Biologists Just Found Out What Montana Coyotes Actually Are

A strange animal was shot on a ranch outside Denton, Montana. It looked like a wolf, mostly. The internet called it a wolf-dog, a mystery animal, a hybrid. The state sent a sample to a lab, and most people guessed wrong. That same kind of lab work has been rewriting what we know about coyotes. Back East, the coyote has turned into something new. Out here in Montana, retired field biologist Vern Hale walks through what the DNA says about the coyote hunting mice in your own hayfield, and where the real mixing turned up. EAST VS. WEST, BY THE NUMBERS - Size: a Montana male coyote runs about 28 pounds, a female about 22. A big Pennsylvania male can hit 45 to 55. - Supper: out here it is mostly mice, voles and rabbits. In the Northeast, deer make up about a third of the diet. - Wolf in the blood: a typical northeastern coyote is roughly a quarter wolf and about a tenth dog. Coyotes from California and Alaska carried a negligible amount. - The twist: Yellowstone's wolves carried about 5 percent coyote ancestry. - Staying power: coyote populations can lose up to about 70 percent a year and still hold on. One federal program reported killing more than 68,000 coyotes in a single year. - The trick in the song: a mated pair can sound like seven or eight coyotes, and on a still night the chorus can carry three miles. Do not trust your ears on a coyote count. That chorus near your place at dusk may be just two animals. Vern's own field stories are told for illustration. The studies, places and numbers he cites are real. #coyote #montana #wildlife