COYOTE ON THE LOOSE IN LINCOLN PARK!
For once I'm happy that I came into the office today rather than stay home and play hookie!
From the tribune:
Lincoln Park coyote evades capture
By Kristen Kridel Tribune staff reporter
3:13 PM CDT, July 23, 2007


And the first round goes to the coyote. Animal control officers gave up their hunt this afternoon for the 60- to 65-pound critter, which has been spotted in the southern end of Lincoln Park over the past week. This morning, at least three Animal Care and Control vans were chasing the coyote near the ball fields at Lake Shore Drive and LaSalle Street. Coyote runs loose in Lincoln Park Video
The coyote managed to evade capture and was later seen in the back yard of Cardinal Francis George's residence just south of North Avenue in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Miguel Hernandez, one of the animal control officers giving chase, said the department has received numerous complaints about the coyote. It's been spotted near Lincoln Park Zoo and has been seen sunning itself on the softball diamonds in the park. The coyote has not approached or hurt anyone, Hernandez said."They really don't come near people," he said. "Just for safety reasons we want to get it out of here." Hernandez and his colleagues were driving their vans in circles across the park and ball fields this morning, kicking up dust and creating quite a spectacle for the joggers and dogwalkers going by but not managing to capture the animal." It's totally pathetic," said Jennifer Graves, a Lincoln Park resident out walking her schipperke. "They should give it food and water and maybe they would catch him." North Side resident Sean Wallace, 37, was exercising in the park with a buddy and periodically stopped to give advice. "What are they waiting for?" he said at one point. "There he goes through the gate!" About 10 to 15 coyotes are captured every year in Chicago, primarily in April and May when they are most active, according to animal control officials. The department receives calls of coyote sightings almost weekly. Coyotes usually live near waste containers and railroad tracks, away from human populations. This spring, a coyote nonchalantly wandered through the propped-open door of a Quiznos submarine sandwich shop in downtown Chicago. Officials captured the year-old male about an hour after it had entered the restaurant at 37 E. Adams St. in the Loop. The animal ate nothing, and no one was harmed. Coyotes are more partial to small rodents, rabbits and trash, animal control officials said. Earlier that week, a 2-year-old male was found near 31st and Wells Streets. He was taken to the Flint Creek Rehabilitation Center in Barrington, home to all of Chicago's transplanted urban coyotes. Two weeks before that, a coyote was captured near Sheridan Road and Diversey Parkway in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.kkridel@tribune.com

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