One Shot: A Coyote Calls Olive Park Home

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 15, 2014 5:40PM

Photo credit: Ellesse Teller, used with permission.

Coyote sightings in Chicago and the suburbs are becoming more commonplace as the species has grown more acclimated to an urban environment. Still, to find one at night near Navy Pier can make one’s heart skip a beat.

Reader Ellesse Teller sent us this photo and others she snapped of a coyote who has called Milton Olive Park near Navy Pier its home. Teller said she later ran into an officer who asked if she saw the coyote, as it tends to make its presence known around 6-6:30 p.m. daily.

While it may not be wise to engage a coyote should you come across one, they do make good neighbors. Ohio State University ecologist Stan Gehrt has tracked the species in Chicago for the past 14 years. Using blood samples to create DNA profiles, Gehrt and his team discovered new pups were regularly sired by the same two parents. Andrew Wetzler at the Natural Resources Defense Council wrote two years ago the presence of coyotes is a good thing and debunked the standard media narrative that coyotes attack house pets and their population numbers are actually declining, even though mating season runs from February through April.