#clra

Coyote that had a severe infection.

Here’s another angle of the lock and breech scorched after a day of shooting black powder. This is easily cleaned up though. I use rubbing or denatured alcohol with Q-tips on the flint and frizzen, no oil should be applied there. A damp cotton cloth is used on the breech, lock and hammer. A light oil is then applied to those same places. 

Key West, FL

Nasty patho coyote going to the sin bins. Seller left beetle frass and casings all over the skull :/

Though this is speculative, this could have been due to the same issue that causes wry mouth, malpositioning of the fetus in the mother's uterus. Coyotes have larger litters in areas they’re more regularly hunted so it’s possible this one may have been squished :<

Coyote skull with the atlas bone fused to the occipital.

Vintage Wolfdog Skull

This is a prime example of how tenacious coyotes are. I've seen several living coyotes with this particular injury, and I can't fathom how they're able to continue on while missing such a significant portion of the jaw. Over time, the jaw usually forms a "bone bridge" that connects the two sections again, but this coyote was still in the early stages of healing. All previous skulls I've seen like this were the results of coyotes being shot (or sometimes trapped) but escaping. Seems like the impact started from left to right by the shape of the injury. The left side is pushed more inward, while the right flairs out.