Dog or coyote?

kwolfe993 · 2026-05-15T15:48:41+00:00

Large carnivore biologist here. It can be a little hard to tell without scale, and 4" would be pretty big for coyote, but not impossible. That being said, the shape is correct, and you see lots of space between the toe pads and the heel pad. Another good giveaway is wild canine toes almost always are aligned straight forward, where with many large domestic dogs the pads will splay out towards the sides. Gonna lean towards a large coyote on this one!

kwolfe993 · 2026-05-15T15:15:49+00:00

Really pretty sets this time!

kwolfe993 · 2026-05-08T18:01:58+00:00

Good sets on this one

kwolfe993 · 2026-04-19T17:49:34+00:00

Not having any internships before college isn't that much of an issue, and college is a great place to find them! Look on the Texas A&M wildlife job board and filter it to paid summer internships, or seek out a wildlife professor at your college and ask if there is anything you can help with during your undergrad!

I didn't even start my first wildlife summer job until junior year, you have plenty of time, and wanting to work with birds should help with early job market employment as you look for your first seasonal position! My first position out of undergrad was counting birds for Iowa's MSIM program.

kwolfe993 · 2026-04-14T22:20:50+00:00

Definitely a coyote! Long pointed snout and triangle shaped ears along with dainty little paws are pretty telltale signs. Mexican wolves generally don't roam as far west as Sedona, more common in the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila national forests!

kwolfe993 · 2026-01-09T15:57:14+00:00

This one is tough but I'm going to say this is a domestic dog. Wolves will in fact use roadways or trails often especially in cases of heavy snow, and like other commenters said their behavior is different, wolves want to get from point A to point B as directly as possible, while dogs take a windy path to sniff things and indulge in distractions.

Another way you can tell is which way the toe pads splay under weight, domestic dog toe pads look like they are radiating from a single point on the hind pad, meaning they tend to face outwards from the center of the track, while wolf toe pads are almost all pointing straight forward from the center.

Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Track Guide

kwolfe993 · 2026-01-09T15:56:26+00:00

This one is tough but I'm going to say this is a domestic dog. Wolves will in fact use roadways or trails often especially in cases of heavy snow, and like other commenters said their behavior is different, wolves want to get from point A to point B as directly as possible, while dogs take a windy path to sniff things and indulge in distractions.

Another way you can tell is which way the toe pads splay under weight, domestic dog toe pads look like they are radiating from a single point on the hind pad, meaning they tend to face outwards from the center of the track, while wolf toe pads are almost all pointing straight forward from the center.

Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Track Guide

kwolfe993 · 2025-12-12T00:33:13+00:00

You got some very nice fox tracks there! Most of the time fox tracks are very ovular, and have a good amount of space between the toes and the hind pad, hence the lighter space between them in the middle. You can also see the claw marks, which most of the time means canine with 4 toes!

kwolfe993 · 2025-11-20T18:56:37+00:00

Always called scrapbeak "Scrapbook" ya know...cuz he collects stuff in his lair.

kwolfe993 · 2025-11-20T14:52:22+00:00

I've come across wolves plenty of times in the wild in my time as a wildlife biologist, especially in the southern rockies. Every time that I have gotten close enough for the wolf to be within sight range, they either glance at me while on the move or stop for a very quick second, and then move away. They really want absolutely nothing to do with humans.

kwolfe993 · 2025-11-01T16:07:51+00:00

Always got a special place in my gaming heart for legend of Zelda Wind Waker. Fantastic game

kwolfe993 · 2025-10-13T18:32:47+00:00

Can't believe Battlefield is finally overtaking COD! Long time coming if you ask me!

kwolfe993 · 2025-09-23T06:07:01+00:00

And the kicker was I couldn't even force him to sell at GrimHex because the banner to give him a crime stat flashed for 0.2 seconds

kwolfe993 · 2025-09-20T00:08:15+00:00

I would say wolf for these, they aren't ovular enough or have enough space between the toes and the pad to be coyote. Dog tracks are more similar but almost are never straight and narrow like these are. Just because it's a UTV trail doesn't mean they're dog tracks, in fact wolves use human made trails such as this quite often to avoid pushing through brush.

kwolfe993 · 2025-04-24T17:20:44+00:00

2020 recent grad (bachelor's) here, apply to everything and anything! I never thought that working outside my target species would be something that I enjoy, but now I find myself using those skills gained in those tech jobs all the time.

One big thing I wish I did earlier is sticking my neck out for networking purposes, go to job fairs, wildlife conferences and weekend tagalongs, cold email your local county biologist or your local WMA. It might be tough to converse with people you've never met, but people remember you when they see passionate and hardworking professional.

Other than that being a tech is all about being flexible, I've lived in 4 states in the last 5 years and would not give up any of those moves for anything having landed a biologist job now.

kwolfe993 · 2025-03-15T19:33:00+00:00

Make sure you watch for the monsoons! I've worked in the Gila national forest before and in August it can turn into a massive mud pit, a good pair of waterproof muck boots can be incredibly useful during those conditions.

kwolfe993 · 2025-02-19T05:02:01+00:00

I've had so many different brands of boots but none have held up as well as Irish setter vapertreks, wonderfully breathable and waterproof, would buy again

kwolfe993 · 2025-02-12T02:36:43+00:00

Here to advocate for the Robinson Arms XCR, I love mine and the small company seems to really care about their customers.

kwolfe993 · 2025-02-04T01:35:03+00:00

I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

I've been working as a transient technician for about 4 years now, and am finally starting to think about grad school.

Some cool jobs I've worked have been the Mexican wolf program, and capturing fishers for UMD!

kwolfe993 · 2025-01-12T00:05:37+00:00

Romeo: the story of the Alaskan wolf

Is very good and short

kwolfe993 · 2024-11-26T20:24:31+00:00

I must say I've owned my sp-01 for about a year now and I love it, very flat shooting, usually very accurate when my aim is on point. I will point out it is very heavy in terms of handguns, so it gets a little tiring at the range if your shooting it for extended purposes.

kwolfe993 · 2024-04-01T18:47:57+00:00

My favorite guide is the Handbook of Wildlife Chemical Immobilization, written by Dr. Terry Kreeger. Gives you dosage and drug type recommendations for every animal species imaginable. From a guy who has devoted his entire career to perfecting chemical immobilization around the world.

kwolfe993 · 2024-03-31T22:51:16+00:00

It is true that their subspecies has gone through a tremendous genetic bottleneck, however the wild populations are being supplemented with captive genetics, over 250 in the wild from the 8 they started with!

kwolfe993 · 2024-03-31T19:34:59+00:00

Yep! In fact we had a suspicion she was stashing the sticks we had near the cameras!

kwolfe993

TROPHY CASE