[cradle of freedom]

I live in Massachusetts, I have seen a coyote in broad daylight in my daughters neighborhood which is surrounded by woods. I have also seen a coyote on a farm not farm from my street. My daughter said that one night she heard coyotes killing a deer—they could hear the death cries of the deer. Could this have been a coyote/wolf mix since a poster says that pure coyotes cannot take down a deer?

[trisham]

We were on our deck at dusk when we heard what sounded like a pack of coywolves chasing through the woods about 20 -30 feet away in the underbrush. Whatever they were chasing was screaming. Loud. They also attacked our next door neighbor’s dog.

One of the pack that has come through our yard looked to be German Shepherd size, but since our deck is 8 feet off the ground it was difficult to be sure of the size and weight. Still, definitely well over 50 lbs.

The Eastern coyote (what we have here in Massachusetts) is a coywolf, a hybrid.

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/wildlife/living/living_with_coyotes.htm

[Varda]

You both live in Eastern Coyote territory. Years ago, I read a study done in New Hampshire that found the eastern coyote was a hybrid of the Eastern Timberwolf and western coyote. These coyotes vary in size and have been reported up to 80lbs. I’m guessing that the ratio of coyote to wolf in any given population depends on the prey species for that area. If they’re preying on adult deer that suggests more wolf than coyote.
BTW genus Canis will speciate through hybridization. It’s not a new observation for this genus.

[Ax]

Some years ago, I was jogging on Cape Cod in a rural area. A coyote came sauntering out of the woods and gave me the once-over. It was as if he was asking what I was doing on his turf.

My next door neighbor up there put a Hav-a-Heart cage in his yard one night, hoping to trap a raccoon which to take to the next village over and release the beast. One night, the cage was at the tree line, mangled. The only thing in the cage was a squirrel with his little paws chewed off. Coyotes are not to be messed with.

[calex59]

I live in Massachusetts, I have seen a coyote in broad daylight in my daughters neighborhood which is surrounded by woods. I have also seen a coyote on a farm not farm from my street. My daughter said that one night she heard coyotes killing a deer—they could hear the death cries of the deer. Could this have been a coyote/wolf mix since a poster says that pure coyotes cannot take down a deer?

Actually pure coyotes, regardless of what some FReepers think, do hunt in packs of two to four animals. I have seen them here in Northern CA. When you call in coyotes with a predator call they usually come in pairs and sometimes up to 4 or more. They are quite capable of killing a deer. The western coyote is smaller than its hybrid eastern cousins but still deadly. The distress call of a deer, which is seldom heard, sounds similar to a goat or sheep.