Eastern Timberwolf?

[fishrick]

These easter coyotes have a bit of red wolf blood in them, but a cross breed would not be fertile. Have seen the Narragansett ones, they are coyotes, but I have personally weighed a 70 lb one in Vermont, and shot a 52lb one in NY. both "brindle" in color. There here to stay. Much larger than western version, but have seen Timber wolves in Saskatchewan and Alberta....totally different, and some up to 125lbs....not the same class....

[Sundowner]

I've seen dozens and dozens of coyotes in Narragansett, but this one was nothing at all like any of them. I had a 100 lb Akita and this was taller and very slightly less stocky

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by fishrick

These easter coyotes have a bit of red wolf blood in them, but a cross breed would not be fertile. Have seen the Narragansett ones, they are coyotes, but I have personally weighed a 70 lb one in Vermont, and shot a 52lb one in NY. both "brindle" in color. There here to stay. Much larger than western version, but have seen Timber wolves in Saskatchewan and Alberta....totally different, and some up to 125lbs....not the same class....

They shot a verified Eastern Timber Wolf near here a few years ago. A farmer shot it while it was chasing his livestock.

[Pete_G]

I've seen some unusually large individuals around Aquidneck Island as well.

Maybe not as big as what you saw but clearly bigger then your traditional, original mid-West mouse stalking coyote.

The coyotes here have had DNA testing. Wolf, domestic dog, and coyote blend. Pretty much standard at this point, a "pure" coyote is rare both on Aquidneck Island and most of the Eastern part of the country.

I've never read that they couldn't reproduce, in fact just the opposite. They've been hybridized for some time, in some regions more then others and are reproducing just fine. Some populations are considered hybrids of hybrids.

It helps explain the deer carcasses around here people occasionally find, blood and bones everywhere. Bigger animals behaving more like wolves, hunting in a pack for example. Coyotes are generally considered more solitary.

I've also read it's considered to be a very fast display of evolution. "Coywolves" filling the niche of wolves we eradicated over time. Something might as well be hunting bigger animals (deer) since they really have no natural predator in many areas.