Was that a coyote shoplifting?

December 25, 2008 11:11 AM

Okay, s I saw this video on the CNN site a few hours ago. The newscasters go on about it being a dog that was shoplifting, but I think it was a coyote. Any mefi out there know more about coyotes care to make a positive id?
posted by lester to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

It's a dog. A coyote would in no way go into a store full of people.

As for a positive id, I'm gonna go with The Littlest Hobo down on his luck.
posted by Manhasset at 11:24 AM on December 25, 2008

That does not look like a coyote.
posted by ssg at 11:29 AM on December 25, 2008

Coyotes are browner than that dog. Also, a coyote would be very unlikely to walk up to a little kids without trying to take a bite.
posted by pmann at 11:35 AM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

While I agree that that animal looks more like a dog than a coyote, coyotes will definitely go into areas with lots of people, especially this time of year when it's cold and they're hungry.
posted by sugarfish at 11:52 AM on December 25, 2008

Looks like a Husky, maybe a mix.
posted by txvtchick at 12:04 PM on December 25, 2008

It's not a coyote. I believe txvtchick is on the money on the breed of dog.
posted by Atreides at 12:40 PM on December 25, 2008

Dog. Coyotes' tails don't curl.
posted by dilettante at 12:50 PM on December 25, 2008

it's a dog.

I had a husky that ran straight into a supermarket once. She kept herself ten feet in front of the nearest bagboy sent to catch her, ran straight around to the back of the butcher counter, licked the floor and ran right back out the front door. I didn't know that grocery shopping was a breed characteristic until I saw this video.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 1:05 PM on December 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

At the end of the article, they refer to the dog as "Balto".
posted by attercoppe at 1:38 PM on December 25, 2008

It's a Husky mix, for sure.

And it's a damn brilliant breed. Anyone who knows Huskies and other sled breeds knows they are fiercely, wolfishly intelligent, and this behavior is no mystery. That dog almost certainly was simply following its nose. Its used to doing that - in its genes at least -- across vast distances in white out conditions in the arctic. Finding an effing bone in a WalMart is easy.

I grew up with a Samoyed, similar breed in some ways. That dog seemed totally wild. Every once in a while it would just take off running and be gone for days -- sometimes up to a week. We'd get a call from 50 miles away eventually, and she'd be happily gorged on squirrels and the fat of the land, skunked and stinky, and pissed to be confined again.
posted by fourcheesemac at 1:42 PM on December 25, 2008

Most definitely a dog, but it's probably a stray that lives in the area that has learned where the best treats can be found.

Anyone notice that the article was just a transcription of the video (or the news casters were reading the article out loud)? Either way, I've never seen that before.
posted by Third at 2:39 PM on December 25, 2008

Husky or mix and yes they are talented and creative thieves. My roommates husky used to bring home shoes and other assorted goodies that it had busted out of our place and stolen from inside the neighbors houses when we were all at work.

fyi- it looks nothing like a coyote.
posted by fshgrl at 2:49 PM on December 25, 2008

Siberian huskies are terribly bright, and cat-like in their disdain for any expectations put upon them by humans. Very very smart, and they do whatever the hell they want.
posted by Restless Day at 4:12 PM on December 25, 2008