville Ar to be ground into cow feed. Dad always had a pack of fox hounds and they had been running all night and when we started we could hear then and about a mile and a half from home a big red wolf crossed the road in front of us, dad says thats a red wolf and he was big, this would have been 48 or 49 and they were rare here at that time. I'm 80 and that was the only one I ever saw. The hounds were about 300 yards behind and the wolf was just loping along and did not seem tired or winded. Jeff

My Dad had fox/coyote hounds too. We would meet up with other hunters who had hounds and turn em loose a little after dark. You could set by the fire and listen at the pack of hounds run all night on a crisp, clear, still night. Great memories with salt of the earth old gentlemen.