In
the upper Columbia country, for instance, they are very large; along the
Rio Grande they are small. Dr. Hart Merriam informs me that, according
to his experience, the coyote is largest in southern California. In many
respects the coyote differs altogether in habits from its big relative.
For one thing it is far more tolerant of man. In some localities coyotes
are more numerous around settlements, and even in the close vicinity
of large towns, than they are in the frowning and desolate fastnesses
haunted by their grim elder brother.
Big wolves vary far more in color than the coyotes do. I have seen
white, black, red, yellow, brown, gray, and grizzled skins, and others
representing every shade between, although usually each locality has its
prevailing tint. The grizzled, gray, and brown often have precisely the
coat of the coyote. The difference in size among wolves of different
localities, and even of the same locality, is quite remarkable, and so,
curiously enough, is the difference in the size of the teeth, in some
cases even when the body of one wolf is as big as that of another.
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