Coyotes weighing over 50 pounds are more common in the northern and northeastern portions of their range than elsewhere. An adult coyote is four to five feet long from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. In Nebraska, coyote pelts show a great variety of color and texture. Eastern Nebraska coyotes generally have a coarse coat that is brownish gray to buff in color, while coyotes from the Sandhills and Panhandle are much lighter gray with dense, soft underfur. Ih times as long as they are wide.
Coyotes have bushy black-tipped tails, broad, pointed, erect ears and yellow eyes.
They have relatively large brains, and exceptional senses of smell, sight and hearing. Although coyotes avoid wolves and dogs under normal conditions, they occasionally mate with them and create hybrid offspring that are usually larger than a typical coyote. This usually happens where wolf densities are low or on the edge of the coyote's range. Distribution and abundance During the early 1800's, coyotes were limited to the Great Plains and western regions of North America. Since then, they have expanded their range north and east.