Difference Between Coyote vs Wolf

If you are one of those people who do not see the difference between coyote and wolf, well, you are not alone, and you are not to be blamed. These two animals have a lot of features in common, which makes it quite confusing to tell one from another. A good example is their coat colors.

You can easily mistake one for another based on this, plus you do not typically get close enough to them to see which one is which, especially if you do not have prior knowledge of how they differ from one another.

In this post, we will take a better look at these animals to see the characteristics that make them unique and how they compare to one another.

Definition of Coyote

A coyote is a wild wolf-looking dog that can easily adapt to any weather condition and is mostly found in American desserts, forests, and grasslands. Although they live in the woods, they are likely to be found around human settlements, and no, they do not prey on humans.

We did a bit of coyote vs wolf comparison, and we could point out the following distinctions. They are fast runners that can reach a speed of 40 mph. Talking about size, they can be compared to medium-sized dogs – 36 inches height, 16-inch long tail, and they weigh between 20 to 50 pounds.

They are smart and have a keen hearing and eyesight. Their diet is mostly made of small creatures like fish, frogs, rabbits, and rodents. They also eat plants, which makes them omnivores.

These animals are known to communicate with each other by howling at the moon while they are out hunting in different locations at night. When it comes to reproduction, the coyotes mate mostly around February and March, and the pregnant females deliver in the same period. They give birth to a group of 3 to 12 young at the same time. Interestingly, these wild dogs are sometimes known to mate with domestic dogs to produce babies known as coydogs.

Definition of Wolf

A wolf is a wild animal of the canine family known for intelligence, carnivorous nature, team spirit, and aggressiveness. You can rarely find this animal alone and they work in groups, which shows how united and powerful they are. They are about 40 to 65 inches from mouth to tail and about 200 pounds, making them the largest members of the dog family.

One difference between wolf and coyote is that the former is more dangerous than the latter. Their stamina is quite notable, and they can cover as much as 3,730 miles if necessary. These animals are primarily found in Asia, North Africa, North America, and Europe, and they tend to live in areas that are quite far from human settlements. More often than not, they can be found in very remote wilderness areas, forests, swamps, and coastal prairies.

There are quite different classifications of wolves, which differ in the color of their coat and their habitat. Some of them live in the colder climates like arctic wolves while some others live in a climate of up to 120 degrees.

Main Differences Between Coyote vs Wolf

Difference Between Coyote and Wolf: Conclusion

Despite the fact that these two animals belong to the same kingdom, family, genus, and order, they still have significant features that make them different from the other as you can see in the tabular representation above. The wolves vs coyotes comparisons may be a little tricky for some, but with these facts, it is quite easy to tell them apart.