In the early ’80s my father called me after a day of hunting to relay that he nearly had a chance to shoot a nice buck but it got “spooked” by two large gray “dogs.” About two years later while stump sitting near that same spot, I observed my first eastern coyote.

In hindsight, I am fairly certain that the “dogs” my father saw were most likely a pair of coyotes. Since then, not a single year has passed that I haven’t seen at least one of the Times News region’s largest wild canines. I have seen some crossing streets under the cover of darkness and most while I sat quietly in the woods.

Coyotes are now found in every county in Pennsylvania. They have adapted to life in the deep woods and suburbia. “Old timers” are convinced that the Pennsylvania Game Commission imported and released them in an effort to control the deer herd. No information confirms that.

Most likely though, the coyotes moved southward from Canada, through New York state, and eventually made Pennsylvania their home, too. No matter, they are here to stay.

Coyotes, unlike either of our fox species, are variable in color. They vary from nearly all black to reddish gray and most often German shepherd-like. For two years now, I have observed a blond coyote looking much like a yellow Lab. It looks quite out of place and not what you would expect to see in the forest. A black coyote that I once observed actually looked a bit eerie when I watched it slinking along a deer trail just before dark.

Coyotes weigh about 50 pounds (male) and 40 pounds (female) at maturity. A male can reach nearly 5 feet from the tip of its snout to the tip of its black-tipped tail. (The western coyotes depicted on a ridge top howling at the moon are much smaller than their Eastern counterparts.)

Their diets are varied. Fruit and grasses can be eaten; however mice, shrews, rabbits, turkeys, carrion and deer make up more of their diet. One study that assayed coyote scat found deer hair in well over 50 percent of them. I have seen published trail cam photos of coyotes carrying fawns. Both the black bear and coyote are big causes of fawn mortality in Pennsylvania. Healthy adult deer are seldom killed, but if deep prolonged snow cover “yards up” deer in secluded forest hollows, these weakened, poorly nourished deer are an easier target.

From my observations I could conclude that coyotes are rather solitary. I seldom see more than one coyote traversing the woods, nor do I see multiple sets of coyote tracks in the snow. Late in August, years back, I did see four coyotes pass by me two different times one morning. Most likely it was a family group from their spring litter. Breeding occurs in late winter with rather large litters of five to seven the norm. Their den is usually an enlarged fox den or a rock cavity in habitats with rocky terrain.

Keep your eyes open while driving at night or scan a field near dark to catch a glimpse of one. If you live in a known coyote area, listen at dusk for their yipping and howling when the family group is still together. Hunters using trail cams have probably “captured” a few slipping by their devices and may be more familiar with their appearances and abundance. Remember, just get out there and enjoy what’s in your nature.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: The _____ owl is the tiniest owl found in Pennsylvania and one of the few that migrates. A. screech, B. long eared, C. saw whet, D. barred owl.

Last Week’s Nature Trivia: Although no longer common, barn owls don’t limit their nesting time to spring as do most other bird species.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.