Coyote or Eastern Wolf

FoymountFarm

FoymountFarm

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Any coyote or wolf hunters want to comment? I believe its a coyote but I'm not certain. Taken this morning, Ontario WMU 58, as the crow flies about only 100 km from the Eastern Wolf's Algonquin Park range. The pack was howling 3 nights ago. In the last week the camera has also taken shots of 2 sets of twin fawns, one set still speckled the other already grown out of them. Thanks.

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Chuckbuster said:
From the pictures, I'd say eastern wolf. The reddish/cinnamon behind the ears is a field mark. Their legs tend to be reddish as well, "salt and pepper" coat and a pale underside. You say you heard them howling; drawn out and long from the start of vocalization, or was it yips leading into a howl?
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Didn't hear the start of the howl, I was inside and only noticed it as the volume rose. By the time I got outside the pack was fully engaged in making itself heard. What I did listen to for about 4 minutes was several animals making a cacophony of yips, barks and drawn out howls. I'm used to the coyotes around here but to me this critter looked more wolf than coyote. About 10 minutes earlier the camera picked up pics of what I'm sure is a coyote. I'm wondering if coyotes and wolves would be in such close proximity of each other? View attachment 31769View attachment 31770View attachment 31771
 
I'm in wmu 56 SW bordering on algonquin. I have some very large wolves (clearly some Gray heritage) on my game cams each year. Interestingly, I also am capturing on camera the algonquin red wolf sub species (beautiful red slim wolf) Your picture, based on the legs, ears, snout and tail posture is a coyote. In WMU 56 coyotes and wolves do co-exist, however it is very rare that they are caught on camera within a month of each other, which leads me to believe they give each other a wide berth. Here is a picture of a bad boy in the area. Note the width of the jaw, lower profile ears.

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If the original post is a wolf it would be the scrawniest skinniest wolf I've ever seen...when you see a wolf you will know it....its a coyote! :)
 
Looks like a coyote to me. We have shot many red colour coyotes....all colours actually.


At our hunt camp in WMU 49 it is over run with coyotes/wolves. I have seen both. I have a trail cam video of 7 coyote looking things walking in single file on a well used moose path.
 
FoymountFarm said:
Didn't hear the start of the howl, I was inside and only noticed it as the volume rose. By the time I got outside the pack was fully engaged in making itself heard. What I did listen to for about 4 minutes was several animals making a cacophony of yips, barks and drawn out howls. I'm used to the coyotes around here but to me this critter looked more wolf than coyote. About 10 minutes earlier the camera picked up pics of what I'm sure is a coyote. I'm wondering if coyotes and wolves would be in such close proximity of each other? View attachment 31769View attachment 31770View attachment 31771
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It is entirely possible for territories or home ranges of both animals to meet on the edge or fringe of their respective ranges. I know that wolf pack territories in the park are often not entirely contained within Algonquin's borders, and there are some that are wholly outside of the park. Given the size and coloration of Algonquin Park wolves, there has historically been a great deal of confusion regarding what any given animal may be, and many misidentifications as a result. But, without a clearer picture, the coat coloration and the red behind the ears leads me to suspect it is a wolf, and that is why I asked about the vocalization. When it comes to wolves from Algonquin, size as a qualifier is often misleading: I have seen park wolves (deep inside the park) that looked pretty much like the animal in the picture...small, skinny, body proportions), but howling is often a more reliable identifier.

Adult wolves will have long drawn out howls; they do not yip and yap. Wolf pups will have shorter yips and yaps. Coyotes have a very distinctive yapping/yapping howl...the one you typically hear in old westerns (ow-ow-ow-owooooo). Even then, it is normally quite distinctive from the yaps of wolf pups in that the coyotes sound faster.

Hope all of this helps in figuring out it's true identity!
 
The OP's description of the howls is exactly coyote. One coyote can make it sound like about three efferent animals howling, while two coyotes can make it sound like a pack of them are howling.
Someone said if you see a wolf, you will know its a wolf. Same is true of howling, only more so. When you hear the eerie, drawn out howl of a wolf, or wolves, you will immediately know it.
 
Wile E. Coyote. Typical spindly legs. And everything howls in Algonquin. Moon is full tonight. Get out and howl a bit yourself.
 
For comparison, a Russian wolf. Notice how beefier this guy is, especially the legs and neck/shoulder.

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Grainy, cloudy, low-resolution and out-of-focus trail cam shots are not the ideal medium to transmit subtle field marks and colourations. I tend to snicker a bit when guys look at pics like these and comment about the length of the scrotum hairs or the colour of the fur between the nostrils. A much better overall method of ID in cases like this is what birders call GISS (General Impression, Size and Shape, which encompasses things like posture, gait and behaviour). Going mostly by that, I just can't see ID'ing this critter as anything other than a very ordinary coyote.
 
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