scrmblr, that is GOOD! I hope your wife has a terrific time! ;-)
Trouble identifying targets? Absolutely. By its very nature, thermal produces a B&W (or other oddity color, but not actual) image that is very two dimensional, which is a common problem with NV as well, though NV seems less problematic for folks in regard to perceiving dimensional aspects. Both make it hard to just distance and this is especially true with thermal.
So all of your targets basically look like silhouettes at distance. A lot of the advertising for thermal shows vids that are very short range and things look amazingly good, animals or people appear 3D, and there is a lot of detail, but at distance, things get very flat and silhouette-like, sort of like with the coyotes you saw above.
It can be very hard to tell size relative to distance if you don't actually know the distance. So if I get to hunt a new place and I see a 'target' that is a blob and small, it can be difficult to know if it is a rabbit at 200 yards or a bedded calf at 600 or 700 yards if they still.
I had a guy ask me if I could tell the difference between types of animals and the answer was YES, but sometimes it takes some work. You learn to look for diagnostic traits that are inclusive or exclusive. For example, in tall grass, a deer with its head down and a hog can look very much alike, or even a deer with its head down and a hog walking toward you, so you look for movement and you look for a long neck. On occasion, I will whistle at the animals and if they are deer, the deer will raise up their heads and then I know they are deer.
When it comes to coyote versus fox versus domestic dog, that can be a problem. Where I coyote hunt, it isn't a problem for me as the landowner doesn't own dogs.
Cat versus bobcat? I look for a lack of tail. The landowner does have a couple of cats. Bobcats also tend to have a much more jacked up rear end than domestic cats, but that can be hard to identify.
When hunting in cattle county, especially in tall grass, telling the difference between cattle and hogs can be an issue. Blocky-square butts indicate cattle as do longer necks. Cattle tend to be in motion much less than hogs, except for calves.
Skunks are interesting. They have a fairly distinctive walk, but is similar to a badger, but the difference is a fuzzy tail that often does not show up well on thermal. If close enough, a badger looks low, wide, and flat compared to a skunk.
Raccoons, armadillos, and opossums can look fairly similar at longer distances. The presence of a high back rules out the opossum. Standing up on the hind legs and looking around quickly rules out the opossum and armadillo. Stopping to dig rules out raccoon and opossum. Tree climbing rules out the armadillo. Etc.
Just because you can't see a trait, such as a blocky butt or long neck does not automatically identify the animal as your target, however. Sometimes it requires watching how they walk, feed, waiting for them to turn to present a different side, come close or you moving closer to the animals.
Closer in, identifications are much easier and less problematic. Does that cover your question sufficiently?
