Coyote or dog..

[J. Dillon]

tracks, how to tell the difference ? Took a hike in a nearby park that has coyote for sure. Went off trail a bit and saw plenty of tracks in the snow. Would like to know which is which, is there a sure way of telling ??

Any woodsmen out there??

JD

[Bruce Taylor]

I'm more of a "Websman." Anyway, here you go:

http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/...tes/tracks.htm

http://hunting.about.com/library/wee...oyotetrack.htm

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure...als/coyote.htm

"Tracks - The coyote track closely resembles that of a dog or fox although the coyote tends to follow a straight path across open areas where the others will wander or follow aspects of the landscape. The print is a rough oval shape with four toes bearing claw prints. The larger front foot has a much larger pad than the smaller rear foot.

Straddle: 10.5 - 15 cm (4.2 - 6 in)
Stride: 30 - 40 cm (12 - 16 in)
Track: 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long / 5.5 cm (2.2 in) wide"

[ 12-08-2002, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Bruce Taylor ]

[Donn]

"Coyote tracks are pointed whereas dog tracks are much more circular."

This is a bit over-simplified, as different breeds of dog have starkly different tracks. Another way to tell is lope. A coyote's lope, or pattern of tracks, will seldom exceed 16" in stride length, and tend to have the prints grouped together more than a running dog's lope.

[J. Dillon]

Boy you guys are fast and good. Thanks! I guess I saw dog tacks.

Will pose another question and topic.

[Memphis Mike]

What if the Coyote is a cross between
a Labrador and has webbed feet?

[JimD]

...and say! did everyone read that the creator of the Bigfoot (Sasquatch) hoax recently died? Surviving family members spilled the beans, saying the first big foot tracks ever found were made by footies carved out of wood, and that it was his wife dressed in the silly gorilla suit in that grainy film footage we've all seen...

...there are many coyotes in the park where we take Blue. Blue (sheperd/arabian greyhound cross) is always trying to make friends with them. When she spots a coyote and runs toward it the coyote usually takes off, running sort of boingy boingy boingy prancing like a deer, I assume to get its head above the tall wild grass so it can see.
jimd

[Gary Bergman]

wolf, coyote,fox all leave straight line tracks. because of dog inbreeding, their geometry isn't as perfect as natural predators.

[ishmael]

It's been said, but Paul Rezendes (sp), a master tracker from MA, once told me the way to tell was coyote hardly ever meander, whereas our goofy pooches, as we all know, run amock.

Heard coyote here last night. Erriie!

[NormMessinger]

Ever notice when a dog runs his hind end is cocked off to one side so the front and rear form two lines of tracks. A coyote puts rear on top of front. In western Kansas any way.

--Norm

[Mrleft8]

Best way to find out is to follow the tracks. When you get to the end, if theres a house with a "beware of dog" sign it probably isn't a coyote.

[ishmael]

But it could a be a wild dingo.

[ 12-08-2002, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: ishmael ]

[edsr]

JimD - A favorite trick of coyotes being chased is to run until the pursuer quits and turns around that is when mr. coyote turns around and bites the chaser.

Several of my neighbors have had this happen to their dogs and in one case the coyote had friends or relatives waiting in ambush and killed old Blackie.

Don't let your dog get too far away from your walking staff's protection.

I might just trim-up a few coyotes this spring they are raising hell with the deer population.
edsr

[gunnar I am]

Another way to identify coyote tracks, that won't depend on good quality prints or any for that matter , is to look for discrded packaging ,bearing the trademark of "Acme Manufacturing" Things like rocket sled or super magnet and metal balls and bird seed boxes.Or the super sticky fly paper.

[ishmael]

Beep beep.

[Alan D. Hyde]

A dog that is acquainted with coyotes won't let that happen.

My daughter-in-law grew up on a hundred acre farm, and has some great coyote stories.

Her dogs knew how coyotes worked, and the coyotes gave them a wide berth. Dogs that didn't know disappeared pretty quickly...

Alan

[ishmael]

When Sheba was a sweet young thing, un-spayed for a month or two, we lived out in the wilds of North central MA. Her one and only heat, she ran off, to look for a tryst no doubt. We had lot's of coyote around, and after she returned I found myself wondering if coyote would have mated with her, eaten her, or both.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Lucky and I went for a walk in the woods today looking for a suitable Christmas tree to cut and bring home - no luck very few evergreens and none suitable shape or size. We passed by a kill in the snow that looked like something from a Brian DePalma movie. Fresh blood splattered in the snow nothing left a line of paw prints radiating from the spot looked like dog / coyote or wolf I'm no woodsman to tell. All I know is I'm glad I wasn't the bloody mess

[htom]

The very nice drawing, Gary, Norm, and others have it: fox, coyote, and wolf step on their own tracks when moving in a straight line. Domestic canines don't.

[Shang]

"... did everyone read that the creator of the Bigfoot (Sasquatch) hoax recently died?..." JimD

Didn't even know he was sick...

[Gary Bergman]

When fur was in fashion, and a guy could make a living hammerin' steel in the ground, I would hang up my ironworkin tools and pull out the traps. Longlined 5-6 states, not legal, but good trappers cover the land. Many critters track well; mink 'coon, beaver,etc. It's the feral domestics that by and large cause trouble out in the wild. Most animal damage complaints I used to cover were loose dogs.Seemed to take seeing 'fido' in the trap, eating on a calf or sheep, to make the obvious clear.