Coyote sighting

Tonight on my ride home I came across a Coyote in the vicinity of Leavitt and Harrisson.

It was running somewhat gracefully away from me and eventually I lost it but I got plenty of fairly good looks.  It had a smallish head and an almost grotesquely long tail that got bushy (and darker in coloration) towards the tip just like this one:

although I had more of an impression that the one I saw was significantly taller at the shoulders than at the hip girdle.

What's the deal with these-- any risk to people or pets? Any reason to report it? Anyone else seen one in the city or elsewhere?

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 3, 2014 at 8:05am

Yep, location makes a HUGE difference - also what's available in YOUR yard. I've lived in the same place for 8 years and seen a shift in the mix of species that visit us. I've made a conscious choice to plant flowers and grasses that provide seeds and nectar for a wider range of bird and insect species, and it's made a big difference in who visits. We now see hummingbirds every summer, as well as a few species of hawks, many smaller birds (including goldfinches and downy woodpeckers, and a wider variety of butterflies. Many of these were rare in our yard in the beginning, and have increased to daily visits during portions of the year. 

We live close to a forest preserve (home to many hawks) and have seeds or feeders year round, creating an attraction for small birds. That's effectively created a year-round hawk buffet. When they don't get small birds, they may get squirrels or other small animals.

There is abundant habitat for rabbits, mice and other small animals, which provides a coyote buffet. Mother Nature is alive and well in our 'hood.

Permalink Reply by OLB 0.1 on November 3, 2014 at 9:15am

There seem to be regular sightings in the forest preserves and golf courses in NW Cook county. I saw one about a month ago that was casually disregarding the groups of people that were only 50 - 100 ft away.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on November 3, 2014 at 9:25am
We haven't done much in our garden, given that we moved mid-summer, but there was an abundance of milkweed in our garden. As a result, it became a Monarch sanctuary. Some days we saw a dozen or more at once.

Anne Alt said:

Yep, location makes a HUGE difference - also what's available in YOUR yard. I've lived in the same place for 8 years and seen a shift in the mix of species that visit us. I've made a conscious choice to plant flowers and grasses that provide seeds and nectar for a wider range of bird and insect species, and it's made a big difference in who visits. We now see hummingbirds every summer, as well as a few species of hawks, many smaller birds (including goldfinches and downy woodpeckers, and a wider variety of butterflies. Many of these were rare in our yard in the beginning, and have increased to daily visits during portions of the year. 

We live close to a forest preserve (home to many hawks) and have seeds or feeders year round, creating an attraction for small birds. That's effectively created a year-round hawk buffet. When they don't get small birds, they may get squirrels or other small animals.

There is abundant habitat for rabbits, mice and other small animals, which provides a coyote buffet. Mother Nature is alive and well in our 'hood.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 3, 2014 at 9:43am

One of my additions this year was dill, a host plant for swallowtail butterflies. We had LOTS of swallowtails. The dill grew abundantly enough to produce plenty for the caterpillars and for my kitchen.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on November 3, 2014 at 11:53am

Last year around this time while waiting for a train at the Ogilvie train platform. I spotted a coyote of similar description running around the tracks being chased by train station employees.

Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on November 3, 2014 at 1:55pm

Ive seen coyote hanging around Lincoln Park Zoo at dusk a few times and many times down at the Chicago Cultural Center at the end of the bike path.  There are quite a few down there.  

The first encounter at CCC was uncomfortably close, about 15 feet away.  I thought 'oh what an unusual dog, I wonder where the owner is'.  Then I realized it was not a dog.  I just picked up my bike and started walking backwards away from it as it stared me down with cold, steely eyes.  When I stepped behind a stone boulder, it ran off.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on November 4, 2014 at 4:35am

I think you mean South Shore Cultural Center?

chixieonfixie said:

Ive seen coyote hanging around Lincoln Park Zoo at dusk a few times and many times down at the Chicago Cultural Center at the end of the bike path.  There are quite a few down there.  

The first encounter at CCC was uncomfortably close, about 15 feet away.  I thought 'oh what an unusual dog, I wonder where the owner is'.  Then I realized it was not a dog.  I just picked up my bike and started walking backwards away from it as it stared me down with cold, steely eyes.  When I stepped behind a stone boulder, it ran off.

Permalink Reply by curt(is) locke on November 4, 2014 at 4:48am

Crazy??  Not really.  There's plenty of prey (rodents, rabbits, squirrel, etc) plus abundant space (cemeteries, expansive parks and forest preserves, large vacant industrial tracts, multiple railroad corridors.)  The coyote outside of Wrigley Field probably heard there was a lot of "praying" going on there, that was probably the source of confusion.

Alex Z said:

I saw a coyote on Halsted, somewhere between North and Chicago (I don't quite remember). This past spring I think (could've been last fall). Probably around 10:00 p.m. It's crazy that they live in the city.

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