Family CANIDAE 119 



the open plains. . . . The most friendly relations subsist between 

 it and the common wolf, and they constantly hunt in packs to- 

 gether. Nothing is more common than to see a large black wolf 

 in company wMth several prairie wolves." The actual coyote- 

 wolf relationship is less friendly than indicated above. Coyotes 

 often trail wolves for kills left by the larger animals. 



Signs. — Coyote tracks, fig. 24, cannot be distinguished with 

 certainty from some dog tracks. The print of a hind foot of 

 the coyote commonly measures about 2^4 inches long, while 

 that of a front foot is slightly shorter. The register of the tracks 

 of a walking animal is not perfect; the toe marks of each hind 

 foot fall at about the center of the track of the front foot on 

 the same side of the body. 



The den of the coyote is usually in a bank or hillside but 

 sometimes in level ground. It commonly has only one entrance, 

 which has a mound of earth in front. Well-worn paths radiate 

 from the entrance and almost invariably lead to one side of the 

 mound rather than over it. 



Distribution. — The coyote occurs in much of Illinois, but it 

 is not common anywhere in the state. Individuals in northern 

 and central Illinois belong to the subspecies Canis latrans 

 thamnos Jackson; those in southern Illinois are presumably 

 referable to C. I. frustror Woodhouse. The range of the spe- 

 cies includes most of western North America (central Alaska 

 almost to Panama) and an eastward extension that continues 

 through most of the Great Lakes region and ends in a narrow 

 area north of the St. Lawrence River. 



CANIS LUPUS (Linnaeus) 

 Timber Wolf Gray Wolf 



Description. — The timber wolf is a large, long-haired animal 

 weighing 75 pounds or more and attaining a length of nearly 

 514 feet. The color is usually gray or light gray-brown. The 

 muzzle is heavy and blunt, and the nose pad exceeds U/^ inches 

 in diameter. The ears are less pointed than those of the coyote. 



The skull is about 255 mm. ( 10 inches) long, and the teeth are 

 large (half again as large as the corresponding teeth in the 

 coyote) and arranged as in the coyote. 



Distribution.— In the late 1700's and early 1800's, the timber 

 wolf was common in the country that is now Illinois, according 



