pdq, I tend to agree, from what little I have read or know. I have been casually reading about and following news and science articles about the spread of coyotes in the NC Piedmont for a few years.

The article bobad linked is interesting, but I'm not so sure of the science and statistics presented. For one thing, I think it is more than a misnomer to label the wolf-coyote hybrids found in parts of eastern Canada "eastern coyotes."

It may be that wolves and coyotes have hybridized extensively in Canada and/or New England. (from the Wikipedia entry on the Eastern Wolf {canis lycaon}On March 31, 2010, a presentation by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources research scientist Brent Patterson outlined key findings about the Eastern Wolf (and coyotes): Most coyotes in Eastern Ontario are wolf-coyote hybrids; wolves in Algonquin Park are, in general, not inter-breeding with coyotes; and the buffer zone around Algonquin Park is a great success with mortality rates down and populations remaining stable.[2]

Very little evidence exists of significant hybridization within the North Carolina population of coyotes (estimated to be about 50,000 now.) That is not to say there are no dog or wolf/coyote hybrids, but they ain't the main story here. The only red wolves (canis lupus rufus) in the wild in the southeast is a population of just over 100 in and around Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast. Coyotes in North Carolina and the southeast, from what I have read, tend to range between 20-40 lbs, consistent with the size of non-hybrid coyotes.

As a related aside, it is also pretty fascinating to read about all the uncertainty, controversy and opinions within the scientific community about the taxonomy of wolves extant in North America.

Regardless, it is all quite interesting. Evolution continues.

I wouldn't be surprised if non-hybrid coyotes in the southeast do not prove to be a little larger than western coyotes, simply because they are not competing any "top predators," (the rest of top predators, save the struggling red wolf, all having been extinquished) and in the absence of top predators, there is an overabundance of prey. (White-tail deer, cottontail rabbits, gray squirrels and abundant rodents, possums, groundhogs, etc. )