ORIGINAL: Bill Yox

Having seen as many as I have, this isnt even a vote, to me its obvious...its simply an eastern coyote in the black phase. We see plenty of them, even though this color seems to be less frequent then any other color phase. Many other black phase animals have the familiar white chevron on the chest too. Black squirrels, bears, black muskrats and most mink all have the white, even if its just a spot. As for dog crosses, I seldom see them here, but then again, others have covered this well already. The real problem stems from folks using the slang "coydog" or "brushwolf" in error. A true cross, like Charlie said, is when an amorous male dog breeds with a female coyote. This can happen when coyotes are new to an area and theres feral dogs present, most of the time. The resulting offspring arent sterile, but will cycle at the wrong time of the season for pups to survive or other male coyotes to breed with the resulting female cross breds. They also have patches ofcolor from the dog, or long haired "socks" from other breeds, or floppy ears or dark eyes, for example.

The coyote pictured is so typical of an eastern coyote...heavy build, wrists and heels that are sturdier than western coyotes, and a heavier head which sometimes makes the muzzle appear shorter. Eastern coyotes usually have a muzzle length of about 4 1/4 inches from the eye to the nose tip, and run about 42 inches nose to base of tail, on the carcass. (remember, Im a taxidermist, Ive mounted too many of these!)

As we have mentioned in so many other posts just like this one, the color phases of grey, brown, blonde, a true red and various black colors is common. The black coyote actually has dark black tips on dark brown or smokie grey hairs, with charcoal or grey underfur, with black and/or brown highlights. The hackles, legs, ears, face and tail are usually the darkest. The eyes are usually hazel in this color phase. You can tell immature wolves or coyotes right off, as they usually still have a blue-grey eye.

I dont wanna come off sounding like a know-it-all, or offend anyone else based on their opinions posted here. I just know this animal all too well. Heck, I could talk about windwalkers blonde squirrel too, Ive seen enough of those, and could tell you where a live one is today!

By the way, as an aside...I often see where guys say to sell animals to taxidermists (as we are too dumb to know what the fur prices are, lol) because many taxidermists like to collect odd color phases. Well, black coyotes are a popular one, so if you get one you arent interested in, the fur value for the market is zero. But guys love to mount them, and they will bring a better price then about anything else you might catch right now. Its best to freeze them whole or sell as is, no skinning. Some guys dorsal cut them, others still do them trapper style, cased, with all parts intact. I know theyll easily go over $100 this way. Hope this helps a few of you out!