NH "wolf" coyotes
This thread is an interesting coincidence for me. I had only ever seen coyotes in Yellowstone--until yesterday morning. For the last several years, I've heard coyotes on the hill behind where I live in Franconia NH but never actually seen one. Yesterday morning I looked out into my field, suddenly high with grass after all the rain, and saw what I thought was a large fox. The pointy ears suggested fox at least. There was also a turkey in the field so I assumed the fox was after the turkey. But as the "fox" moved into the open, it became clear that it was a coyote. Too big and wrong color for a fox. This was about 9 a.m. The coyote slowly moved across the field and disappeared into the brush. No interest in the turkey. A little digging around turned up this info from F&G on the growing population of this NH newcomer and its relationship to gray wolves of Quebec:
"New Hampshire's Wily Coyote
You may wake up to the sound of coyotes howling in the weeks to come, because February is the peak of the coyote-mating season. Come April, 4 to 8 pups will be born in a den concealed in a brushy slope or under a log pile. The male coyote hunts for the female, bringing her food, which she regurgitates to feed her young. About 70 percent of the pups will die before their first birthday.
The eastern coyote is a relative newcomer to New Hampshire. The first coyote was seen in Holderness in 1944. During the 1970s and 80s, coyotes spread throughout the state. Today, they are entrenched statewide in every available habitat from rural to urban.
Studies by Dr. Robert Wayne of the University of California on tissue samples of New England coyotes found a great deal of wolf blood related to the gray wolf of Quebec. This is why our coyotes, weighing 48-60 pounds, are nearly twice the size of the western species. Coyotes come in an array of colors, from creamy to rust-colored to tawny gray. Their erect, pointed ears and bushy, drooping tails distinguish them from dogs.
Coyotes are opportunists and eat all sorts of things, depending on the time of year. In the summer, they eat fruits and berries, insects and small mammals like rabbits, squirrels and mice. They'll also eat dead animals and prey on deer slowed by deep snow.
New Hampshire trappers have harvested an average of 379 coyotes each year over the past decade. The coyote is the only furbearer species that has a year-round open season for hunting and trapping in the state, but this hasn't reduced New Hampshire's coyote population. No wonder this crafty canid is called "wily coyote!" --Eric Orff, Wildife Biologist; and Dr. Judy Silverberg, Wildlife Educator"
No thanks, I get the picture 
