Coyotes: For all the folks not concerned about coyotes out in the country the other day, take a look at greymule’s post today of the wild dogs in Africa. Our coyotes work exactly the...

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

For all the folks not concerned about coyotes out in the country the other day, take a look at greymule’s post today of the wild dogs in Africa. Our coyotes work exactly the same way--in packs.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

I had that same thought, John. And we sometimes get packs of wild dogs here, too. People just dump them and they form roving packs.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

In my old neighbord they worked in pairs at about 3 in the morning.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

jaymatt wrote:

Our coyotes work exactly the same way--in packs.

Anybody who has seen the roadrunner/coyote documentaries knows that coyotes work alone. However, I can see where it would be helpful if they worked in packs when the coyote had to hoist that anvil to the top of the cliff.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

EdJ0307 wrote:

Anybody who has seen the roadrunner/coyote documentaries knows that coyotes work alone. However, I can see where it would be helpful if they worked in packs when the coyote had to hoist that anvil to the top of the cliff.

DougS Loc: Central Arkansas

The coyotes around my home definitely work in packs! Last week, they had made a kill (probably a deer). The chorus sounded like at least half dozen, 300 feet in front of my home, behind my barn. Not the first time, usually they are in the overgrown field behind my home. The deer pass behind my home, going to a small pond. Approx. 2 months ago, they made kill behind my home. They yelp for approx. 30 seconds, after the kill... then silence. This is fairly regular occurrence.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I am not sure if they really do work in packs, although I am no expert on them. I know that 2 or 3 of them can sound like a lot when they are vocalizing. For what its worth, my understanding is that pairs are a mated pair. A group of 3 will be the parents and a nearly mature youngster who will soon be made to leave.
But coyotes will hybridize with wolves ("coywolves"), and maybe these are more social, like wolves? The hybrids do pretty well, and they are bigger.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Yeah, John. We have them here in the suburbs of Kansas City also. About 2 weeks ago, I was parked in a field with my truck and saw a pack of about 6 or 7 coyotes. I could not tell, They were about 30 yards away. They saw me and I saw them. If they even would have thought of doing something, the would have all ended up as dead meat. No problem from my end. I also knew that they pretty stay away from adult humans.

Equus Loc: Puget Sound

I recently read an article (can't remember where right now) that the east coast coyotes have been interbred with wolves (I seem to recall red). Coyotes hunt solo or in a mated pair. The hybrids are hunting in packs.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Equus wrote:

I recently read an article (can't remember where right now) that the east coast coyotes have been interbred with wolves (I seem to recall red). Coyotes hunt solo or in a mated pair. The hybrids are hunting in packs.

The 'red wolf' is a southwestern population, and what they are exactly has been controversial. But an opinion often brought up is that they are thought to be a long established population of wolf-coyote hybrids.

Besides all that, both wolves and coyotes will hybridize with domestic dogs. That is surely part of why one can see coyote-like animals that don't act like coyotes. Technically, all this means that wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs are one species. It's pretty weird!

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Mark Sturtevant wrote:

The 'red wolf' is a southwestern population, and what they are exactly has been controversial. But an opinion often brought up is that they are thought to be a long established population of wolf-coyote hybrids.

Besides all that, both wolves and coyotes will hybridize with domestic dogs. That is surely part of why one can see coyote-like animals that don't act like coyotes. Technically, all this means that wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs are one species. It's pretty weird!

Yes, around here we call them coydogs.