The Size of Coyotes

[tractchores]

Here are the ones that I mentioned also in MA. It is tough to judge size, so I tend to try to include things in my frame that are of known height to verify size. This is our local pack, which seems to have tons of food (rodent population is unbelievable). They seem to seldom or never prey on deer as the fawn survival rate appears to be close to 100% based on the ones we've observed over the last 5 years. (Note the time and date on all these pics except the bobcat are wrong, the trailcam has a problem and I can't set the date or time anymore, all the pics were in the last month or two)


The notch of the tree behind this coyote is about 24" off the ground, putting the coyote's rump at ~20" high


2 Members of the pack, the second one is smaller than the first. This seems to be a 3 coyote pack based on other pics I have.


Close up walking by camera. The camera is on a tripod and about 30" off the ground


This is what I believe is our biggest coyote on our driveway at noon. Based on measuring it against another photo of a passing car it looks to be at or just under 24" at the shoulder, so a good size


A good sized one in the foreground and another pack mate in the background. Ignore the apple that was setup to see what would eat it (turns out possums can climb sticks!). For reference the stick was probably 3' or a bit more tall


Just for the heck of it this is the bobcat. Length would appear to be about 4', measured by getting another picture of the stonewall it was walking on with a yard stick to see length. It's obviously stretched out going stone to stone.

 

[Lloyd_E]

The eastern(Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes - and most likely New England) coyote is a wolf/coyote mix. Average weight of a female is 27 lbs, male 33 lbs. But we tend to see a larger size in our parts averaging 45-55lbs. There have been sightings of much bigger ones.

I came across tracks that I thought were big cats(bob/eastern cougar) but proved to be a very large coyote. I wear a size 11 boot - see pics... Look at the width of the truck tire track and the track print.

They can be nasty up here - known to kill humans.

 

[tractchores]

The eastern(Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes - and most likely New England) coyote is a wolf/coyote mix. Average weight of a female is 27 lbs, male 33 lbs. But we tend to see a larger size in our parts averaging 45-55lbs. There have been sightings of much bigger ones.

I came across tracks that I thought were big cats(bob/eastern cougar) but proved to be a very large coyote. I wear a size 11 boot - see pics... Look at the width of the truck tire track and the track print.

They can be nasty up here - know to kill humans.

Yikes! I thought that was a finger at first in the boot pick. That's a big one

 

[westcliffe01]

I have not yet seen wolf tracks, but at close to 5" in size I am sure I would not mistake them. Even the coyote tracks are surprisingly large for their size. They have a low ground pressure that helps them immensely when there is snow out.

 

[tcartwri]

We have a pack of the 'hybrids' here as well. They are quite large, and do look like a wolf from a distance.

 

[westcliffe01]

Here is a wolf / ranger picture just for the sake of comparison. I don't think I will be mistaking a wolf with a coyote unless it is a long long way off...

This one was a road kill in the Michigan UP, where I have heard them, but not seen.

 

[dave1949]

I've seen two coyotes here in the daylight that I would guess to be around 50 pounds. I know it's hard to tell with the deep coats. One was across a small pond, the other was running across a hay field at a fairly short distance. I think the second one was being hunted by dogs. It would stop and look back toward the direction it came from, then hightail it some more. It was making pretty good time through 12+ inches of snow.

Last week our 145 lb dog came and sat by the door where he felt safe I guess. He had been barking at coyotes outside the fence. He's no fighter, but some vocal or visual body language must have spooked him. They usually aren't that brazen and I may to back them off a bit. I know from scat and tracks they visit within 50' of the house regularly, they run a trail that cuts across our lot. They haven't come around that early ~9pm, in the evening before.

 

[MoKelly]

Here is a wolf / ranger picture just for the sake of comparison. I don't think I will be mistaking a wolf with a coyote unless it is a long long way off...

This one was a road kill in the Michigan UP, where I have heard them, but not seen.

Fantastic picture. Thanks.

MoKelly

 

[pitw]

I kinda/sorta get a kick out of the guessing at weights thingy. I've made a fair bit of coin betting on coyote weights and would estimate that most people over estimate by at least a third. I've been hunting/trapping these varmints for 40+ years and to date I can say I have taken 3 over 50lbs.
Two months of coyotes and not one over 42lbs.

 

[bullbreaker]

However, over the past few months, I have gotten pictures of coyotes....BIG coyotes. They look like a large German Shepard, and I estimate their weight to be in the 70-80 pound range

It appears that they are some type of hybrid.

Down here in Fla Everglades the yotes tend to be on the very small side. I'am guessing cause constant extreme heat and humidity. However I did see one up close in broad daylight (bout 5 years ago) in an orange grove that looked easily to be over 45 lbs. It too to me looked like some type of yote -shepherd hybrid. I saw this yote at about 40' away for about 2 minutes.
Just like my secretarie at the time and myself spotted what I believe was an eastern grey wolf (non-native 2 Fla) on side of road for about 5 to 8 mins before it ran off. I called a local wolf clinic/sanctuary about 5 miles away as crow flies to see if one had gotten away and they said none had not ,but they had received other calls about wolf sighting.


Shy Wolf Sanctuary Education and Experience Center- Exotic Rescues of Wolves, wolfdogs, panthers, foxes The wolf we spotted looked like none in pics of local wolf sanctuary . I posted this pic from goggle so you get idea what it looked like but with longer hair.

Boone