By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
What’s that dog in the woods? For those who find themselves asking that question, Naturalist Nicole Kopas from Seven Ponds Nature Center swung by Oxford to clear things up.
In the presentation “The Wild Dogs of Michigan,” Kopas explored the differences and behaviors of the four wild canines found across the state.

“We have the coyotes, we have the gray and the red fox,” Kopas said. “We also have a (gray) wolf.”

Gray Fox
The smallest of Michigan’s wild canines, the gray fox finds its northern boundary within the state. Navigating its .3 to 1.5 square mile world with its retractable claws, the omnivore fox weighs in around 20 pounds.
“What’s really cool about them is that they have the largest tail gland, which extends half the length of their tail,” Kopas said. “They use that for olfactory identification when they’re making their territories and things like that.”
Gray foxes mate early in the year from January until April and have a 60-day gestation period. Kits establish a hierarchy among themselves by six weeks, accompany their parents at three months and go out on their own at seven months.

Red Fox
Primarily nocturnal, red foxes have some many similarities with gray foxes. Both will den close to humans and are omnivores. Its home range is usually somewhere in the ballpark of two square miles, though mating pairs will cover up to six miles depending on the environment.
As omnivores, the red fox’s diet ranges from rabbits and voles to fruits. Pups are born about 50 days after gestion, get their adult coats after between 9-14 weeks and leave the den around August.
Foxes and coyotes tend to fight for similar spaces and food, though foxes are able to coexist with foxes. Crows and ravens are another competitor for food foxes have to deal with, the birds going so far as to follow foxes to their food.

Gray Wolf
Limited to Isle Royale and the upper peninsula, the gray wolf is the largest wild dog in Michigan. Wolves are social and live in packs ranging from five to eight other wolves. Reusing the same dens over the years, wolf pups are taken care of by the entire pack and leave after a year or two.
“Wolves are very important to the ecosystem,” Kopas said. “I would consider them one of our keystone species.”
The large-scale hunting of wolves destabilized many ecosystems around the continent and created an overpopulation of prey animals like deer. When reintroduced to their old environments — such as Yellowstone and Isle Royale National Parks — its presence wildly reshaped the ecosystems. Yellowstone wolves cut down on the high elk population there and allowed plants to grow back, which even changed the flow of water in the park’s rivers.
On Isle Royale, reintroduced wolves took over the island’s coyote population.

Coyote
Speaking of coyotes, this animal is one of the most abundant canines on the continent. Once limited to the plains, coyotes have since found homes as far north as Alaska and as south as Panama. As such coyotes have adapted to many different environments including urban centers like New York and Chicago. There are two reasons for this behavior: young coyotes will travel up to 100 miles to find new territories, and increasing urbanization cuts down on available rural spaces.
As an omnivore, coyotes can find food wherever they go. Small mammals like rodents and fawns make up a portion of the coyote diet and can be substituted with garbage and stray pets should the locale call for it.
The size of coyote litters tends to be based on the available food, and coyetes only mate in the first third of the year. Pups arrive in the spring and remain with their parents for six to nine months.