Coyote, wolf, or ????

[jcwells]

Hey, all...

My wife and DIL took this photo of some kind of magnificent canine last week, on our place in southern Grayson County, TX (about 20 mi south of the Red River). The photo was taken with an 800mm lens (hence the fuzziness), and at about 600' from our back patio. This guy is resting on top of a 5' x 6' roll!

We've showed this to several people, and still can't get any kind of consensus as to what we're looking at. Thought that I'd run it by the community here. What do you think??

John

 

[jbrumberg]

John- Awesome picture. I've seen a couple of TV specials on "Coydogs" in the NE CONUS. Genetically coy dogs in the NE are a part wolf/dog mix. There appears to be wolf in that dog. Whatever its lineage that is one magnificent animal. Thanks for sharing.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

It looks more like a wolf/dog cross that a coyote/dog, but something tells me that there are very few wolves in Texas any more. Of course there are those individuals who breed, own and sell the wolf dogs, so it's hard to know...maybe it's a runaway.

 

[Wakey]

Not sure but the Coyotes I've seen in Georgia look like skinny, mangy strays.

That is a beautiful animal.

 

[RKP in SB]

Hey, all...

My wife and DIL took this photo of some kind of magnificent canine last week, on our place in southern Grayson County, TX (about 20 mi south of the Red River). The photo was taken with an 800mm lens (hence the fuzziness), and at about 600' from our back patio. This guy is resting on top of a 5' x 6' roll!

We've showed this to several people, and still can't get any kind of consensus as to what we're looking at. Thought that I'd run it by the community here. What do you think??

John
View attachment 588561

Wow, that is no coyote! We get coyotes around here pretty frequently and sometimes even during the day, 50' away from the house like this hungry guy who stopped by to see if our dogs were out in the back yard. The animal you have there looks much larger to me...I'd say wolf or wolf/dog hybrid.

 

[jbrumberg]

Or a wolf-coyote mix. Around here when the coy dogs start howling they start off with a wolf's howl and end with a coyote's yip. I need to check, but I think there are also wolf/coyote mixes too along the northern tier of the CONUS. One can not rule to that this canine could be a migrating animal in search of new territory/resources.

 

[jcwells]

Yeah, that was my initial thought, too; tons of coyote packs around here, but when you (rarely) see them, they're the typical small/skinny ones you would expect. This one looks like King of the Farmlands! A fellow with the TPWD thought that it might be a red wolf, and was hoping that we could get some fir or skin samples for DNA. That ain't happenin' unless I shoot him first (and that ain't happenin' until I'm sure that I wouldn't get locked up!)...

 

[JPRambo]

Wakey, I just noticed that you are in Madison. I drive though there on my way from Forsyth to Athens. Going to Dahlonega. (My wife is terrified by Atlanta traffic so I must take the long side road).

 

[jbrumberg]

I'd look for some scat samples.

 

[Dutch445]

great place to put a game camera!

 

[Thomas]

I would lean more of coyote but 100% blood line.

 

[MossRoad]

I'll second that it sure is a beautiful specimen, whatever it is.

As others have said, the coyotes around here are pretty skinny. That's a pretty stout animal. Set up a game camera behind the bale and see what you get over the next few weeks.

 

[Motorboatin]

Probably the Mexican Gray Wolf seeing as you are in Texas

The ears and coloring are right and they have long fur

 

[jbrumberg]

^^^^^. The Mexican Gray Wolf seems to be a reasonable ID. Beautiful animals,

 

[jcwells]

Probably the Mexican Gray Wolf seeing as you are in Texas

The ears and coloring are right and they have long fur


View attachment 588582

Wow! If so, it would have migrated from a long way away! I had read that wildlife folks were repopulating these in the mountains of far west Texas and in New Mexico. I'll look a lot more closely around that area this weekend, and see if I can find some physical evidence. Game camera would be fun, too...

 

[aczlan]

Wow! If so, it would have migrated from a long way away! I had read that wildlife folks were repopulating these in the mountains of far west Texas and in New Mexico. I'll look a lot more closely around that area this weekend, and see if I can find some physical evidence. Game camera would be fun, too...

Perhaps there is some fur left on top of the bale?

Aaron Z

 

[Deerherd]

Red Wolf, and a very nice one.

 

[Xfaxman]

We have a dog from a rescue place that was advertised as mixed breed german shepard. When we went to look at him she said he was red wolf and shepard:

Markings are similar to to the OP's picture on the round bale.

The picture is too small to be able to enhance it very much:

 

[dragoneggs]

I would guess one incredibly healthy wolf, maybe a shepherd mix. Doubt it has coyote in it. We rescued a Coy-Dog from the wild and was a great family pet for more than 10 years. She was incredibly smart, agile, and great around people. Never got as big as a typical Shepherd.

Here is an old pic of our Nikki...

 

[txdon]

Its not a coyote.
For comparison here are central Texas coyotes I took a pic of.