The New York Times ran a story about the coyotes of Galveston Island, some of which have a lot of DNA from red wolves. Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine and The Atlantic ran similar stories a couple of years ago.
The last of the red wolves in Texas disappeared around 1980.
I am thrilled and dismayed to see these hybrid canines in the news.
Thrilled, that the Galveston canines are being studied.
Dismayed, that similar studies haven’t been done on coyotes in other isolated areas.
Decades ago, I walked the woods of East Texas, and I’ve seen big coyotes — bigger than those on Galveston Island — that have red in their coats. Most were near the Upland Island Wilderness, south of Zavalla in Angelina County.
The strange coyotes of Galveston deserve the attention of scientists. But there are stranger specimens still in this state.
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