Coyote sightings on the rise in the Chicago area
Depending on where you live, you might hear them howling, or hear your neighbors talking about them – coyotes.
Across Chicago, people are stepping outside to find coyotes roaming down sidewalks and sniffing around on back porches.
"I see them on an everyday basis, the coyotes," Gisela Zavala said.
Zavala was shocked to look at her home surveillance video and find two coyotes just hanging out in her back yard recently. It's so bad they're keeping a baseball bat for protection at the back door.
"This is my son's back room. So when he comes out here, he grabs the bat and he goes to the garage to get something," she said.
She lives on the southwest side in Scottsdale. She and her neighbors are used to wildlife, but they say the coyotes sightings are getting out of hand.
"Last year, I probably saw them once or twice, that's it, not that much; but this year, it's like every day," she said.
Neighbor Jason Huff said the coyotes are doing more roaming, and are loud at night.
"They have a distinctive high-pitch howl that's kind of like a hyena," he said. "You do take a step back, because you're not used to seeing the wild unless you go to the zoo."
Neighbors said the wildlife has gotten so comfortable, even when they're out in their neighborhood, some coyotes are passing by them on sidewalks. Experts said this is unfortunately the new norm for Chicago these days.
"No matter where you live in the Chicagoland area, even in the heart of the city, you live in territory of a family group of coyotes," said Chris Anchor, senior wildlife biologist at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
Anchor has studied the urban coyote in Chicago for 25 years. He said, while people are encountering the wildlife more frequently, the animals are not a danger, and those roaming have a purpose.
"The adults are running around right now like crazy, trying to find enough food to feed that litter of pups. So that's why people are seeing them," he said.
Anchor recommended people never feed the coyotes because that's when they will approach humans.
As for Zavala, she's keeping the bat nearby and coming to terms with her new neighbor.
"At this point, I'm thinking about putting the fence in the front, too, because that's going to be our safety net," she said.