A female coyote "trapped" in a Loop Metra Station at 414 S. LaSalle was rescued by workers this morning after a call came in around 7 a.m. about the "sad-looking" animal trotting about. The coyote was discovered by a tunnel where patrons get off the trains. more ›

Wolves. At once revered and reviled, is there a more controversial critter in this country? The battle over wolves in the Northern Rockies actually spilled over into the federal budget battle last week, when a controversial policy rider was slipped into the final bill that booted the critters off the Endangered Species list despite ongoing scientific debate over their recovery. But what gets lost in the noisy fight over wolves out West is that there are way more of them in our neck of the woods. Chicago might be devoid of predators (aside from coyotes and the sexual kind) but we are a car-ride away from howling packs in the counties northwest of Madison. Right now there are 4,000 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but a proposed federal rule change might whack those numbers down quickly in the Great Lakes. more ›

We had to chuckle at the breathless coverage of yesterday’s rescue operation in which a Chicago Fire Department boat was dispatched with city Animal Control staffers to save “Holly,” a coyote stuck floating on a tiny ice flow in Belmont Harbor. The story so captured the attention of this town’s media that, for once, Rahm Emanuel almost disappeared from the headlines for the day…almost. But as funny as the story must look to media watchers---it must be an astounding cultural disconnect for folks in the Rocky Mountains, where coyotes are considered problematic varmints and your tax dollars go to poison, trap, or shoot almost 100,000 of them annually. more ›

Good Lord, what a pair of sad stories. First, there's the Park Forest incident where a police officer tracking a burglary suspect wound up shooting and killing a family's dog. Two officers, a detective, and the police dog passed the yard of the Walker family tracking a suspect. The Walker's dog, Princess (a pit bull/shepherd mix), began scratching at the door and, thinking the dog just needed to go out, a boy in the family opened the door for Princess. Princess, however, was reacting to the scent of the police dog and made a fateful move.

Park Forest Deputy Police Chief Mike McNamara said the dog ran toward the detective. more ›

Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 29 of 30 shots he faced and the 'Hawks scored four unanswered goals as they topped the Phoenix Coyote 4-1 to get their first win of the season. Martin Havlat and Patrick Sharp both netted goals for the Blackhawks in the second period, overcoming an earlier Phoenix goal, to take a 2-1 lead after a scoreless first. Rookie Colin Fraser scored his first career NHL goal in the opening minutes of the third period and defenseman Brian Campbell got his first goal as a Blackhawk 12:04 into the final period. Said Coach Savard after the win, “It’s a good win, we’re excited. But there are still things we need to continue to work on.” more ›

A coyote chased a woman and her dog through the forest preserve in Buffalo Grove. When park officials investigated her report, they found a mother coyote and a den full o' coyote pups. Aww. more ›