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On Tuesday, Feb. 1, an animal was caught on camera making the rounds through the area, though it remains unclear whether it was a fox or coyote.
According to animal experts, coyotes are larger than foxes, with longer limbs, snout, and ears. Coyotes have a dog-like face and are generally much bigger than foxes, which have bushier tails and weigh less than their counterpart.
Officials noted that coyotes have a scruffy gray or brown coat, while foxes come in a variety of colors. Coyotes tend to travel in packs or pairs, while foxes are more solitary.
“Foxes and coyotes are two of the most widely dispersed wild canids in the world,” they said. "In many places, their paths cross, so it makes sense that someone may have trouble telling them apart.”
A-Z-Animals.com said that foxes and coyotes typically have these characteristics:
Fox
- Length: 1 foot to 3 feet (5-feet with tail included);
- Weight: 2 pounds to 30 pounds;
- Color: Red, gray, brown, black, white, silver, etc.;
- Distribution: Worldwide;
- Body: Long body, short legs, and big ears.
Coyote
- Length: 3 feet to 4.5 feet (more than 5 feet with tail included);
- Weight: 15 pounds to 50 pounds;
- Color: Reddish-brown or gray;
- Distribution: North America;
- Body: Muscular build, shorter legs, ears relative to the total size.
According to the Mass Audubon, “adult coyotes are more than double the size of gray foxes, and coyotes in the eastern US tend to be bigger than those in the west.
“Evidence suggests that the coyote interbred with the eastern Canadian wolf as it spread into the northeast in the past century. The resulting animal is larger than the western coyote, and has some wolf-like characteristics, including smaller ears and longer legs.”
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