Eastern Coyote / Eastern Wolf
(Canis latrans var. / Canis lycaon)
Peter is continuing his genetic sampling of Eastern Coyotes, twenty years after finding 40% Eastern Wolf (Canis Lycaon) Mt DNA in “coyotes” from several Cape Cod towns (see table below).
Today in 2018, is there a higher degree of eastern wolf on the cape? Tissue samples of road killed or hunter shot canids are collected and preserved for genetic analysis. One can shrug at every Cape Cod coyote sighting and ask ”Big coyote? Small wolf?” You certainly can’t tell by looking.
The males of this wild canid weigh in at between 40 – 50 lb., while females are smaller, about 29 – 39 lbs. Claims or stories of German Shepard sized coyotes weighing in at 70 lbs. are simply exaggerated.
