round here, btween the coydogs and the cats they are ripping the deer to pieces...
Posted on 11/07/2011 8:14:28 PM PST by jazusamo
Hybrid offspring of coyotes and wolves have spread south along the eastern seaboard, a new DNA study confirms.
Scientists already knew that some coyotes, which have been gradually expanding their range eastward, mated with wolves in the Great Lakes (map) region. The pairings created viable hybrid offspring—identified by their DNA and skulls—that have been found in mid-Atlantic states such as New York and Pennsylvania.
Now, new DNA analysis of coyote poop shows for the first time that some coyotes in the state of Virginia are also part wolf. Scientists think these animals are coyote-wolf hybrids that traveled south from New England along the Appalachian Mountains.
The study also identified another coyote migration route moving through the southern states.
"You have a situation where you have these two waves of coyotes coming into the mid-Atlantic, a terminus for coyote colonization," said study leader Christine Bozarth, a research fellow at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.
Northern Virginia in particular seems to be a convergence point for coyote migrations, Bozarth said—and the animals' numbers are increasing there, especially in suburban areas where food is more plentiful.
(See "Coyotes Now at Home in Eastern U.S." )
Versatile Coyote Already Widespread
Coyotes are originally residents of middle America, particularly between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico.
By the end of the 20th century, the versatile animal—which can eat almost anything, from shoe leather to fruit—had spread to nearly every corner of the U.S., even New York City.
The coyote is "one of the animals that will be left at the end, like the cockroaches, raccoons, and rabbits," Bozarth said.
For the new study, Bozarth and colleagues collected coyote scat samples in northern Virginia and extracted DNA. The team then compared the coyote DNA with that of representatives of every canid species found in eastern North America. ( Get a genetics overview .)
The study, published October 17 in the Journal of Mammalogy, found evidence that Virginia coyotes mated with Great Lakes wolves but not with the rare red wolf, which is hanging on in just a few isolated spots in the U.S. South.
That's "good news for the red wolf," whose survival is already threatened by inbreeding, which reduces the species' genetic diversity, Bozarth noted.
Hybrid Coyotes Taking Down Deer?
For now, it's impossible to say how "wolfy" the newly identified coyote-wolf hybrids really are, Bozarth added—just that "at some point down the line, a coyote mated with a Great Lakes wolf-even generations ago."
Scientists have not yet studied the behaviors of the Virginian hybrids to see if they're killing bigger wildlife or otherwise changing the ecosystem, Bozarth added.
But other East Coast hybrids seen alive or identified by their remains are noticeably larger, with more wolf-like skulls, jaws, and teeth, Bozarth noted. (See pictures of new hybrid species appearing in the warming Arctic .)
Given this, coyote-wolf hybrids "should be able to do things like take down deer, which a little, scrappy Great Plains wily coyote would not be able to do on its own," Bozarth said.
Indeed, the research highights "just how successful and adapted these hybrids are to the eastern forests," said Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum in Albany.
For instance, Kays's research on the previously known eastern hybrids has shown that a third of their diet is deer—a much higher proportion than in western states.
Coyotes in Mid-Atlantic "Here to Stay"
Jonathan Way, a wildlife biologist and head of the Massachusetts-based education group Eastern Coyote Research, called the new paper "timely."
Coyotes coming from the west are moving not only through the Great Lakes but also south of the region, through Ohio. But until now, it was unknown how that southern route of colonization was influencing coyotes in the mid-Atlantic region, Way said by email.
According to Way, these two fronts of coyote expansion have probably made the Virginia animals "hybrids of a hybrid."
That's because the Virginia hybrids are most likely a combination of northeastern coyote-wolf hybrids, which are slightly bigger and more wolf-like, and nonhybrid coyotes coming through Ohio.
"The results of the paper are clear and important, and confirm that mid-Atlantic coyotes have DNA from [Northeast] animals ... and western coyotes," Way said.
Whatever their exact genetic makeup, one thing is clear, study author Bozarth emphasized: Coyotes and coyote-wolf hybrids in the mid-Atlantic are "absolutely established—they're here to stay."
Yet another massive screw up caused by the environmentalist wackos.
We still have the scrawny version out West here, but as the poster above noted, they can be a danger in large packs. I hear coyotes howling every night outside my house.
woof
Watch out for your vehicle antifreeze when coyotes are around. The little thieves will bite into a plastic container, then lap up your $11/gal antifreeze. And, the animal whacko crowd will not reimburse you for your loss.
Yegads.
We’ve got those miserable things here too, now.
The DNR denied it for years, in spite of a hunter nearly getting jumped up on Sideling Hill about a decade ago.
After denying it to death, signs on store fronts started popping up telling us that we would be fined $10K for harming/molesting/killing/harassing the “non-existent” critters and a 24/7 hotline number was included in case somebody sighted the mountains lions we “do not have here”.
Either the DNR is unrepentantly schizoid or they think we’re total idiots.
Maybe both.
I used to ride the ATV up on the mountain unarmed.
Then, I took along a .22 varmint rifle on the ATV gun rack.
Later, I slung a 30.30 over my shoulder.
Now that we have the catamounts [as they’re called here], the black bears and the “coyotes”, I don’t leave the freaking yard without a .45 semi-auto pistol.
When I let the dogs out in the backyard at night, I’ve got a high-lumen flash light in one hand and pistol near the door.
God only knows what I might find out there, these days.
***Coyotes in Mid-Atlantic “Here to Stay”***
Compound 1080 will take care of them. The DDT for coyotes!
Oh da#n. Both have been banned.
No worry for you, kanawa, the bear killer! :)
The odds of that are quite unlikely _in the wild_.
However, some insane people are now breeding them intentionally.
http://www.apetsblog.com/pets-journal/coydog-coyote-dog-hybrid.htm
What part of Maryland are you from?
I wonder if the hybrids are what we are seeing in our area. They don’t “yip” as much at night as other coyotes I’ve heard and seen in the past.
I do not go anywhere unarmed, so long as it is legal. Mountain Lions and I would suspect this new breed of Wolf/Coyotes are dangerous. However, the animals that populate the towns and cities are far more dangerous than the predators in the wild. I live in neither town or city by my choice.
“By the end of the 20th century, the versatile animal—which can eat almost anything, from shoe leather to fruit—had spread to nearly every corner of the U.S., even New York City.
The coyote is “one of the animals that will be left at the end, like the cockroaches, raccoons, and rabbits,” Bozarth said.”
It’s funny that this scientist doesn’t notice that the coyote had a limited range until it picked up the strategy of scavenging from modern human settlements and followed us as we colonized the continent. They might survive if we weren’t around, but they sure won’t be eating as good! It’s even more true for the roaches. The ones we are used to seeing are adapted to living with humans as much as housecats are, and they’d have a big lifestyle change in store if we weren’t here anymore.
The Wastelands, according to Lord Baltimore....:)
[aka Western MD...aka “The Gateway To WV”]
We’re decidedly...um...”different” from “normal” Merliners.
LOLOL!!!!
Yeah, different in a good way. I’m from Southern Merlin and we’re different, too. We have coyotes but I haven’t heard about any other big critters down our way.
The hybrids are relatively silent compared to their “pure” cousins.
They’re far too canny to intentionally announce their existence.
We didn’t even know what was killing local newborn livestock until some wound up flattened on I-70.
Old Troy Landry of Louisiana has the answer.
Choot Em!
round here, btween the coydogs and the cats they are ripping the deer to pieces...
They have been breeding with the red wolves in NC for a few years now and the scientists are afraid the pure red wolf will disappear. They are a lot larger my sister saw one running along the road when she lived up in Waynesville.
We are lousy with coyotes and coy dogs here in GA. Last night I begged off on dog walking and my fiancee’ walked the chihuahua first then took our beagle Buddy out last. It was about 9:00 PM and a coyote came out of the woods between our neighbor’s houses and headed straight up the street at him and the dog. He pulled out his weapon but good old Buddy looked up, saw the coyote, went into full bay and charged him out to the end of his retractable leash. My fiancee’ said that coyote was high stepping it back into the woods. This is the third time in a year and half that we have had this situation out in the street. They have very little fear of man.
Ditto.
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