Above is a map representing reported coyote sightings on my home turf–Pinellas County, Florida.
1. Holy crap!
2. Apparently coyotes don’t care much for Madeira Beach, which is weird, because it’s the one beach where they’re cool about you having alcohol.
3. Props to that one guy for making it all the way down to Fort DeSoto Park.
Having spent a lot of time in Texas, I’m quite pro-coyote. And since no one else in Florida knows a damn thing about them, no one can stop me from becoming The Coyote Whisperer. And they will DO MY BIDDING.
(ABC Action News story here.)
I could add more to that. I live in central Florida and we have tons.
Saw Coyote on our property in Spring Hill, Florida
Moved here from Texas, so seen them before too!
Saw a Coyote around 7:30 this morning in Clearwater. Spotted it just se of Keene Road between Airport Road and Drew. Not real happy considering that’s usually where I walk my dog. I knew they were close because I have previously heard them but this is the first one I have seen.
Last week saw what i thought was a Coyote around 3 Am around Walsingham & Seminole Blvd area. I was outside smoking a cigarette and here came this big dog walking down the center street with its nose to the ground scanning the grass line. Im like wait thats no ordinary dog its probably a Coyote, as it got closer and more under the street lights i saw this dog is the size of a mastiff and a had extremely long leg span, it had dark brown fur on his back that turned reddish brown on his sides and was white under his neck with a bushy like tail, this thing was a Coyote on steroids or something, after Google searching images of Coyotes i fond that it wasn’t Coyote at all but instead it was a wolf. How in the heck can a wolf be here in the city? I guess if a Coyote can make it here so can a wolf right? Duhno
RE: MIchael South
Thanks for commenting, and for the info.
I would be surprised to find a wolf in Pinellas County, but not THAT surprised. As my wife just said when I showed her your comment, anything’s possible. Wolves have come back in other parts of the country to the point that hunters are complaining that they’re decimating the game — it would be foolhardy to think we’ve got an entirely accurate picture of exactly what nature’s doing while we’re checking our email (and writing on our blogs).
Michael Smith; Scott:
Many of the coyotes that are being found In the East have been found to have a significant degree of wolf (Gray,Timber?) DNA. So they’re bigger, heavier, and in some cases, more aggressive. I believe this was first being detected in the Northeast and possibly Canada, where the first fatal “coyote” attack in anyone’s memory involved a group of wolf-coyote hybrids. The niche left open by the extinction of red wolves in the South is being occupied by a heartier, stronger super-coyote, in my opinion. Regular Western coyotes are only about 40 pounds and hunt in a different way..and different prey are available. The hybrids can run maybe 60-80lbs, but I’m completely unsure if that what you’ve seen. Google about it a bit…it’s fascinating.