Nature always finds a way.
(Northbrook is a suburb 20 miles north of Chicago, I grew up there.)
Pet owners report attacks by coyotes
Northbrook has several incidents
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By Courtney Flynn
Tribune staff reporter
December 23, 2003
Twice a day for 20 years, Esther Pora has enjoyed peaceful walks with her dogs in a Northbrook forest preserve, where she has let them run freely without leashes.
But that pleasure turned to fear in late November when she watched two coyotes attack her 5-year-old Dalmatian, Beaumont, who narrowly escaped but required stitches in 11 places on his body.
Since late October, Beaumont and two other dogs in east Northbrook have been attacked, including one killed by what officials believe is a large male coyote, sometimes accompanied by his mate.
"I just kept thinking, `What if these coyotes had attacked a child?'" said Pora, 61. "That is scary."
As officials mull their options, they are warning residents in wooded neighborhoods not to leave their pets unattended and to make sure pets are on a leash when walking them through forest preserves.
"In a short period of time, we've had a lot of circumstances where [coyotes have] been either confronting, attacking or watching dogs in their yards," said Gina Manski, Northbrook police's animal control officer. "That's why we're getting concerned about their behavior."
The latest attack was on Dec. 1, when a coyote went after a small dog in a back yard along Trails Edge Drive, Manski said.
On Nov. 29, Beaumont was attacked in Chipilly Woods. On Oct. 29, a coyote killed a mixed-breed dog near Trails Edge, Manski said.
Northbrook isn't the only community where coyotes have been spotted recently. This month, officers from the Chicago Department of Animal Care and Control and the Police Department captured a coyote near Navy Pier.
In March 2001 residents in the Eagle Brook Country Club area of Geneva reported coyote sightings and attacks on pets. In August 2000 coyotes were seen lurking around homes in Libertyville Township.
Statewide, there are more than 20,000 coyotes, most of which do not harm pets or people, said Bob Bluett, a wildlife biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Although it is fairly rare for a coyote to attack dogs and cats, the attacks are happening more often as the wild animals have grown accustomed to living near residential areas, Bluett said.
"They're foraging around the houses for what they can get," Bluett said. "Once one finds out there's an easy meal to get from attacking cats and small breeds of dogs, they go with it."
In winter months it can be more common for coyotes to target pets because the coyotes' food supply becomes scarce as small mammals hibernate, Manski said.
In the last decade, reports of coyotes attacking pets have increased, particularly in northeastern Illinois, Bluett said.
The state issues permits to companies that capture coyotes, often as a means of pest control. In 1993 they caught 56 coyotes, Bluett said. Last year, they caught 321.
Northbrook has several options for dealing with its coyote problem, Bluett said. The easiest solution might be to set a padded foothold trap, he said.
Shooting coyotes probably is not practical in a suburban setting, he said. Officials could also try a wire mesh cage trap, but the traps have a low success rate, Bluett said.
Northbrook does not have the trapping equipment to catch a coyote, so the village might consider hiring a professional trapper, Manski said.
Pora said she would just like to see the coyotes out of the area.
She has returned to Chipilly Woods only once since Beaumont was attacked--and this time he was on a leash.
"We went back there on a bright, clear day when other people were around," Pora said. "But we walked along the edge, close to the road, and I had my cell phone in my hand."
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
