Tracking a Coywolf

Eastern coyotes (coywolf) differ from their western counterparts
with a larger average size and various color phases,
 including blonde and black. Photo via state.nj.us/dep/fgw/

I have received more sightings and meals about wildlife identification by tracks this summer. (Maybe because people have been eager to get outside after the at-home kind of year that 2020 was due to the pandemic.) Though I have studied tracking for many years, I claim no expertise and still turn to references at times.

Recently, Frank sent me two photos and asked about identifying a coywolf. This hybrid of a coyote and wolf is also known as the Eastern coyote. 

I was running on the Yellow Poppy Allen Trail at Bass River State Forest and came across the tracks in the attached pictures. My finger is about 4' from the tip the the knuckle on my hand, and my sunglasses in another photo (placed on ground in between front and back paw tracks) are about 6" across.

I showed the photos to a ranger after completing my hike, and he seemed to think it was Coyote because of the fat toe pad as compared to a wolf track with more narrow toe pad.

Ironically, after seeing a photo of a Coywolf I realized I saw one crossing Magnolia Rd in Pemberton where it approaches the circle at Route 72 within the past 2 years. I remember being totally puzzled by the black and dark orange animal crossing, looking sort of like a dog but with significant hackles on its shoulders.

Distinguishing a coywolf from a coyote, wolf or even a domestic dog by tracks is difficult. An actual sighting helps (see below). Size isn't always helpful as there is a wide variety of canine track sizes, both domestic and wild. Confirmation is usually based on DNA (from scat or blood)

The wild canid family in the continental US consists of (from smallest to largest) grey foxes, red foxes, Western coyotes, Eastern coyotes (coywolves), and the rarer (and not found in NJ) red wolves, Mexican wolves and gray wolves. 

Wild canine tracks can range in size from 1.5 inches in length up to 5.5 inches (not including toenails/claws). Of course, domestic canines overlap those sizes too.

When I took a tracking class, I learned that the surface (substrate) an animal is walking on (mud, snow, packed dirt, sand etc.) changes the look of an animal’s tracks. Tracks also change as time passes, often getting larger as well as degrading. 

When an animal is walking on a softer or more slippery substrate (like mud or snow) it will spread its toes to help it balance. So tracks on a solid, harder ground will (usually) appear more accurately compact.  

Since it is almost impossible to distinguish a large dog from a wolf from a single track, it is recommended that you look at the pattern of the trail. Dogs tend to have rather erratic walks (perhaps not if leashed, but then you'd also see human tracks). They are not stalking. Their hind foot tracks seldom register within their forefoot tracks.  

A wild canine typically has a direct registration walk. Wolves tend to walk more directly when traveling, so their trails show that the hindfoot is placed within or directly in front of the forefoot. Wolves will also approach strangers and strange objects cautiously and tracks may show them circling widely to investigate rather than approaching directly.

coywolf (Eastern coyote) 4 inches

The photo above is a coywolf track that was confirmed (by DNA). It is about 4 inches long.

Since a coywolf is somewhere between a coyote and wolf, they are identified by characteristics between the two. For example, a coyote has a narrower face and a smaller nose pad than a wolf. The coyote has taller and pointed ears compared to a wolf's more rounded ones.

As with tracks, their physical size varies. Adult coyotes top out at around 50 pounds, while wolves are 70-150 pounds. We could expect an adult coywolf to be between the two ranges.

On clear tracks (like the one above), all the claws of a wolf are seen. For coyotes, the outer ones may not show.

Some studies define the “coywolf” population in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada that originated through hybridization between Canis lycaon (Eastern Wolf) and Canis latrans (Coyote), but maintain that it is now genetically uniform and only minimally influenced by either parental species. An alternative interpretation of available data is that this northeastern Coyote population is genetically diverse, substantially more Coyote than Eastern Wolf in its genetic composition, and part of a larger population of Coyotes that interbreeds with a hybrid Coyote/Eastern Wolf population in southern Ontario and western Coyotes in western New York and Pennsylvania.

So did Frank see coywolf tracks? As stated, hard to tell. At 4 inches, that is a good-sized canid. The track appears to be direct registration. Might it be a bog dog? Possibly. And because owners often let dogs run free in the woods, you might not see human tracks nearby. (see this side by side comparison of a dog and coyote - hard to tell)

Frank also asked about reporting a sighting. There is a way to do that at state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/rprtform.htm but it is more for endangered and threatened species and since a coywolf identification just from tracks is so difficult, I doubt that it would be investigated or recorded.

See Also

wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Identification
Coyotes in NJ  state.nj.us/dep/fgw/coyote_info.htm