5 ways to Tell if it’s a Wolf or Coyote

Doing Yellowstone tours out of Cody Wyoming, or at our BnB in Wapiti Valley, we get a

ton of pictures or questions from guests asking if it’s a wolf or coyote. I use several

characteristics to differentiate between the two. Here is any easy 5 ways to tell if it’s a wolf or coyote in Yellowstone National Park.

1. COLOR

Color is the first obvious characteristic, but the critter has to be black.

If you see several canids, and one or several are black, then you definitively

know it’s a pack of wolves. There are no black coyotes. Most wolves are grey,

similar in color to coyotes, so if there are no blacks in the group you have to

move to other indicators.

2. BODY SHAPE and SIZE

I use this especially at long distances, its overall body

shape and size. Size is difficult if you don’t have something to provide scale, but

coyotes are significantly smaller than wolves. I use body shape more than size.

If you look at a coyote, the overall body shape is square shape. This includes

legs that are as long as its body is wide (top of back to bottom of chest when

looking broadsided). Wolves on the other hand have long legs, much longer than

their body is wide. So, when you’re looking at a wolf broadside, its legs appear

longer than its body is wide from its back to the bottom of chest/stomach.

3. HEAD

Coyotes have long narrow snouts and long pointy ears, disproportionate

to their head, kind of like a donkey. Wolves ears are shorter relative to its head

and rounded, not pointed like Coyotes. A wolf will have a blocky head and short

blocky snout.

4. VOCALIZATION

Wolves have long deep howls. Coyotes typically have short

yaps and or barks. Coyotes do howl, but it’s higher pitched and ends with a

bunch of short yapping and/or barking.

5. TRACKS

Wolves have really big feet, much bigger than coyotes. An average

person’s handprint (fingers spread out) is about as big as an average wolf paw

print. A coyote track is about as big as a beagle or spaniel dog track.

Don’t feel bad if you have a hard time identifying a wolf or coyote, I’ve seen many

“experts” get it wrong, especially when looking at young wolves. These often times can

get mistaken for coyotes.

Also, wolves will breed with coyotes, producing what is commonly known as a coywolf.

This hybrid will have characteristics of both, making identification even more difficult. I’ll

do another article on this later.

Hopefully this helps and if you want to know for sure, book an expedition with one of our

expert Yellowstone tour guides! We’d love to tour you through Yellowstone, Cody, and the surrounding areas! If you’re interested in booking a tour out of Cody, Wyoming, you can contact us here.