What happens when you combine a coyote with a wolf? Well, you get a coywolf, of course! Half coyote and half wolf, this canid has the overall appearance and adaptive nature of a coyote and the size and pack mentality of a wolf. While “coywolf” may sound like some ridiculous, fictional creature, coywolfs are actually real animals, and they are taking over North America. Well, the northeast portions, at least.
How did this happen? A couple centuries ago, wolves were once common and widespread across North America. Gray, eastern, and red wolves all populated the forests and plains of ancient and colonial America. They preyed upon deer, beavers, bison, moose, and other large mammals, acting as a natural form of population control.
Yet, they also preyed upon sheep, cattle, and other livestock, and sadly, they were completely eradicated from much of their range.
With the eradication of the wolves in most of the United States, coyotes had room to grow and began moving east, breeding with eastern wolves. This made them bigger and stronger, and unlike the normally solitary coyotes, they became social pack animals, allowing them to occupy niches previously filled by wolves. Today, they inhabit the northeastern United States and southeast Canada.
Even so, they are still not quite as large as eastern wolves, so they can’t quite take down massive prey like moose and deer. Watch more about coywolves in the video below. You might be surprised to learn that they roam Central Park in New York City.
One was spotted in the backyard of a resident of rural Connecticut. He captured the moment on camera via a trail cam. Watch:
Watch the video below to learn more about the coywolf:
