Sometimes strength in numbers goes a lot farther than strength alone. There’re no questions, one on one, a wolf beats the hell out of a coyote every day of the week.
The size difference says it all. A wolf can weigh well over 100-pounds, while they normally average around that weight. A large coyote is 45-pounds, while they average a bit lower closer to the 30-pound mark. It’s not even close… a wolf could ruin a coyote’s day very quickly. Think about the largest dog you’ve ever seen against an average dog… it’s no contest.
They don’t typically like each other even though they are both from the same family. But hey, that happens from time to time.
There are some recorded incidents of them cross breeding, but outside of that they generally compete for space in the areas they inhabit. They eat a lot of the same things even though they have very different hunting strategies and pack dynamics. Wolves will often outcompete coyotes due to the large size difference and their abilities to work better as a team. But, every once in a while, something pops up that goes slightly against the grain of what we think should happen out there. And I’m here for it every time it does.
This wolf caught wind of a dead elk that four coyotes were having a munch on in Yellowstone National Park. Although, we are unsure of what killed the elk, we definitely know one thing, neither the wolf or the coyotes want to share this animal. The elk could be large enough to provide them all with a meal, but it’s not going to happen.
The wolf approaches in on the coyotes and tries to be aggressive enough to fight them off the elk. The wolf makes some ground and makes his way to dead elk and starts to eat away. The coyotes quickly team up and go back in to ensure the elk is theirs.
The four coyotes approach and start to fight with the wolf. It looks like a bunch of dogs playing together, but that couldn’t be farther from what’s happening. They battle it out but ultimately the wolf doesn’t think he can take on all four of them and win. Their strength in numbers pulls through and the coyotes win this battle.
I’m sure that won’t be the case the next time though…
