• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Patreon
  • Premium Membership
  • Services

Natural History

by Scottie Westfall

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« The Blog of Forgotten Dreams?
Ice bark »

Coyote tracks in the snow

February 22, 2015 by SWestfall3

I came across some coyote tracks in the snow.

049

052

Their size next to a nickel (US five cent piece):

055

050

One foot stepping where the other was.  This is very common in coyotes. They walk almost without wasted movement.

043

 

And for comparison, here are some of Miley’s:

060

062

063

There is no hard and fast rule from telling dog tracks from coyote tracks, but in this case, there are no other domestic dogs running loose on this road. Golden retrievers have round “cat feet,” which gives them a pretty compact track in the mud or snow. Coyotes have pronounced center toes on their front feet. There aren’t many dogs that have that particular foot morphology, especially around here where sighthounds really don’t exist (except on the race track).

Miley is also at least 1/3 larger than any coyote that lives here, and because her legs are proportionally shorter, she tends to dig in more when she runs.

That’s how I tell them apart.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged coyote tracks, Eastern coyote, West Virginia coyote | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on February 22, 2015 at 6:29 pm M.R.S.

    I’d guess that working collies’ tracks would be very like the coyotes’. With retrievers, it’s common for the front foot to be slightly larger and rounder than the hind foot. Maybe because they carry more weight on the front end, characteristic of a dog built for swimming., and a number of other breeds.

    Wolves and coyotes are very efficient in their gaits. Dog people could learn much from them. Of course many dog breeds are built for specialized purposes, hence will vary; but the wild canines are basic.


  2. on February 22, 2015 at 6:31 pm retrieverman

    https://retrieverman.net/2012/07/07/close-encounters-of-the-coyote-kind/ Coyote pup tracks for comparison.


  3. on February 22, 2015 at 6:58 pm dogsandwolvessmartoldlady

    Wolf paw tracks have 3 pads, dogs have 5. There’s fossil evidence that this was true 26,000 years ago. How many pads do coyotes have on their paws? I discuss this in my forthcoming book, “Humans, Dogs, and Civilization.” soon to be available as an ebook and a print version.


    • on February 22, 2015 at 8:32 pm casdog1

      Um…what are you talking about? Wolves, dogs, & coyotes all have exactly the same number of pads. They also have the same number of pads as cats. And if you include the carpal pad, which does not contact the ground except when galloping or landing jumps, they all have 6. Footprints from walking or trotting animals will have 5 clear pad marks, the palmar pad & the 4 toes pads that contact the ground. Have you ever looked at a dog or a cat’s foot?


    • on February 22, 2015 at 11:41 pm retrieverman

      I think you might be misunderstanding this: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/postComment.aspx?id=6793&y=2009&no=4&page=4

      The thing is we don’t know if that child and that canid were even contemporaries. The dog-like signal isn’t the number of pads but the position of the toes, which is almost the same thing I pointed out here as the difference between dogs and coyotes.


    • on February 22, 2015 at 11:44 pm retrieverman

      The best evidence for possible domestication from 26,000 or 27,000 years ago comes from the Czech Republic, where a dog or wolf was put to rest with with bone in its mouth.


  4. on February 22, 2015 at 7:47 pm kittenz

    Not sure what you mean by that? Wolves and dogs have the s
    ame number of paw pads.


  5. on February 22, 2015 at 9:18 pm Clayton Reese (@SlyClay117)

    Wolves and dogs and coyotes have the main paw pad, then with the toes, four toes leaving an imprint. So… suffice it to say, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about lady with an overly long name. (Which I dare say is inaccurate)



Comments are closed.

  • Like on Facebook

    The Retriever, Dog, and Wildlife Blog

    Promote Your Page Too
  • Blog Stats

    • 9,645,382 hits
  • Retrieverman’s Twitter

    • one person followed me // automatically checked by fllwrs.com 2 days ago
    • one person unfollowed me // automatically checked by fllwrs.com 1 week ago
    • @andthestars20 @Fiorella_im Peggy Hill level Spanish! 1 week ago
    • @TetZoo Nah. Doesn't even look like a heron's beak. It must be fake news for this glorious fake news day. 1 week ago
    • @SarcasmStardust Poor German shepherd... 2 weeks ago
  • Google rank

    Check Google Page Rank
  • Archives

    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
  • Recent Comments

    markgelbart on Retiring this Space
    oneforestfragment on Retiring this Space
    The Evolving Natural… on So does the maned wolf break t…
    SWestfall3 on So does the maned wolf break t…
    Ole Possum on So does the maned wolf break t…
  • Meta

    • Register
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.com
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,703 other followers

  • Pages

    • About
    • Contact
    • Patreon
    • Premium Membership
    • Services
  • Subscribe to Retrieverman's Weblog by Email
  • Revolver map

    Map

  • Top Posts

    • The Wolves of Paris
  • SiteCounter

    wordpress analytics
    View My Stats
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,703 other followers

  • Donate to this blog

  • Top 50 Northwest Dog Blogs

    top 50 dog blogs

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: