A coyote in wolf's clothing?
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By Barb Ickes | Friday, January 25, 2008 |
I still have the pictures in my cell phone of the mangy-looking coyote that was trotting down the sidewalk and through yards near 16th Street in Moline a few weeks ago.
I hung out the car window and took several pictures because it was my first sighting of a coyote in the “wild.” In fact, I was holding my phone out the driver’s window when a woman turned a corner, walking her dog, and spotted it.
“Oh, my God!” she gushed. “Is that a coyote?”
But she didn’t wait for me to answer and turned right around on her heel and split. I’m certain that was the correct thing to do. A chubby house dog probably wouldn’t last long in the ring with a hungry coyote.
Oddly enough, it was only a couple days later that I was getting something out of my car on the driveway at home when my friend started doing the “psst, psssst” thing. I turned to see what looked like the very same coyote trotting down my street — right behind me.
When I saw a report the other day that a deer had been attacked in the yard of a Moline home by what appeared to be a gray wolf, I figured they had it wrong. It must have been the coyotes, which are showing up more and more around town.
But our area’s only licensed and certified animal control expert, Bill Christman, is fairly convinced that it was, in fact, a wolf that took down that deer.
Here are a few facts about the gray wolf: Also known as timber wolves, the animals are the largest wild members of the dog family. Males weigh an average of 75 pounds, and females average 60 pounds. A coyote is roughly half the size of a wolf. In the winter, a wolf’s diet consists primarily of deer, largely because their other favorite food — beavers — are below the ice.
It is likely that no one would be more surprised than the coyote himself if he was able to take down a grown deer.
Wolves travel in packs of six to 10, with some in the pack breaking away to find their own mates. They can travel thousands of miles in search of a mate, which is how a few wolves are believed to have wandered into Illinois. We know it happens, because a couple of coyote hunters have accidentally shot wolves and reported the kills to the state Department of Natural Resources.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2003 confirmed wolves had been spotted in Illinois but said they are highly unlikely to establish populations this far south and more likely had broken from their packs in Wisconsin. But it’s very difficult for a lone wolf to make a living in Illinois.
Christman is convinced that one is trying.
“I’m leaning toward somebody having it as a pet and releasing it,” he said Wednesday. “About 12 years ago there was a cougar living in a Moline basement. There was an alligator in a creek off the Mississippi River, and, some years ago, somebody had a bear in their house in Davenport.
“Unfortunately, you never know.”
What we do know is that the remains of a deer that were found in a ravine near 44th Street and 34th Avenue give the distinct impression of a violent, predator-initiated attack. The condition of the carcass, including a “crushed hip bone” led Christman to look more closely at what might have killed the animal.
To me, a crushed hip bone might suggest the deer was hit by a car and either made it to the ravine and died or was helped along in its demise by coyotes. But Christman said this was no coyote.
“Based on the evidence and data — compared to the evidence I have — it’s an exact match to a gray wolf,” he said. “But I haven’t seen it, so I can’t prove that.”
The most compelling evidence, he said, were the footprints. Whatever dragged that deer onto a frozen creek in the Moline ravine had paws that were almost five inches long and 3½ inches wide. That’s too big for a coyote.
“There’s quite a few coyotes in Moline,” he said. “I know that. Not too long ago I took four of them out of a ravine after they took someone’s dog. I see coyotes driving around all the time.”
I had no idea coyotes could drive.
But it’s like Christman said, a coyote population in town is nothing to get too excited about. A gray wolf, however, is another story.
“It’s not bad to have coyotes around because they take care of things we need taken care of, like the sick animals and roadkill,” he said. “It’s not a big deal there’s coyotes in the city. If you’re going to go walking in the woods, take some Mace.”
If there really was a wolf in Moline, he said, it’s probably long gone by now.
“I set up field cameras near the carcass overnight, and I looked at what I got, which was several coyotes coming to feed off that deer,” he said. “But no wolf.”
And what would Christman do if he managed to track the wolf?
“I would prefer not to kill it,” he said. “I’m licensed to use tranquilizers, which is what I would do. Right now, nobody’s getting hurt.”
Tell that to the deer.
Barb Ickes can be contacted at
(563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com. Comment on this column at qctimes.com.
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