Bench-Talk

 This is a coyote I shot Sat with one of Randy's 99 gr 6mm bullets at 300 yds.  I saw him as I was heading home and noticed he was really light colored.  He allowed me to get set up and gave me a standing 300 yd shot which put him down.  When I got up to him I didn't quite know what I had.  He is lighter colored than a red fox and has a brown nose, pads and toes.  He has no black markings at all but is a very pale buckskin color with a light red lint to his head.  His other physical characteristics are very much like a full grown normal coyote.  A friend told me he looks like he is a bleach blonde.  I am wondering if he is one of those bleach blonde surfer dude coyotes from California.

HOY! Nice coyote, Mr. Spivens - and a good story to boot! :)  I've never,  before, seen one anywhere near this color . . . it looks like taxidermy fodder from here!  Now, I wonder if BIG MIKE was playing Beach Boys music out there all last winter!  ;) RG

 Here is a comparision of the bleach blonde to a normal light colored young coyote.

Were his eyes pink? As in albino?

Many years ago while spring turkey hunting I killed a very light colored female that was on a bee-line for my decoy. This was the first time I ever tried using a decoy too so it was extra fun! 

His eyes were brown but I wonder if he was some color mutation like that.  I had originally wondered about there being some domestic dog influence but everything else looks coyote.  I would say he weighs 26-28 lbs which is very normal for this country.  The coyote he is compared to a pup from this year.  

 Thats a beauty Bill...it'll make a nice rug!!  Congrats!!

Bill,

I took a unusual colored (black) coyote yesterday and after e-mailing R.G. his response reminded me of this "thread" and I figured that this comment would fit in the discussion. About a year ago Randy and I had exchanged e-mail concerning the difference in coloration in coyotes from Kentucky and those that he was used to seeing west of the Mississippi. For the most part our coyotes (here in Ky) are a "dirty" redish brown and not the lighter "pale" color I have seen in pictures of western coyotes. I had occasionaly seen black coyotes here (dead and alive) but they are not common. There is a question whether there is a true "melanistic" color phase of coyote or not, but I have found that some biologists opine that the black stage does occur. I am more inclined to think that this (and other odd colorations) are the result of a recessive(?) trait passed on by a "domestic" cross somewhere in the animal's "family tree".......but I am not a biologist and not qualified to make that "call"......;>) I will try and post a picture if I can "re-size"......but I'm sorta challenged by this computer "stuff"...;>)

-H