r/coyote • u/honeyedbee • 14d ago

Does this look like it could be a coyote?

I went to check on the chickens last night and this guy was just laying in my back yard. The video is extremely zoomed in and I took it with one hand (I was trying to keep my high beams on). Size wise it was about the size of a big Labrador. I was wondering if coyotes are this light colored. I know there’s a pack in my neighborhood but it’s about a mile away.

47 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

12

u/floramaybackrub 13d ago

No. Looks like a golden retriever.

4

u/honeyedbee 13d ago

I’d be surprised if it was a dog. We don’t have strays here. I originally thought it was a fox as there’s a den in my yard but I’ve never seen a fox that big and the legs looked off. I’ll ask my neighbors with a Golden to ensure her underground fence is working properly. Thanks!

7

u/floramaybackrub 13d ago

Yeah, the video quality isn’t the best but it just looks too fat to be a coyote. But if you have chickens you’ll know soon enough.

2

u/HyperShinchan 13d ago

Even assuming it's a dog (and mind you, a truly feral dog can be pretty much the equivalent of a coyote), between the foxes already being there and coyotes just a mile away, do you already have a predator-proof coop? I guess it's probably a matter of time before you'll have some issues. Limitedly to foxes, I'm European, I know they can be quite effective.

3

u/honeyedbee 13d ago

It’s predator proof.

5

u/brainstemily 13d ago

Coyotes are pretty scrawny from a distance, they’re skiddish and swift when spotted

This is either:

a decent sized, chunker coyote

a wolf hobbling around

or, a lost husky/malamute w it’s tail down

1

u/honeyedbee 13d ago

It’s not a wolf and we really don’t have strays here. We have a zillion deer and if coyotes can take down a deer they have it made in my area.

1

u/brainstemily 12d ago

Could always be a fox! It’s winter time so they’re coats are getting fluffy, making them bigger than usual.

3

u/Agitated-Tie-8255 13d ago

It’s definitely the build of a coyote. Coyotes can be blonde/red but that’s uncommon. You can have a pack seen a mile away but they have legs and aren’t going to stay a mile away. While they live in family groups, coyotes tend to wander off singly or in pairs when hunting, a mile isn’t much of distance to them.

2

u/WiseRisk 13d ago

Looks like a coyote. The blurriness of the video makes it harder to determine though.

1

u/Cooper323 12d ago

Looks like a fox to me

1

u/honeyedbee 12d ago

That’s what I initially thought but the size and legs were wrong.

1

u/a_spoopy_ghost 11d ago

Was this recent? People underestimate how poofy their winter coats are. The legs seem short to me and some species are larger than you think

1

u/honeyedbee 11d ago

It was Saturday. We have some foxes here for sure. Our foxes are dark orange with black legs. When I was running last week I came right up on one with a squirrel in his mouth and he was huge.

0

u/1neAdam12 13d ago

chupacabra