Bulletmaker: I dunno man, that dog is sure squashed up a bunch, but after looking at the stubby hair and the jaws I wonder if that wasn't a Hyena that escaped from a game farm in the neighborhood.
You didn't mention how big it was, weight wise (yes you did, 35 lbs), which might give a good indication of age, or whether your State Encon/Wildlife folks picked it up for examination. A young or small Hyena might run around 35-40 lbs, but they do get bigger, much bigger. Also, unless it was suffering mange, that fur doesn't look like anything I've seen on any of our local coyotes. Even one that died of mange and other diseases last winter and was found dead in a driveway about 100 miles north of NYC didn't ahve fur that looked that short and coarse.
We have some pretty big coyotes here in Upstate NY, sometimes going as heavy as 60-65 pounds. But even when busted by a rifle or shotgun slug they don't look anywhere near as gnarly as that one did. I have seen our eastern yotes in different color schemes, including some gray/black mottling that sometimes gets them mistaken for domestic pets out for a run but ours seem to have a different facial and jaw structure that the one you showed in the photo. It would sure be interesting to know for sure. Thanks. Mikey.
