Coyote-Wolf Hybrids

Interesting article in the NY Times about coyotes. This was news to me:

Coyotes have remained so much in possession of their own secrets that it was not until this year that the real identity of the coyotes living in the eastern part of the country was revealed. Two separate teams of researchers studying the genes of coyotes in the Northeast reported evidence that these animals that have for decades upon decades been thought of as coyotes are in fact coyote-wolf hybrids.

The animals are mostly coyote, but the admixture of wolf genes probably explains why eastern coyotes are bigger than western ones and better at hunting deer.

I wish they would come hunt some deer near me.