Is this a coyote or a fox?

Most of us only ever catch fleeting glimpses of coyotes or foxes, and these brief encounters can leave us wondering what species we saw. Besides the domestic dog, our state hosts three members of the family Canidae, a word that comes from the Latin word for dog, “canis. read more

Coyote (Canis latrans) (c) Kristen Donovan Adult coyotes are more than double the size of gray foxes, and coyotes in the eastern US tend to be bigger than those in the west. read more

A coyote in western North America may weigh 20 or 30 pounds, while the somewhat heftier animals of the Midwest and especially the Northeast may tip the scales at more than 50 pounds. A typical red fox, by contrast, might be 10 or 15 pounds. read more