Three-legged predator grabs prey in view of visitor center at Iowa refuge, photo shows

A three-legged predator was recently spotted snatching prey outside of the visitor center at an Iowa park, a photo shows.

Park ranger Peter Rea snapped a photo of the animal in action, taking down a Canada goose and feasting on it near a partially frozen lake that’s in view of the visitor center.

It’s the third winter in a row the three-legged coyote has been seen at the DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges, and Rea is more impressed each time it returns — so much so he shared a photo of the resilient canid in a Jan. 10 Facebook post.

In the photo, the coyote is seen by the snowy lakeshore, standing over its kill and looking like any other coyote except for one glaring difference: its back right leg is missing.

“It’s pretty amazing it’s able to persevere, especially throughout the winter,” Rea told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

“We suspect it’s the same (coyote) that has managed to overcome its injury and survive even in the harsh winter conditions,” the post read.

The coyote can’t get around as quickly and effortlessly as other coyotes seen at the refuge, according to Rea. Despite its awkward ambling, the coyote is every bit as sneaky and tenacious, and just as much a danger to unwitting geese.

A missing limb could be a death sentence for most animals in the wild. But if any creature were to survive such bad fortune, it would be a coyote, Rea said.

“The fact that it is a coyote, while still surprising, does make a little bit more sense,” he said. “They are tough. And wily, as they say.”

How did the coyote lose its leg? It’s a mystery.

“It could be anything from a vehicle accident to getting caught up in barbed wire. Maybe a birth defect, it’s hard to say,” Rea said.

Some commenters suggested the coyote’s leg may have gotten caught in a trap.

Rea thinks that’s unlikely, adding that trapping isn’t allowed at the refuge, but it is a possibility.

This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Three-legged predator grabs prey in view of visitor center at Iowa refuge, photo shows."