For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue in Chattanooga, Tennessee received an urgent call about a small animal found soaked, shivering, and barely holding on after a rainy night.
Tory Chang had spotted the helpless creature while driving through a rural part of the area. Believing she had found a young fox, she quickly wrapped the animal up, placed it in her car, and contacted the rescue.
But once she shared a photo, the rescue team paused. The little one did not match the typical features of a fox.
Even so, they agreed to take the baby in, unsure of what species they were about to care for.
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.