• jeffw@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    In 2022 a study by Stan Gehrt, wildlife ecologist at Ohio State University, was released that revealed the coyotes had been living on a diet of moose rather than their typical diet of smaller animals. It was concluded that the unavailability of smaller prey led the coyotes to become accustomed to large targets leading them to see the young woman as a potential food source.

    Fascinating read, albeit sad

      • burgersc12@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        They are Coywolf, hybrids that are like slightly smaller wolves or more aggressive coyotes.

        • AThing4String@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Sometimes true, but not in this case.

          Various other proposed explanations why the unusual attack occurred included that the coyotes might have been larger and bolder than normal coyotes because they were crosses with wolves or domestic dogs, rabid, starving, or protecting a carcass.None of these suggestions were subsequently borne out

          They just got tough and mean on their own.

      • boatsnhos931@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        How do I eat a whole rotisserie chicken by myself? When you get hangry, you find a way. Thank you Jeebus!!

          • Cort@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yeah they’re big, but they don’t turn very quickly. If the coyotes can draw blood, they’d be able to make the moose bleed out eventually.

            Also, there was an article like a decade ago about America’s coyotes and one phrase really stuck with me: canis soup. The researchers used the term to describe all the interbreeding that was occurring with coyotes, wolves, and domestic/tame dogs. I only point this out to say that the ‘coyotes’ in this story may have had some wolf or pitbull in them.