'Coy-wolves' in Northern New England: Interesting Article

[thetrailboss]

Growing up in 'the Kingdom,' the howls of the Coyotes were a common thing (though we all called them 'coydogs'). But within the last few years, they've been changing...getting much larger (going from a scrawny 20-35 lbs to 70 lbs! ) and hunting/traveling in packs.

This weekend, the Caledonian Record ran this very interesting article about what these animals are, where they've vome from, their genetic history (very interesting), and how to manage them. They eat deer and coexist with humans.

Interesting article...reminds me of a coywolf attack I heard about four years ago on our land. The next morning I snowshoed up to the area where I heard the noise and found many tracks leading to one kill site. The only thing left from that animal (whatever it was) was a small piece of skull and fur . They literally DEVOURED it! Scary!

[ctenidae]

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise something has moved in to fill the niche wolves once did. Makes sense, really. The question is, what do we do about it? Humans already drove out (and killed) the resident wolves, opening the spot for the coywolves. Should we then tamper some more and "do domething about" the coywolves? I say, emphatically, no. Let nature do its thing.

[pedxing]

Definitely interesting. Thanks for the link. Reminds me of that somewhat out of fashion term "hybrid vigor."

[MtnMagic]

AMC Outdoors, June 2005, page 18 has a wonderful article on our coydogs. The article states the Eastern Coyote is the largest of its species weighing 35-50 pounds having cross-bred with wovles of the Great Lakes region. They defend 5-15 square miles from encroachment forcing dispersing animals to keep moving in search of their own territories. By the late '70's coyotes were living in the suburbs of Boston to the tip of Cape Cod. Roughly 100,000 coyotes today call the Northeast their home.

This issue and several others can be found for free at the AMC's Pinkham Notch Visitor's Center.

[Jaytrek57]

I like the term....

"Wolfoties",

...much better.

[MtnMagic]

The name 'coywolf' is more accurate, but I doubt if many articles will change the local's thoughts or opinions. Nothing is more unnerving than the first time one hears a pack of coyotes making a kill in the middle of the night. It's something right out of a Stephen King novel and difficult to fall back to sleep.