There is some sort of rule in field biology that animals found further north in N. America are generally larger than their southern cousins. I've heard that North Dakota coyotes are pretty big compared to Southern California coyotes.

Funny thing, last night as I was leaving work around 6 PM there was a lone coyote running back and forth in a fenced runway next to a concrete drainage channel in the middle of our industrial area in Santa Fe Springs (on the Whittier border). It was bigger than my Sheltie who is about 35 lbs.

Too bad about the young singer. We haven't had any coyote casualties around here, just couple of mountain lion casualties. (And a whole lot of human casualties...the most dangerous animal of all.)

Joe