Sunday, December 19, 2010

Giant Coyote Shot in Missouri


Hunter Kills 104-Pound 'Unusually Large' Coyote
Coyote About 3 Years Old

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- DNA testing has confirmed that a large animal shot and killed by a hunter a month ago was an "unusually large" coyote, the Missouri Department of Conservation announced Monday.

The hunter killed the animal on the opening day of Missouri's November firearms deer season on Nov. 13.

Coyotes are legal game during deer season, so the hunter shot and killed it, the department said. But when the hunter got a closer look at the animal, he wondered if he had mistakenly shot and killed a wolf, which is a protected species in Missouri, the department said.

The hunter contacted the MDC, which tested the animal's DNA and determined it was in fact a coyote.

The MDC said the 104-pound coyote was about 3 years old.





















 Coyotes were once a considered a  western species, confined largely to the far side of the Mississippi River.  Compared to their cousins the wolves, however, coyotes do very well in the presence of people, eating livestock, pets, and raiding garbage while living very secretly.  For much of the last century they have been invading the lands farther east.  It is reported that eastern coyotes are often larger than western coyotes, having acquired a few stray genes from dogs and even the occasional wolf.  While I have not yet seen a coyote here in Slower Maryland, they have been reported many times, and it would not surprise me at all to see one scavenging on the beach one day.

2 comments:

  1. We have them on the hills behind our house. When Cinnamon was half grown or so (50 or 60lbs vs her current 95) two yotes went after her while I was walking her up there.

    She was about 75-80 yards above me heading my way when they come out of the bushes on both sides of her. I managed to put a shot into the ground a few yards off to the left of the yote on the left and they both decided to look for dinner elsewhere. I have little doubt that they would have chewed her up pretty badly if not killed her otherwise.

    Ted

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