# Black coyote finally bit the dust...



## EAGLE EYE 444 (May 6, 2012)

About 6 weeks ago, a friend let me use one of his hog traps in the hope that we could catch two hogs that are wreaking havoc on my property.  Another friend has been checking the trap for me as I live 40 miles away and he lives only a mile or so from it.  I have over 1500 photos of these two destructive hogs and hopefully soon, I will be rid of them.  

I have been hoping that these two hogs would be caught and the continued damage to the pasture, woods, trees, etc would be over.  However, these two hogs have been pretty smart so far.

Recently, while checking my trailcams, I saw a large black colored coyote sniffing around the trap but it didn't go inside.  The good news is that 20 days later, this large black coyote finally returned for a close inspection and it went into the trap.  I have seen several coyotes on the trailcam photos recently BUT none with the coloring and the size of this large female coyote.  Last Friday morning, my friend caught this coyote in the trap and dispatched it accordingly.  This coyote was ultimately viewed by several people including other hunters, outdoorsman, and law enforcement personnel.  The general consensus was that this coyote is definitely mixed with some other breed and surely is not the normal coyotes that weigh only 40-50 pounds.  This one was officially weighed at 80 pounds and it was very obvious that it had not been eating well and appeared to be somewhat malnourished.  This coyote was measured at 33" tall at the front shoulder area and was 60" long overall and it had really large feet.  It also appeared to be more of a younger coyote that had not had a litter of pups yet too.  Several other people suggested that if this coyote had been well fed that it could have easily weighed possibly 130-150 pounds maybe.  Its winter coat was shedding and giving way to the incoming summer coat so the photos look fairly rough in that regard.  I thought that I would share these before and after photos and would be interested if any of you had seen another coyote of this size as such.  

And some of my friends wonder why that I carry at least two 40 caliber Glocks with extra magazines every time when I go into the woods.  I am just glad that I didn't have a confrontation with this particular coyote.


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## Southern Cyote (May 6, 2012)

nice catch you might have a state record. congrats


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## Cooondog (May 6, 2012)

Thats what I call a good yote. (DEAD)


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## BowanaLee (May 7, 2012)

Calico colored with white chest patch. Wild !


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## molly (May 7, 2012)

*Coydog*

That is a coydog....I have kill several over the years....look closely at the nose....short.....compare to a reg. coyote.


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## fxwg85 (May 7, 2012)

molly said:


> That is a coydog....I have kill several over the years....look closely at the nose....short.....compare to a reg. coyote.



That was my thinking. Nice catch still.


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## pstrahin (May 7, 2012)

Looks like it crossed with an Elk Hound.  Glad it is dead!


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## Nicodemus (May 7, 2012)

Good chance that is a black color phase red wolf. Like the ones Bartram mentioned.


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## Lukethedrifter (May 7, 2012)

Did some pretty extensive research on the red wolf about 15 years ago. It is extremely hard to tell by the pics, but I agree with Nicodemus, that very well may be a red wolf. May want to take those tailgate shots down just in case. They are extremely protected.


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## bhdawgs (May 7, 2012)

Looks like a wolf to me too....


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## flhunter82 (May 8, 2012)

sure would have been a good one to run in the fox pen


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## Dixiesimpleman32 (May 8, 2012)

never heard of anyone catching a mature coyote in a cage trap.Looks like its mixed with a dog.That thing must of been starving.Congrads glad you got rid of it.


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## bulldawgborn (May 12, 2012)

If it is a coydog, that might be why she had no had a litter of pups yet...other than her age.


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## HOGDOG76 (May 12, 2012)

William Bartram described this unique American species in 1791, after seeing examples of the now extinct Florida race.

        “The wolves of Florida are larger than a dog,” wrote the Philadelphia naturalist, “and are perfectly black, except the females, which have a white spot on the breast, but they are not so large as the wolves of Canada and Pennsylvania, whch are a yellowish brown color "

might be a good idea to turn over some of the remains to dnr to allow for some dna/genetic testing. Be nice to know there are still some surviving out there other than the islands.


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## littlewolf (May 12, 2012)

little wolf


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## sleepr71 (May 13, 2012)

Congrats & That has to be the biggest coyote/coy-dog I've ever seen. 40-50lbs is the biggest I've killed in mid-GA. Now..what's this talk of it being a "red-wolf" and "protected". Are we on the way to not being able to kill coyotes..for fear that they may contain a scant amount of "red-wolf" DNA? ALso..is it just me..isn't this animals teeth VERY white & clean? Something don't add up to me..'cause I've NEVER heard of a wild 'yote being caught in a "box-style" trap..I wonder if it's an escaped "pet" ? Sleepr71


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## bigreddwon (May 13, 2012)

molly said:


> That is a coydog....I have kill several over the years....look closely at the nose....short.....compare to a reg. coyote.



I agree. we used to have a real problem with them back in AZ. They are much more dangerous than pure coyotes.


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## Chadx1981 (May 13, 2012)

Weird


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## Forest Grump (May 13, 2012)

sleepr71 said:


> Congrats & That has to be the biggest coyote/coy-dog I've ever seen. 40-50lbs is the biggest I've killed in mid-GA. Now..what's this talk of it being a "red-wolf" and "protected". Are we on the way to not being able to kill coyotes..for fear that they may contain a scant amount of "red-wolf" DNA? ALso..is it just me..isn't this animals teeth VERY white & clean? Something don't add up to me..'cause I've NEVER heard of a wild 'yote being caught in a "box-style" trap..I wonder if it's an escaped "pet" ? Sleepr71



umm...its teeth are very white and clean because it is a young animal, & they are "new", so to speak. 

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/redwolf.htm

http://www.forestry.uga.edu/outreach/pubs/pdf/wildlife/NHS-11-13%20-%20Red%20Wolf.pdf

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=461459


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (May 13, 2012)

After reading several replies to my thread, I will now add so more thoughts about this coyote.

First, I really believe that this animal is a Coydog mixture and not really a true descendent of the "red wolf" variety that several of you have mentioned.  I must admit that I have been educated somewhat about Mr. William Bartram, as his original trail does travel within a few miles of the area of my property.  Thanks to Nic initially,  I surely gained some very informative knowledge while reading about this subject and as I read more about the "red wolf", I had a sense that I was really seeing this phenomenon through Mr. William Bartram's eyes.   

In the past few years, there have been several reports from other people that have seen coyotes that they believed to have mated with neighborhood dogs in this area of Georgia.  Some people that examined this particular coyote knew of someone locally that had a rather large dog that could have previously mated with a coyote and this could have possibly been the offspring.  Of course, none of us know if that is a fact or not.  We will just have to  keep speculating.

Please be advised that in the original two photos, there are two plastic bags shown.  The reason that this happened, as such, was that we moved the trailer that was used to haul in the heavy trap originally and since I had a partial bag of corn left in the trailer, that bag was put in a large size double thickness plastic bag to keep dry until needed.  Well the bag was placed on the top section of the trap until the next day and, ultimately, one of the plastic bags was blown on the ground by the wind.  The remaining partial bag of corn in the plastic bag remained on top and that is when the coyote first visited the hog trap area on April 16th.  It was 20 days later when this coyote came back and ultimately went into the trap.  

During this time, one of the chickens died and it was used as bait for several days before the coyote tried to eat the chicken set in the trap and that is how the coyote was actually caught.  The  dead chicken was in the trap for about a week before the coyote was trapped.

This entire trap adventure was originally to try and catch two hogs that have been damaging my pasture, and other tree root systems on my property.  Once I saw this large coyote on my trailcam at the trap, it was shear coincidence that one of the chickens died and was ultimately used as bait.  The remains of this coyote has been completely devoured by other coyotes and has completely vanished.  No other evidence remains so the overall results speak for itself.

I hope that these additional details might answer some questions of the actual photos and white bags etc.

As I originally stated, I am just glad that I did not have an encounter with this large coyote while I was walking over my property.


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## Forest Grump (May 13, 2012)

EAGLE EYE 444 said:


> And some of my friends wonder why that I carry at least two 40 caliber Glocks with extra magazines every time when I go into the woods.  I am just glad that I didn't have a confrontation with this particular coyote.



(_Just curious:_) How many Glocks does it take to kill a coyote? 

or are you fearful of this:  

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## EAGLE EYE 444 (May 13, 2012)

First, I think that the Georgia Lottery Commission has several loose screws in producing this kind of commercial.  I'm sure their PETA friends probably love it.

**********************************************


Actually in this case, just one .22 caliber short.

However, if I am walking on my property, I take at least two Glocks just in case I might need the extra firepower.

Much rather "Have It And Not Need It Than to Need It And Not Have It".  Trust me, I never take a pocket knife to a gunfight.


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## olcowman (May 13, 2012)

Forest Grump said:


> (_Just curious:_) How many Glocks does it take to kill a coyote?



I must be crazy or super brave? I walk around all the time in rural and wooded areas with nothing except perhaps my ol' case pocket knife...


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## Son (May 13, 2012)

Our club killed two in Macon Co. Al back in the 1970's that weighed about 60 pounds each. They were chasing a deer. Auburn U, identified both as Coydogs.


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## Throwback (May 14, 2012)

as a general rule:

tail down-coyote

tail straight back--wolf

tail held up--dog

T


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## HuntinDawg89 (May 14, 2012)

Throwback said:


> as a general rule:
> 
> tail down-coyote
> 
> ...



As a general rule my Labrador Retriever carries his tail in each of these positions every day.


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## olcowman (May 16, 2012)

HuntinDawg89 said:


> As a general rule my Labrador Retriever carries his tail in each of these positions every day.



You better go ahead and shoot him then cause he is obviously got some of that blood thirsty, human eating, deer decimating, baby snatching, democrat voting, just plain dangerous, wicked coyote blood in him!

You never know? Maybe the next time you walk out to give him his can of Alpo... then BAM!!! You're visiting with relatives that died years ago and they're going thru a coyote/lab large intestine to find enough of ya' to fill a shoe box?

I hope it ain't too late already?


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## oldways (May 16, 2012)

Ol' Cowman your killin me...


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## Throwback (May 16, 2012)

HuntinDawg89 said:


> As a general rule my Labrador Retriever carries his tail in each of these positions every day.



really? No kidding. 

T


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## Marlin_444 (May 16, 2012)

Looks dead to me.


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## TripleXBullies (May 18, 2012)

I see coydog.


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## BigDollar (May 19, 2012)

I seriously doubt it's a coydog.  Coyotes and dogs only very rarely breed in the wild.  Their reproductive cycles don't match.  Their offspring are less fertile.

The canine in that photo shows no resemblance to a domestic dog.  Domestic dogs have floppy ears and multi-colored coats and a different shaped skull.

It's probably just a large coyote.  It may have a small amount of eastern wolf blood in it.


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## Forest Grump (May 19, 2012)

BigDollar said:


> The canine in that photo shows no resemblance to a domestic dog.  Domestic dogs have floppy ears and multi-colored coats and a different shaped skull.



  Careful, statements like that could land you a starring role in someone's signature line on here.


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