Wildlife in the city!

On my way home from work, pedaling north on Clark at Berteau I spotted a Red Fox! He (or she) trotted across Clark from Berteau and was, I'm assuming, about to head back into Graceland cemetery when I startled it by hollering "FOXY!" and it darted back across Clark, crossed to the north side of Berteau and peered 'round the corner of the building at me as I rode past.
If I read fox body language correctly it was saying "Gawd, what a dick. You scared the shit out of me." ;)

This was a full grown, healthy looking specimen. Looking well fed from foraging in the city. Neato.

This was around 12:45 - 1:00 am.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 8, 2011 at 8:00am

I think this what we saw in our backyard about a month ago, at no more 20 feet way. I don't who was more scared: the bird or us?

A.K.A Paul said:

Here's a baby red tailed hawk I saw in my alley last summer. They live in the trees along the river and I sometimes see them hunting in the empty lot behind my house.

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Permalink Reply by Rich S on December 8, 2011 at 8:16am

I once had a skunk hiss at me when I startled it in an alley. I was about 15 feet away and I took off running since it looked like it was getting ready to spray.

I took the pic below of either a hawk or falcon on Lee's Hyde Park Tour a few weeks ago. I don't remember where we were stopped but it was cool to see it fly into the tree right above our heads. If I remember right it was perched right above Lee ... thankfully the bird did not leave a present on his shoulder. Quality of the shot not so great since I used a cell phone camera.

EDIT: The picture didn't appear in my post. Let me try again.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 8, 2011 at 11:15am

Here in Beverly, we've seen quite a variety of wildlife over the last few years. We've had coyotes come down our street on several occasions (that I'm aware of) and stop in our front yard. Red foxes are regulars near 111th & Longwood. I've heard from folks who live near there that at least one or two heavily wooded yards up on the hill have fox dens. I've seen deer in the middle of Longwood Dr.

Red tailed hawks had grabbed small birds from our yard. I've also seen sharp shinned hawks, red shouldered hawks and Cooper's hawks. Migrating sandhill cranes fly overhead in spring and fall. Once in a while I spot a hummingbird in the yard.

We get raccoons and opossums in our alley and yard. I see a lot fewer rabbits since the coyotes and foxes have been more numerous.

I can see an amazing variety of wildlife within a few miles of our house. If I visit one of the forest preserves with wetlands south or southeast of here, the range of species gets a lot bigger. We're sharing the city with a lot more wildlife than you might imagine.

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Permalink Reply by Reddog (Cliff) on December 8, 2011 at 2:41pm

There are Falcons in Humbolt park near where I live. Not too long ago I saw one of them shredding a pigeon. It flew away with the carcase when I approached.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa on December 8, 2011 at 4:40pm

There are hundreds of coyotes living around Chicagoland! They eat rodents and geese and deer. Some of them are collared and tracked for ecological research. I followed one through Lincoln Park.

Check out Urban Coyote Research.

http://urbancoyoteresearch.com/

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Permalink Reply by S.Presley☠ on December 8, 2011 at 5:11pm

we had an Opossum in our back yard when we lived near Kimball&Irvingpark...We would see it at night, but darned if I knew where it went during the day to hide.

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Permalink Reply by S.Presley☠ on December 8, 2011 at 5:23pm

The bridge just west of pulaski on foster...

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Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on December 8, 2011 at 5:41pm

This guy was hanging out at our place a couple summers ago. He's a male kestrel.

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Permalink Reply by djm on December 8, 2011 at 7:27pm

I saw a coyote this summer around Clybourn and Larrabee on my commute home. It crossed diagonally at an intersection, backing up traffic. Another cyclist and I followed it a few blocks until it trotted westbound across Clybourn. I was surprised to see it during daylight hours with plenty of people and traffic about.

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Permalink Reply by Naomi Ruth Jackson on December 9, 2011 at 6:52am

North Park University has become a nice little haven for bunnies and very fat squirrels who live off the leftovers of college students. We also see lots of ducks, racoons, and the very rare deer sighting. About a mile northwest is the North Park Villiage Nature Center, which has become over populated with deer, but still remains a nice wild life sanctuary.