Kiva came to us in October 2017 as a rescue from a terrible hoarding situation in Northern California. It took us a good year to get her to the point where she started to trust us just enough to allow brief pets as she would walk quickly by us as we quietly sat with her speaking softly. Here we are five years later and while she is still somewhat shy, she loves to interact with “her people” that she has adopted and has a very endearing habit of rubbing her head all over their heads and necks, marking them as “hers” with her scent. Never in a million years would you think that this is the same cowering animal when she first arrived. She is absolutely thriving with us!!!
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Canidae
GENUS: Canis
SPECIES: Lupus
The wolf is the largest species of the wild dog family, and the coyote is mid-sized canine. A hybrid coy-wolf happens most of the time from human intervention. A wolf hybrid and domesticated dog-coyote hybrid are purposely bred to create a combined version of the three. Being from 3 very different canines this can lead to a very excitable or angst ridden animal that doesn’t really fit in. They have an acute sense of smell and hearing. Coyotes do not travel in packs, like wolves. They normally hunt individually or as a pair with their mate. They are monogamous for life, and both male and female take care of the babies. They pup in February - March after a 63 day pregnancy having 3 to 12 pups. The pups are independent in 35 days.
Threats
Their biggest threat are humans who find them to be pests. They are often trapped and poisoned. They also fall prey to domestic canine diseases or are hit by cars.
Conservation Status
LC - Least Concern