Channel: Sarah and the Wolves

Category: People & Blogs

Tags: playful coyotehappy animalshappy wolfsave animalssarah and the wolvescoyote playscoyotesave wolvescoydoghappy coyotecoywolfplayful animals

Description: Disclaimer: Coyotes are not pets, this is a rescue. Zion is a coyote mix puppy. Part of his socialization at the sanctuary included indoor access; he quickly fell in love with playing with stinky socks. Zion was brought to us along with his brother Bryce at roughly 4 months old. They were found in someone's yard and it is unclear if they were wild born or captive born and escaped. Unfortunately, they were deemed non-native and were unable to return to the wild, so they came to live at the sanctuary. One thing that became immediately clear upon their arrival was that they had had virtually no interaction with humans prior to coming to us. In order to administer medication, vaccines, and care we had to initiate contact with them, so it became my job to socialize them. We built a pen adjacent to the house (it extends much further to the left and is significantly larger than what you can see in the video) and I spent every day socializing them. Initially they wouldn't come within 20 feet of me, but they eventually became much more comfortable. They never fully grew to enjoy physical contact (petting, brushing, etc.) but they grew to love playing. We spent tons of money buying them toys but they always ended up enjoying stinky old socks more than anything. You can see me get on the ground towards the end of the video; that was to minimize my stature so that Zion felt comfortable coming into the room. Coyotes are much more skittish and temperamental than wolves or wolfdogs, and he would not approach the room if I appeared too large. By going on the ground, I appeared smaller and less threatening and he felt bold enough to enter. We frequently hear from people that there is no way Zion is a coyote because of his coloration. We initially felt the same, but after extensive research we have found multiple other cases of black phase coyotes, as well as a wide variation of other colors. They were DNA tested and results came back as one pure coyote parent, and one parent with coydog and wolf parents. Unfortunately, DNA testing is still being perfected and so it's far from a definitive answer but it's certainly interesting!