A study of the DNA and skulls from nearly Pennsylvania and New York coyotes, has proven the long-held belief that our coyotes gained their superior size by interbreeding with wolves as they expanded their range from the west, north around the Great Lakes and then south through New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Previous research has shown that the removal of the eastern wolves in the face of European settlement and the ensuing spread of agriculture cleared the way for the expansion east by coyotes.
In western Pennsylvania, there appears to be a pocket of pure coyote that seems to have arrived here directly from the West, rather than by the route around the Great Lakes.
Of the coyote samples in the study, the researchers found only one that was closely related to domestic dogs, providing strong evidence that coyotes are not frequently breeding with domestic dogs in the East. The long popular term of coydog appears to be mostly inaccurate. According to Kays, in addition to their greater overall size, coywolves have wider skulls and more powerful jaws than coyotes, and they tend to be variable in coloring.
Combine that increased size with the coyote's reliance on stealth as a survival technique and the likelihood that most people who see a coyote have previously seen none to just a few in the wild, and a situation exists that naturally leads to unintended exaggerations on the size of the animals.
Coyotes are masters of disappearing into the landscape, which lends a near-mystical quality to their comings and goings.
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As you drive to the entrance of the Wolf Sanctuary of PA, surrounded by lush green trees, you will likely hear the sounds of nature, maybe even the howling of the residents you are about to meet. What one-of-a-kind destinations can I visit in Pennsylvania? Are there any animal encounters in Pennsylvania? What are the most unique things to do in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania In Your Inbox spinner. Thank you! You will receive your first email soon. The coyote has been referred to as the brush wolf, prairie wolf, coy-dog misnomer and eastern coyote.
The Eastern coyote, Canis latrans , is found throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Recent research shows the eastern coyote is an immigrant, the origin of which likely involved interbreeding between coyotes and gray wolves.
Analysis of DNA suggests coyote-wolf hybridization has occurred. Other studies indicate that the eastern coyote is intermediate in size and shape between gray wolves and western coyotes. As a result, the eastern coyote exhibits different behavior, habitat use, pelt coloration, prey preferences and home-range sizes from its western cousin. The eastern coyote is the largest canine found in Pennsylvania.
The following information pertains to the coyote in Pennsylvania and throughout northeastern United States. Fossil records indicate coyotes have existed in what is today eastern North America since the Pleistocene period, a million years ago. Occurrence has been intermittent over that time, and only in the past 75 years has the animal appeared to become common.
The coyote's status in Pennsylvania during the s and s is clouded with that of the wolf. Old bounty records indicate both coyotes and wolves from other sections of the country were fraudulently turned in as wolves here during the late s.
Little is known of the wolf in Pennsylvania, or if indeed the same animal now called the "Eastern coyote" in fact might have been similar to the wolf of the past. Pictures dating to the s have appeared over the years in the Pennsylvania Game Commission's magazine Game News.
These animals look like the same coyotes being killed today. The first coyote identified as an animal similar to what we today call the "eastern coyote" was killed in Tioga County in In the late s, it appears an influx of coyotes entered northern Pennsylvania from the Catskill Mountains in New York, and from there they spread south and west across the state.
In the s, the highest population in Pennsylvania was in the Pocono Mountains. The coyote continued to expand its range during the late s and occupied the entire state by , with the highest populations across the northern half of the state. The Eastern coyote is much larger than its western counterpart. Adult males in Pennsylvania weigh 45 to 55 pounds.
Females are smaller, weighing 35 to 40 pounds. Total body lengths of eastern coyotes range from 48 to 60 inches. Their pelage colors range from light blond to reddish blond to gray, and from dark brown washed with black to black. Generally, coyotes are gray to a German shepherd coloration. Their legs are gray, tan and reddish, often with black markings or lines down the front of the front legs.
The cheeks and behind the ears are reddish or chestnut colored. Blond, reddish and black coyotes might not have any noticeable black stripes on their front legs. A coyote's ears are erect and its bottle-brush tail usually is held in a downward position.
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