Differences in eastern and western coyotes

[Bopeye]

This is an article written by CCP on Predator Professionals.com
I thought it was so good that I had to put it here. Here goes:

In my quest of hunting coyotes over the last 20 plus years here in the east I have noticed a difference in the coyotes east and west. I want to gather as much info on the eastern coyote as I can. I purposely on my site easterncoyotes.com excluded content from west of the Mississippi. Why?? There are several reasons one being I believe there is a difference in the two in a lot of eastern areas. Coyotes only came to be east of the Mississippi since the 1900’s and a hunt able population only since around the late seventies and early 80’s.

From the reading I have done most biologists suggest they made their way here through Canada. Some in the South say they were brought here by fox hunters in the late 40’s. I believe if the full blooded western coyote could survive and thrive here they would have made it here thousands of years ago by way of Canada or natural land bridges.

So what changes were there for the coyote to thrive and populate the east so quickly? I believe it to be genetics on the coyote’s part.

From PA game and fish Link Here

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.

From Virginia DNR http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/CoyoteResearch.shtm
On their path to the east the coyote hybridized with timber wolves in the north and red wolves in the south.

From Jonathan G. Way, Boston College, Environmental Studies and Lynch School of Education Link Here

The eastern coyote is believed to be a hybrid between the western coyote (Canis latrans) and either the red/eastern timber wolf [Canis rufus (red), or C. lycaon (eastern timber) as currently is proposed] or the gray wolf (Canis lupus). This canid is thought to have reached northern New England by the 1930’s and 1940’s; it has moved steadily southward, now occupying virtually all suitable habitat in the Northeast.

From Project coyote Link Here

The most plausible scenario is that the eastern coyote is actually a hybrid between coyotes and a small type of wolf. Dr. Brad White’s research team at Trent University reported that the wolves found in southeastern Canada may actually be the same species as the red wolf (Canis rufus, or Canis lycaon as proposed) found in the southeastern United States. This “eastern wolf” is smaller, weighing about 60 pounds, and is thought to be more closely related to the coyote than to the gray wolf because both are theorized to have evolved in the New World whereas the gray wolf originated in the Old World. Thus, White’s research group theorized that the genetic similarity of the coyote and Canis lycaon might facilitate hybridization, especially when populations are low in an area.

They found that our study subjects were mainly eastern coyote, but all also had western coyote and eastern/red wolf genetic influence as well. White believes the eastern coyote should be classified as its own species because all of the samples from the Northeast (including from Massachusetts, New York, Maine, and New Brunswick) grouped more closely to each other than to western coyotes or wolves. Interestingly, biologists call these same Canids “Tweed wolves” in Ontario, and White notes that they are a product of hybridization between eastern coyotes and eastern wolves.

From West Moreland Conservancy Link Here

The coyote is here and well established, but he is considerably different morphologically and behaviorally than his western cousin. It is believed he came from the west, but how did he get here? And, is he still a full blooded true blue coyote? The answer to the first question is we aren’t completely sure and the answer to the second question is a definite no. The eastern coyote differs from the western coyote by the lack of foot-sweat, a larger skull (although smaller than that of a wolf), more weight and less aggressiveness toward its mate or siblings. These are all wolf traits. That makes the eastern coyote sort of an intergraded between the wolf and western coyote and suggests the two have interbred.

by The Republican Newsroom
Friday November 16, 2007, 11:06 PM
By STAN FREEMAN
sfreeman@repub.comLink Here

A genetic study of tissue samples from 75 coyotes captured in the commonwealth showed that all contained varying degrees of the genes of a wolf species found in southeastern Canada, commonly called the Eastern wolf, and the genes of the western coyote, a noticeably smaller animal than the Eastern coyote.
"Eastern coyotes appear to be genetically distinct," he said. "They are not Western coyotes nor Eastern wolves. They are a hybrid (of the two) and probably should be classified as a new species."
French said that some wildlife biologists are pushing to have the Eastern coyote declared a separate and distinct species from the Western coyote.

I have several more thoughts on the subject but did not want to post them all in one post. I would like to hear from others on their thoughts of Western versus Eastern coyotes and what changes have made their population explode here in the East.

--------------------

Richard B.
CCP
Crow Creek Productions
EasternCoyotes.Com

[Bills Custom Calls]

One thing I had heard ,and I don't know how true it is

The coyote came to the East in the mid 1900's (late 40's to mid 50's )when the Mississippi River froze over and the coyote could walk across the ice and they didn't get back before the river thawed 

Just thought I would share this

[Frogman]

I think the East is coyote heaven.  Plenty of cover to hide in.  Lots of food.  Here in WV I am seeing tons of rabbits, lots of deer, and abundent roadkill.  Since the East is more populated we also have lots of small pet cats and dogs available for an easy meal.  I feel that coyote litters will increase in size and we will continue to see an increase in coyote numbers here in the East.  Here in WV we have lots of rugged terrain that is seldom visited by humans.  This makes for excellent denning areas attractive to coyotes.  Then when the weather turns bad in the winter deer season comes along and the deer hunters kill a deer, cut out the backstraps and hind quarters and leave the rest for the coyotes.   

"Almost Heaven, WV".  How about, "Coyote Heaven, WV!"

Jim

[onecoyote]

Bopeye good post.
I agree with most of what was said. One thing people overlook is the population numbers. Eastern coyotes can be much harder to call for the simple reason there are not as many of them as we have out west. Sometimes they are hard to call in the west too lol.

[cathryn]

i have trapped both western(Wyoming) and eastern (WV) coyotes and there is a difference in the 2 as far as size and appearance is concerned,IMO.

the western coyotes i have see are bigger and more heavily furred,IMO.

jerry caught one this year that looked very much in body size to a wolf.

i dint know if the cross breed but while that coyote had the features and looked like a coyote it definitely had the size and fur of a wolf.

the habitat for them in the west where i was was mountainous but with plenty of grass for them to hunt mice in. they had plenty of cover and very little worry about human contact.they weren't As easily spooked as you'd have though seeing as how they hadn't had much human contact.
many would actually stand and watch us in the pastures as wed drive or ride the 4 wheeler by. they seemed curious as to what we are.

the ones Ive seen here haul arse soon as you see them , i think because thieve associated the human scent with a level of fear.

the coyotes i caught out West i caught after setting the traps barehanded so i know my scent didn't scare them away.
Ive often thought,that sense they'd never really been in the presence of human scent they were curious to it and came in to check out what may be invading their territory.

just my .02.

according the the info i have read on coyotes they migrated into our area by way of the Appalachian mountains.
they came further south and fanned out east to west from the Appalachian mountains.

the reports showed maps of the actual migration routes the coyotes took and the dates in which they were first documented in a given area.

the dtes showedd,imo, a definite pattern of migration form the north to south along the mountain range.

[HaMeR]

I truly believe that the Eastern coyote population is considerably higher than most folks think. I also believe we call a lot of coyotes we never see. I believe this because Eastern coyotes have such an advantage over their Western counterparts when it comes to response to call routes. From central Ohio westward to the Mississippi it is considerably flatter but there are millions of wooded draws & creek beds for them to travel downwind & bust us. From central Ohio eastward it just continues to go straight up into the Appalachian Mtns. where it gets even tougher to see them respond to the call. I don't know if the Eastern population is as high as out West but I believe they are closing the gap.

Very nice article Richard!! 

[alscalls]

I agree with ya HaMer we have many times had coyotes howling all around us to the point we could not tell how many we were hearing . and they were close enough that we would have seen some.... but the terrain was such that we never did see one.
But I did notice in Ky. they seemed to show up more often and less vocal......
I firmly believe hunting alone there would produce more encounters per # of sets than here at home in WVa
Makes me wonder if South Vs. East is not unlike East Vs. West in some ways........

[Carolina Coyote]

The Coyotes here in South Carolina were brought into the State by Hound Hunters in the early 70's, never saw one when I was growing up and I was raised in the Country, most everyone you talk to around here now will tell you they hear them all the time, I agree that we probably call in more than we see as on lots of hunts I have found fresh tracks on the way out. I do think they have cross bred as of the different colors,size and fur. One thing for sure they are tough to call. cc

[Bopeye]

Most of what is written up there by CCP isn't his opinons. It's DNA evidence and studies done by various scientists and researchers.
Just wanted to clarify that his facts aren't being backed up by his thoughts alone, but by science as well.

[Bopeye]

Here's some more:

My goal is to get others thoughts on the changes of the eastern coyote and some of the differences.


From Project coyote Jonathan G. Way
“Bergmann’s rule (i.e., larger size with increasing latitude) has been posited to explain the larger sizes of mammals in colder climates; findings from my study indicate that longitude (degrees west to east) accounted for greater than four times the amount of variation in coyote mass than did latitude.”

I also find this to be true because I have taken coyotes 50lbs +as far south as Gainesville Fla. There are pockets of coyotes around the southeast that differ from so called normal sized coyotes. I have not hunted in the North but have read many studies from the North and find some of the same holds true for there.

Here is an example

The map below shows some areas I have hunted throughout the southeastern US,
The light red areas are places I encountered normal sized coyotes and large numbers of coyotes. These coyotes were more plentiful and were easily called across open areas. Average weight around 25 to 35 pounds.
The light blue areas are places I encountered less coyotes but were much larger 45 to 50 +pounds. Some of these larger coyotes were only a few miles from there smaller counter parts.





In hunting these two different sized coyotes I could kill either by simply setting up and calling but to increase my kill numbers I had to change my tactics to successfully kill the larger consistently. The larger sized coyote areas are what I am trying to understand. They seemed to have a range of 7 to 10 miles while the smaller coyotes have an average range around 3 to 5 miles.
Now does wolf DNA have a factor in these coyotes? Does it create a coyote that hunts larger game? Causing it to travel with the deer? I have also noticed these larger coyotes rely on each other more when coming to the call. In the few cases I have been able to watch these type coyotes come from afar they have split and come to the sound from different angles. Increasing the chance of someone getting busted by one of them.


This explained why sometimes hunting these areas I would hear 1 single very light yelp from an unexpected area and then not see a coyote on that stand. Thus causing me to change my tactics when hunting these coyotes. The smaller coyotes seem to be very predictable in their approach. Most will come in downwind are charge in. They will either be a single are if in a group will all come from the same direction. The larger coyote areas they seem to split and come from all sides. The only other time I have seen this was on discovery channel, wild dogs in Africa would split before they arrived at their prey and come in from different directions. Maybe they have some canine DNA that affects them???

Also another factor I have noticed through the years. The coyotes are way more vocal in the light red areas. The blue areas I may hear the coyotes maybe once or twice a month even though my scouting may find a good healthy population. If a landowner tells me he hears coyotes all the time I know I can setup a little more loosely. If a land owner tells me I hear them every once in awhile and my scouting shows good sign then I make my setup tight. I know coyotes are almost everywhere here. If a land owner tells me he doesn’t hear or see any, many times my scouting will find coyotes there and I automatically know they will be harder to hunt.

I want to believe a coyote is a coyote like a dog is a dog but there are different breeds of dogs that are good at different things. So what keeps a coyote from breeding and evolving into a better hunter for the eastern terrain??

I spend most of my calling time observing coyotes and how they react instead of just shooting them. I have noticed a large difference in a lot of coyote groups. I understand what they are doing and setup accordingly now I want to know why they have changed so much in the past 20 years. Canine? Wolf? Natural evolution?




--------------------

Richard B.
CCP
Crow Creek Productions
EasternCoyotes.Com

[alscalls]

Interesting for sure......as far as science.....God created me and those coyotes.....science dont see it that way so I am still a bit cautious.

[Bopeye]

Interesting for sure......as far as science.....God created me and those coyotes.....science dont see it that way so I am still a bit cautious.

I agree, but He also made the DNA which every living thing must adhere too. That includes even you Al, although I think you could be Darwin's "Missing Link".  :roflmao: :roflmao:

[LORDDAL]

great post Bop and hey if you ever want to hunt the red higlighted area In WV give me a shout your more than welcome to crash with us and see what we can call in 

Charlie

[Bopeye]

Sounds good Charlie. 

[Jimmie in Ky]

I noticed 3 of those blue spots follow a line of travel for th migration that I have believed in for years. A slightly higher concentration of the wolf dna explains the color variations of the LBL animals and the often larger size.

Bill, there was a double migration here in Ky. But it happened in the mid seventies with the spring floods of the Mississippi. We had a couple of years in a row with excessive high river levels. The winters following that the river bottoms produced several coyotes. The idea was they got trapped in the flooding and had to swim the river. The other route was to te east down the Appalaichians. Coyotes were spotted there as early as 1970. Jimmie

[Bills Custom Calls]

So what I heard may not have been completly true
See thats why I like it here
I posted that and even though it was wrong information I didn't get my fingers smacked with the ruler 

[alscalls]

Interesting for sure......as far as science.....God created me and those coyotes.....science dont see it that way so I am still a bit cautious.

I agree, but He also made the DNA which every living thing must adhere too. That includes even you Al, although I think you could be Darwin's "Missing Link".  :roflmao: :roflmao:

Coming from a great missing link scientist  like yourself that means a lot!.........  

[Bopeye]

In all honesty, DNA can convict you of murder or exonerate you of it with 99% accuracy. That being said, why would we not look to DNA to help us unravel the differences we all see in different populatioins of coyotes.
Chimps and humans share almost completely the same DNA, but it's the subtle differences that seperate us from them.
It wasn't evolution either, it was God that made it that way.

Some science is theory at best such as carbon dating, but DNA is not. It's a spot on, telltale sign of who we are, just like our fingerprints are all different, so is our DNA signatures.

These are just the facts.

If coyotes in some areas are showing red wolf DNA, then you can be pretty sure there is a wolf somewhere back in that coyotes ancestoral wood pile. 
Ever wonder why doctors ask about your family history when it comes to many diseases. It's because it runs in families, which would make it a genetic propensisty to carry a higher risk of that ailment. That would be a clue to doctors that it runs in our DNA. 

[alscalls]

Honestly I was just shootin for a BITE ME......

I believe the wolf DNA......But some folks would argue that a coyote and a Domestic Dog gone wild would never breed.....I disagree.....I just think it would be difficult to find that DNA as I do not feel they all have it.
What do you think?

[Bopeye]

What do I think?

What do I think?

Do you really want to know what I think?



BITE ME!!

You earned that one!!