# What is this animal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094 "2008-07-11T05:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/1 "2008-07-11T05:25:53Z")
These [first three pictures](http://picasaweb.google.com/Dragon43/71008) my neighbor took about 13:30 this afternoon out his window into the back yard. He came right over to show us. I have been seeing something at night for just a second when I flip on the outside lights. It is about 24 inches at the shoulder, young, gawky but quick and very shy. Seems to be all legs like a colt. (forearm bone seems to be extra long) It does move well, just out of proportion. Is it a American Thylacine? Half coyote/dog? Half wolf/dog? A combination of all four? ( kinky ) Looks like it could end up pretty big… So, any ideas on what this could be? Ever seen anything like it? We are trying for better pictures but … He got the [deer picture Monday](http://picasaweb.google.com/Dragon43/71008/photo#5221574439437560866). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/2 "2008-07-11T05:34:08Z")
Not knowing anything about American fauna, I’d guess a [young Jackal]([http://images.google.com/images?q=young](http://images.google.com/images?q=young) jackal). ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/3 "2008-07-11T05:36:00Z")
[A gray fox?](http://images.google.com/images?q=gray%20fox&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/4 "2008-07-11T05:41:24Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] [A gray fox?](http://images.google.com/images?q=gray%20fox&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi) [/QUOTE] The tail’s wrong. I’d say a feral dog. ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/5 "2008-07-11T05:44:53Z")
I am guessing a Coywolf… Part wolf part Coyote… (it happens) regards FML ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/6 "2008-07-11T06:11:04Z")
This is central Arkansas, not ruling out wolf stuff but real unlikely… No jackals in the Us IIRC. We have foxes here, this is twice as big. That long fore arm bone is throwing me… ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/7 "2008-07-11T06:21:10Z")
I’d go with probably coydog, too. The tail does seem ‘brushier’ than is common for most domestic breeds. But at 24 inches, as an obviously adolescent animal, I think it’s too large to be pure coyote. OTOH, given the popularity of wolf-hybrids with some [del]idiots[/del] _ahem_ people, and the difficulties that many would-be owners have keeping them once they reach 3 years of age, I don’t think it’s possible to rule out a dog-wolf hybrid, either. I just think it’s less likely than a coydog. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/8 "2008-07-11T07:06:40Z")
Over thinking things. Hard to say for sure but if we assume the simplest answer is probably the correct answer I’d guess an adolescent coyote. Particularly since it is in Arkansas I think we can reject the Jackal answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/9 "2008-07-11T09:05:02Z")
I think it must be a coyote. Check out this pic for comparison: [http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/40/coyote\_puppy\_sc74.jpg](http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/40/coyote_puppy_sc74.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/10 "2008-07-11T11:36:13Z")
Looks exactly like a few of the coyotes that lived around my former residence. Most were lighter colored but every so often you would see a darker version just like the one pictured. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/11 "2008-07-11T12:39:47Z")
[QUOTE=Whack-a-Mole] Particularly since it is in Arkansas I think we can reject the Jackal answer. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Maybe it’s an illegal immigrant. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/12 "2008-07-11T12:43:49Z")
'Nuther voice chiming in for (skinny) coyote. I used to see them on the far east side of Indianapolis, wandering around my old neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/13 "2008-07-11T13:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] [A gray fox?](http://images.google.com/images?q=gray%20fox&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi) [/QUOTE] I’ve seen gray foxes once or twice in the wild, the immediate impression is of an animal with very SHORT legs. Really, the things run like they are almost hobbled. The OPs description and pictures indicate an animal with proportionately very long legs. My guess would be coyote. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/14 "2008-07-11T13:40:45Z")
Each year I judge a coyote hunt/chili cook off sponsored by a local bar. There is a big cash prize for the largest coyote, and the bar is concerned about somebody shooting a big dog and demanding the prize. My differentiating a dog from a coyote is based on dental formula, so I cannot help with this case. 😉 BTW, the event has been put on annually now for 5 years. The hunters typically return from the woods pretty liquored up. _So far there been zero fatalities (hunters or coyotes)._ My payment is free booze and all the chili I care to consume. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/15 "2008-07-11T14:41:48Z")
Looks like a coyote to me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/16 "2008-07-11T14:47:50Z")
Something about the ears and snout does not quite look coyote-ish, but I do think coyote is the best guess. They’re everywhere these days. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/17 "2008-07-11T15:05:02Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] The hunters typically return from the woods pretty liquored up. _So far there been zero fatalities (hunters or coyotes)._ My payment is free booze and all the chili I care to consume. [/QUOTE] Good news all around. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/18 "2008-07-11T15:25:18Z")
Obviously, when you domesticate _canis lupis_, you end up with _canis familiaris_, or man’s best friend the dog. I saw on TV that when the then USSR started breeding foxes for tameness they started getting similar variations of color and ear droop in the foxes that we see in dogs. Is there any reason to believe that we couldn’t domesticate foxes and/or coyotes over a few hundred or thousand years the way we did dogs? Or perhaps I should say we are doing with urban coyotes right now, since they now theorize that initial domestication of dogs was by virtue of their scavenging garbage and only eventually being ‘adopted’ by humans. Of course the latter way is much slower than intentional domestication. But my point is, is there any inherent difference in coyotes from wolves that would make them harder to domesticate than wolves? Or did wolves just happen to get there first, know a good thing when they saw it, and make sure that they weren’t going to get any competition from any coyotes? ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/19 "2008-07-11T15:54:11Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Obviously, when you domesticate _canis lupis_, you end up with _canis familiaris_, or man’s best friend the dog. I saw on TV that when the then USSR started breeding foxes for tameness they started getting similar variations of color and ear droop in the foxes that we see in dogs. Is there any reason to believe that we couldn’t domesticate foxes and/or coyotes over a few hundred or thousand years the way we did dogs? Or perhaps I should say we are doing with urban coyotes right now, since they now theorize that initial domestication of dogs was by virtue of their scavenging garbage and only eventually being ‘adopted’ by humans. Of course the latter way is much slower than intentional domestication. But my point is, is there any inherent difference in coyotes from wolves that would make them harder to domesticate than wolves? Or did wolves just happen to get there first, know a good thing when they saw it, and make sure that they weren’t going to get any competition from any coyotes? [/QUOTE] Coyotes only appear in the Western Hemisphere, ie the Americas, while the Gray wolf appeared all over the Nothern Hemisphere, both in North America and Eurasia, where there was a significantly larger population of humans. The reason coyotes didn’t get ‘adopted’ by humans is that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. By the tie humans came to the Americas, the dog was already part of our family. To the best of my understanding, (and I could be wrong) all the _canis_ species are interfertile, i.e., they’re all dogs. So if you live in North America, it’s possible that the smiling guy with floppy ears licking at your fingers has some coyote ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094/20 "2008-07-11T15:57:44Z")
Yes, all members of the genus \*Canis \*are interfertile. One difference between coyotes and wolves that might make domestication more difficult is that coyotes are not pack animals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-animal/456094.md?page=2)