After a stormy night in rural Tennessee, Tory Chang spotted something tiny, soaked, shivering, and barely holding on.
At first, she thought the fragile animal was a baby fox.
She acted quickly, wrapping the little one up, getting it safely into her car, and reaching out to For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue in Chattanooga for help.
When Tory sent the rescue team a photo, the certainty faded a little.
The baby did not look quite right for a fox. Something in its face, shape, and markings made the rescuers pause.
Still, the question of species did not change the urgency. Whatever this tiny animal turned out to be, it needed care, and the rescue agreed to take it in.
Yoti’s Confusing First Days
“We asked the finder for a photo and were instantly a little puzzled because the “fox” looked more like a coyote pup in the face, paws, and tail in the blurry, dark picture we received but had markings more like a red fox,” the wildlife rescue wrote in their Facebook post.
The animal was named Yoti, and the rescue began considering several possibilities. She could have been a mix of domestic breeds like Shepherd and Cur, or perhaps a rare naturally occurring hybrid between a dog and a coyote.
There was no way to know without DNA testing.
Because the rescue could not keep domestic dogs, Yoti was placed with a foster volunteer, Karen Keeton.
Her unusual features sparked a wave of speculation online, with many people trying to determine her background.
“We are 100% positive that she is not a fox, and we’re certain she has at least one domestic dog ancestor. We know this because her markings are brindle, which are tied to specific genes that do not naturally occur in full-blooded coyotes,” the wildlife rescue wrote in their post.
As the weeks passed, Yoti’s behavior became challenging. She was too wild for a home environment, yet she did not act like a typical domestic puppy. Eventually, she returned to the wildlife facility.
“Her temperament, paw pad shape, and vocalizations are all exactly like a cross between a coyote and a domestic dog, but we won’t be able to confirm exactly what she is until we’ve seen her DNA test results,” the rescue said.
DNA Results Bring A Clear Answer
After weeks of waiting, the DNA test results were finally ready.
People had guessed fox, mixed breed dog, or coyote hybrid. The answer was not what many expected.
“Yoti does have genetic markers that are unique to domestic dogs and were introduced within the last 4 generations. Coyote-domestic dog hybrids rarely occur or survive in the wild because their reproductive cycles don’t generally line up and because domestic dog dads are deadbeats who don’t help raise the young. But life, uh… finds a way,” said in the post.
According to the results, Yoti’s great-great-grandparent was most likely a domestic dog, possibly a Shepherd-type mix. Over several generations, that ancestry blended into wild coyote lines, producing Yoti’s distinctive appearance.
Even with this distant domestic connection, both of Yoti’s parents were wild coyotes. She will be raised as a wild animal.
The team arranged for her transfer to Walden’s Puddle, a wildlife rehabilitation and education center in Joelton, Tennessee.
Once Yoti is old enough and fully prepared to survive on her own, she will be released back into the wild where she naturally belongs.