| Dec. 17th, 2007 11:22 am Canine Sighting Yesterday, as I was driving home from Target after church and some shopping, I noticed a medium sized canine standing on the north side of Army Trail Road just west of Costco, and east of the homes that start shortly afterwards and run to County Farm. At first glance I thought it was just somebody's rather shaggy looking dog, but on second glance and after some thought I'm now about 90% convinced that it was a coyote.
Where the animal was standing is at the end of a stretch of warehouse type businesses that are just south of the Mallard Lake Forest Preserve and the Mallard Lake Landfill that now occupies much of the preserve. This area then connects with the Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve (albeit with County Farm road in between) and from there to much of the rest of the DuPage county system along the west branch of the DuPage river. I'm sure that there is plenty of space in there for a pack or two of coyotes. My somewhat uneducated guess is that this wax a young male excluded from the pack looking for food or new territory, but was stopped by a road filled with cars. 1 comment - Leave a comment   |
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 | | From: |  lonotter |
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| Date: | December 17th, 2007 07:20 pm (UTC) |
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I wouldn't be too sure that he was intimidated by a road, it's just as likely he was waiting for traffic to clear before calmly trotting across. Ron and I once watched one cross Hicks near the big ComEd easement north of NW Highway in Palatine, and it was clear that crossing a road was No Big Deal - quick, but not panicky, dash across the roadway, then down to a slower pace once it hit the sidewalk. BTW, coyotes don't generally move in packs, they're usually loners or pairs.
