Whats the difference b/t a coyote & a wolf?

[HotHolly]

Something large and dog-like crossed my path today. Actually, it almost ran straight into me. I paused for an unexpected sec to look at the b. day gift my son gave me and wondered about people thinking I was nuts having an umbrella on a sunny 80 degree day. But what ever. Right? I always wanted a duck umbrella and now I have one. That thought delayed me from opening the car door for about 1/2 a sec.

I was about to push the door open when a gray streak, that was as high as the window, ran by. It startled me, so I waited to open the door. At 1st I thought it was a huge dog. But it had a weird tail for a dog. I assumed it was a coyote.

I googled it and it seemed too big for a coyote. What the heck was that?

[CaptainTom]

One difference is that you are much more likely to see a coyote than to see a wolf. But, a large gray dog with a different tail is a mystery. Are you in the boonies or close to town ? Seeing a wolf in broad daylight in a populated area would be a very rare sight.

[HotHolly]

Ive seen a lot of animals when I shouldnt lately. They are building in the fields that used to surround the store and all sorts of animals are coming out when they shouldnt. It looked scared. Im glad I didnt get out. It would have walked right into me.

Oh, Im on the outskirts of town. If it made it past the next 3 blocks, it would be on its way to no man's land - all fields for miles.

[ka5txl]

Holly,
I live in the Dallas but I'm just a 1/4 mile from the greenbelt for White Rock Creek. The creek feeds White Rock Lake and the east fork of the Trinty river.
It's also a major trail for all sorts of wildlife in the eastern part of the county
I see coyotes here every so often if it looks like a coyote on steroids it could be a wolf but more likey some mix breed posible wild dog. My brother had a dog that was all white and a shepard/spitz miz. It one disticntive feature was it's tail that would curve up and foward like a question mark. very strange

[CaptainTom]

If you could have seen its eyes you'd know it was or wasn't a wolf......

[ka5txl]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

If you could have seen its eyes you'd know it was or wasn't a wolf......

If it looked like some of the guys you might have dated years ago... Oh wait wrong wolf

[Dobick]

if you go here http://wymanmeinzer.wordpress.com/

he has a picture of both a wolf and a coyote -- you might be able to compare?

[nastytrucker]

If it was running away from you scared it was a coyote. If it was running towards you like it wanted to eat you it was a wolf. It may have also been a wild dog. We get alot of those where I live because people dump dogs and they go feral.

[dlanter]

The easiest way to tell the difference is the fact that you are never going to see a wolf in the Abilene area. It had to be either a coyote or a dog.

[3n-Out]

You may have seen the Chupracabra <sp> LOL. Some say it is actually a dog looking animal.

[allanc]

Maybe it was a Chupacabra!?!?

[ldelacruz]

I used to live in Sugar Land and one day my wife and I were driving home and right when were were coming up to the bayou a huge dog like animal crossed right in front of us and continued down the bayou. I watched him run down the bayou full speed until he was out of site. When I say full speed I mean full speed, this guy was moving. He crossed our path full speed and continued the same pace until he was out of site. I never once thought it was a coyote, I saw coyotes there all the time, it was way too big. It was much bigger than a German Shepherd and it was the prototypical grey wolf color, size and features. What I saw was a wolf I am very certain. I don't think we have wolves in the area but like Holly all the land around us is being developed. At the time Fort Bend county was one of the 3 fastest growing counties in the US.

Look it up, people have wolves as pets. Sometimes they are hybrids but they look the same and are the same size without the temperment. I may have seen someones pet wolf but I know it was a wolf.

Hybrid:



Dog:


Wolf:


If you would like your own pet wolf this would be a good starting point for research.

http://www.geocities.com/lobogrande99/Hybrids.html

[HotHolly]

What I read said it was too big to be a coyote. Then everything is bigger here, so I thought maybe it was. It looks like that 2nd image with tall legs. It had a bottle brush tail. All its fur was bristly. Ive seen coyotes from farther away, and thought they didnt look this big. This thing had the girth of a German Shepard, but really tall legs. BIG, whatever it was.

A couple of years ago when they were building a new WalMart it launched a bob cat into the neighborhood. Anyway, just wondering if there were any easy tips to tell what it was. Guess not. Either way, not jumping in front of it seemed like a good move.

[crazeazn]

it could have a been a photgrapher with a grafted tail?

[iCe]

The drought is making wild animals get outside of their normal range. IF and I mean if if was a wolf (kind of sounds like it was) it wasn't a Gray Wolf. However:

There is a Red Wolf

Geographic Range:Early this century the red wolf lived as far north as Pennsylvania and as west as central Texas.

and

a Mexican Gray Wolf (Quite possibly your siting was a Mexican Gray Wolf. If it was, that would be very cool as they are endangered.)

Range
Mexican wolves once ranged from central Mexico to southwestern Texas, southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Today, the Mexican wolf has been reintroduced to the Apache National Forest in southeastern Arizona and may move into the adjacent Gila National Forest in western New Mexico as the population expands.

Somewhere in all of my electronic storage I have a shot of a Coyote in Rocky Mountain National Park. Aside from being small it had a wolf-like appearance due to it's winter coat...