Coyote? Wolf? Coywolf?

When out with a camera, looking for birds, I watch for mammals among other things. Fall 2012 I took the first photo below in a woods about a mile from our Orono home. Our neighborhood has a pack of coyotes, seen and heard regularly. This animal didn't look like the coyotes I've seen in the same woods, in our yard, or walking down our street. Friends and I have debated whether the canine might be a wolf. Concensus: probably not. The second photo is a coyote seen in New Mexico several years ago.

Coywolf -- that's the subject of an upcoming Nature tv program, coywolf being a recognized coyote/wolf hybrid. The program airs Jan. 22. You can see a preview at

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/meet-the-coywolf/meet-the-coywolf/8605/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=nature

Here are my photos, the local canine first, New Mexico second.