Coyote.
Red fox.
The coyote weights about 25 pounds on the average. His color is brownish with black-tipped hairs intermingled. Color variation in coyotes is so slight it is not noticeable in the field; he does not have the black, whitish and various color patterns that are present in the wolf. The muzzle is long and pointed, ears well developed, eyes sharp.
As a field biologist I have had an opportunity to observe coyotes in many regions. In Yellowstone I made a 2-year study of its relationships with other animals because it had been feared by some that he would destroy the antelope, bighorn, and deer, if not controlled. The study showed that the coyote there lived chiefly on meadow mice and pocket gophers in summer, and carrion in winter, and that he had no harmful effect on the large ungulates.
On the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona the coyote was blamed for cattle losses. Here a study showed that the basic cause of losses was over-use of the range and that where grazing was good all losses were insignificant. Cattlemen are finding this true and are beginning to appreciate the usefulness of the coyote as a curbing influence on rodent depredations. In addition to a meat diet, which includes great quantities of grasshoppers in season, the coyote feeds extensively on fruit. On Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, I found it feeding on sarsaparilla berries; in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on silverberry and quantities of haw; in Arizona, on manzanita and juniper berries, the latter being the winter staff of life.
The coyote is best known for his song, which in all its variations, symbolizes the spirit of wildness and remote country. J. Frank Dobie in his The Voice of the Coyote expresses the sentiment of many when he writes: “I confess to a sympathy for the coyote that has grown until it lives in the deepest part of my nature.”
Red Fox
Vulpes fulva alascensis
The fabled red fox is abundant, widely distributed over the park and frequently seen. Silver, cross, and red color phases, along with some intermediate variants, are well represented, and two or three of these types frequently show up in a single litter. The prominent white tip on the tail distinguishes the fox from the coyote and wolf.