Monroe Outdoors
Hybrids are all around us. We grow and eat hybrid fruits and vegetables. We plant them in our yards to create a landscape that is more pleasing to the eye.
There is even a hybrid that roams both the wild places remaining in the county and, from time to time, our neighborhoods. This hybrid is known as the coydog and is undoubtedly one of our most misunderstood wild neighbors.
One of the main reasons for this misunderstanding stems from the fact that it is difficult to describe or even recognize. Coydogs vary greatly in size and color. On top of that, little is known about their private lives.
The coydog is a hybrid that results from the mating of a male coyote and a female domestic dog.
Everyone is familiar with the coyote. This non-native mammal has been roaming throughout the county for decades. The coyote’s eyes are typically brown; however, on rare occasions blue-eyed animals are seen.
The coyote looks much like a Husky or German Shepherd. It has pointed ears, a long snout and a bushy tail punctuated with a black streak on top. The coyote’s coat is best described as being mottled, featuring a color pattern that can vary from reddish-blonde to black. Some coyotes are pure gray.
The coyote ranges anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds in weight. A super-sized coyote can weigh upwards of 55 pounds. Males are somewhat larger than females.
Domestic dogs come in a broad spectrum of colors and sizes. Coydogs vary tremendously in size and color. Coydogs can be pure black, white, brown or appear mottled. They can weigh as much as an average coyote or tip the scales at 60 to 120 pounds. The coydog’s eyes are usually brown.
The fact that feral and family dogs are spotted throughout the county makes knowing what we are looking at when we spot a large canine much more difficult.
Moreover, even when we hear howling or yipping (that sound typical of the vocalizations uttered by coyotes), we can never be sure whether we are hearing a coydog or something else. This is due to the fact coydogs can yip like a dog and howl like a coyote.
We know very little about their abundance. No surveys have been conducted to determine the size of Georgia’s coydog population. According to Dr. Chris Mowry, a professor at Berry College and head of the Atlanta Coyote Project, “They’re rare, yet there seems to be a higher occurrence of them in the Southeast United States.” The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division considers them to be uncommon.
Based on skull measurements in Illinois, only 15 percent of some 10,000 coyotes harvested in the early 1980s in the Land of Lincoln were found to be coydogs. A New York study of 200 animals suspected to be coydogs revealed only a small percentage were coydogs. In Ohio, only 2.6 percent of the 379 skulls measured in 1982 were classified as coming from coydogs. These findings are consistant with evaluations of coydog populations in other states.
It should also be noted that some mammologists believe that these hybrids are more common in Oklahoma and Texas than elsewhere. They base this belief on the fact that the weather of these two states is conducive to a longer breeding season for male coyotes. Here is the reason why this is so important.
The coyote’s breeding cycle is such that females come into heat only during late winter. This coincides with the only time during the entire year that male coyotes can breed with them. This means it is also the only time the male coyote can successfully mate with a female domestic dog. While such matings do occur, they are uncommon due to the fact female domestic dogs enter into heat at varying times that, more often than not, occur outside the coyote’s breeding cycle.
Meanwhile, male dogs can impregnate female coyotes anytime. In the rare event that a male dog mates with a female coyote, their young are sometimes referred to as dogotes.
Coydogs have been in existence long before Europeans set foot in the New World. For instance, in Mexico’s ancient city of Teotihuacan, coyotes were bred with domestic dogs to create coydogs. These animals serve as guard animals. Likewise, indigenous people living in the far northern regions of North America have bred coydogs for thousands of years. They used these hybrids to pull their sleds. Such breeding continued well into the 20th century.
Interestingly, genetic studies have revealed that it is likely melanistic coyotes in northern reaches of North America were brought across the Bering Land Bridge from Asia when humans first colonized North America.
The bottom line is, if you see a large canine crossing a road, running through a field or woodland, in most cases it is a coyote. However, you should keep in mind it is impossible to know for sure whether the animal is somebody’s pet, a coyote, or coydog. As a result, we must resign ourselves to the realization this is one of the countless secrets that abound in the natural world that has not yet been revealed.
Terry Johnson is retired Program Manager of the Georgia Nongame-Endangered Wildlife Program. He has written the informative column ‘Monroe Outdoors’ for the Reporter for many years. His book, “A Journey to Discovery,” is available at The Reporter. Email him at tjwoodduck@bellsouth.net.
