General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThere are now millions of coywolves roaming America
Coyotes, wolves and dogs have formed like Voltron to create a powerful new animal that some scientists are already calling a new species.
And there are already a ton of them.
The coywolf, as the specimen is now commonly called, is the product of weak versions of wolves and coyotes interbreeding between each other, as well as with dogs that are the product of human settlement.
The resulting offspring are twice as massive as purebred coyotes, capable of killing deer and, in packs, moose. Thanks to their genetic intermingling, they also have the ability to hunt in any terrainlike wolves, in forests, or like coyotes, in more densely populated areas.
In a study of 437 of the animals, one researcher found that the average coywolf is a tenth dogusually Dobermans or German Shepherdsa quarter wolf, and the rest coyote.
Roland Kays of North Carolina State University told The Economist he estimates they now number in the millions, and are spreading fast beyond their northeastern epicenter. From the magazine:
The animals range has encompassed Americas entire north-east, urban areas included, for at least a decade, and is continuing to expand in the south-east following coywolves arrival there half a century ago. This is astonishing.
http://fusion.net/story/224645/coywolf-combination-dog-coyote-wolf-roams-america/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fusion8&utm_content=1&utm_term=fusion-newsletter-225211
onehandle
(51,122 posts)That's the result of Duggars interbreeding with Palins.
Powerful fundamentalist conservatives, but less intelligent than the two originals, who weren't that intelligent to start with.
Brrrr....
a kennedy
(35,928 posts)ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)I literally snorted coffee when I read what the hell a "Duglin" is!
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)He warned us.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Lobo (Spanish - 'wolf') + coyote.
TexasProgresive
(12,729 posts)about coydogs. It pretty much didn't amount to much. Something to do with the breeding cycle of dogs and coyotes not being very compatible. I haven't heard about this species mixing in years. Personally I haven't ever seen a coydog. I see dogs and I see coyotes. The few coydogs were much larger than coyotes and even dogs as they are an F-1 hybrid which tend to be growthy.
Since the only know wolves in Texas are in captivity coy-dog-wolf intermingling is probably not an issue here. One fact that few know is that in wild canids, wolves will kill coyotes on sight but ignore foxes; coyotes will kill foxes on sight and try to stay away from wolves. It is the extermination of the Texas Gray Wolf that has led to large amounts of coyotes.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)jmg257
(11,996 posts)We had a big (110#) German Shepard, and though smaller overall, these looked just like him (or a really big fox)...not as scrawny as coyotes which we also have.
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)We have about 2,200+ wolves and we have coyotes.
Atman
(31,464 posts)Scary stuff!
jen63
(813 posts)Some one at DU posted the link to a documentary about them. It was a great show. The really amazing thing is that during efforts to lower their numbers, their litters become bigger, so you end up with more than were culled. They are now living in major urban areas and parks and doing very well.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Gawd never done made no coywolves!
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)Kaleva
(40,347 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)These are gonna be smart, tough, resilient critters.
